Women and the Great Wealth Transfer: A Guide for Financial Institutions

A historic shift is underway. By 2048, $124 trillion is expected to change hands, marking the largest generational wealth transfer in history. And most of this wealth? It’s going to women.

But receiving wealth and being prepared to manage it are vastly different. Empathy's upcoming research on the Great Wealth Transfer highlights this: families think they're ready, but the data says otherwise. And women are bearing the brunt of this gap.

The Scale of What's Coming

Cerulli Associates estimates $124 trillion will transfer by 2048. About $54 trillion will pass first between spouses, with over 95% going to women.

An additional $47 trillion is set to transfer to younger women. And by 2030, women are projected to hold $34 trillion in investable assets. By 2035? Over 40% of U.S. wealth may be in women's hands.

This is not a future trend. It's already happening. Empathy's research shows that nearly 60% of families expect a wealth transfer within the next 7 years.

The Preparedness Paradox

Empathy's research reveals a striking reality: most families believe they are prepared, but many are not.

87% of families have discussed the future, but two-thirds say those talks led to unclear or undocumented outcomes.

The knowledge gap is wide as well: 60% of family members say they have partial or no information about their family's financial and legacy plans.

And for women, the gap is even wider. Empathy's research found that women are nearly 2–3 times more likely than men to be largely unaware of, or completely uninvolved in, their family's financial planning conversations — even though they are the primary recipients of the wealth being transferred.

The Gender Gap at the Center of It All

Beneath all of this data is a reality that must be acknowledged. Women are often excluded from the financial conversations that will most affect them.

As Empathy's article on women's financial history makes clear, this exclusion has deep roots. It wasn't until 1974 that women could apply for credit without a male co-signer. The legal and cultural structures that kept women out of financial decision-making for generations don't disappear overnight.

The great horizontal wealth transfer will move approximately $40 trillion to widowed Boomer women. No one should have to learn about their family's finances for the first time during one of the most difficult moments of their lives.

UBS research underscores the stakes: 83% of recently widowed women report facing significant challenges during the wealth transfer process — including financial surprises, lack of a plan, and conflicts among heirs. Not to mention the lengthy process of settling an estate, which typically takes about 18 months.

What Financial Institutions Can Do Now

1. Ensure both partners are in the room — and in the plan

Empathy's research found that women are nearly twice as likely as men to be unaware of their family's financial plans. Addressing this begins with who is included in the conversation. Advisors should reach out to both partners, ensure both are present in planning meetings, and make it clear that both perspectives are essential to the plan. The relationship with the woman in a couple is not optional; it is often the most important relationship when a spouse passes away.

2. Lead with planning, not products

The data is clear: clients want education and guidance, not just product recommendations. For women in particular, who are more likely to experience wealth transfer without prior financial involvement, leading with empowerment rather than portfolio management can be the difference between a client who stays and one who leaves. Build explicit education offerings into your service model.

3. Make the hard conversation easier to start

57% of families cite emotional and relational barriers as their primary obstacle to wealth planning. Financial institutions can help by normalizing these conversations, building in structured touchpoints around life events, providing facilitation frameworks for family meetings, and positioning estate planning as an act of care rather than a legal task.

4. Deploy digital tools that reduce friction

Empathy's research found that 96% of families who use digital estate planning tools experience real benefits, such as reduced stress, better organization, improved family communication, and, most importantly, completing tasks that might otherwise be delayed. For advisors, offering these tools leads to measurable outcomes: 54% report better understanding of client plans, 50% see more complete documents, and 43% note reduced client stress.

5. Reduce the burden at the moment of loss

When a spouse passes, the surviving partner, most often a woman, can face up to 18 months of estate administration while also coping with grief. Financial institutions that partner with Empathy can offer these women something concrete: a structured plan, expert guidance, and a clear next step when everything feels overwhelming. This support can be the difference between a client who emerges from loss with her financial life intact and one who does not.

This Is the Moment

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The great wealth transfer is underway, and women are set to inherit the majority of it.

The great wealth transfer is underway. Women will receive the majority of it. And right now, too many of them will face it underprepared — excluded from planning conversations, without documents that hold up, and without an advisor who knows their name before the crisis arrives.

Empathy's research makes the stakes clear: only 28% of families expect a smooth transfer. More than half anticipate problems, delays, conflict, and unintended outcomes. The barriers are emotional, logistical, and financial, and they often build on each other.

Financial institutions that see this moment only as a demographic opportunity may miss the deeper need. The women navigating the great horizontal wealth transfer—surviving spouses, adult daughters, Gen X and millennial inheritors—deserve partners who truly see them. Partners who build the relationship before the hardest moment arrives, who lead with education, reduce complexity, and bring humanity together with expertise.