BNY Wealth’s Alvina Lo on why the Great Wealth Transfer deadline is changing – and what advisers should be asking clients now
consultants working on the so-called “great money transfer According to the latest research from BNY Wealth, “you should expect to find very diverse levels of preparation from your clients.”
BNY Wealth 2026″money in motionThe study surveyed more than 500 ultra-high net worth families with net worth of $10 million and above and provides another perspective on how the Great Wealth Transfer will play out.
According to research, the wealth management industry has expected for decades that this would be a widespread phenomenon as wealth is passed down from older generations. But, instead, according to BNY Wealth, the process has been slower and more complex than expected, largely due to longer life spans, especially among UHNW individuals with better health care and nutrition.
The changing realities of the great wealth transfer
“We have been talking about this great wealth transfer, this silver tsunami, for a long time,” said Alvina Lo, head of advisory, planning and fiduciary services at BNY Wealth. investment news. “I think great wealth transfers are still happening, but the way people are thinking about the ‘when’ and the ‘how’ is changing.”
BNY Wealth urges clients to be proactive and plan for transfers as soon as possible. Planning in advance means the transfer can happen earlier, which Lo says is highly tax advantageous.
However, the BNY Wealth study found that, in many cases, planning is incomplete. More than half of the respondents (53%) admitted that their plans have not yet been fully realized.
Are the heirs ready to receive the money?
“We see a gap between intention and implementation,” Lo said, highlighting some of the reasons why the transfer of funds has not been implemented. For example, only 20% of respondents said their heirs are well prepared to manage the assets they inherit.
“One thing we consistently see, and this report confirms, is that it’s not that people don’t have the means to transfer wealth earlier. It’s just that they’re not doing it because they feel that regardless of wealth level, heirs aren’t ready,” Lo said.
The report also found that older wealth owners over the age of 45 are more concerned that their heirs are unprepared than those under the age of 45.
“I think older wealth owners have a deeper appreciation of family dynamics and the challenges of wealth,” Lo said. “Whereas those who are under 45 may only be thinking about their heirs in the form of a spouse, or young children they haven’t yet formed, but they don’t understand the reality of what that really is.”
money transfer time
There has been much discussion about the scale and timing of the Great Wealth Transfer. For example, Cerulli Associates in 2024 Estimated to be worth $124 trillion Will be transferred by 2048. According to Cerulli, within that number, about $100 trillion will be transferred from baby boomers and older generations, accounting for 81% of all transfers.
Visa also found that more households are transferring money earlier when they can see the impact. last week, Research from Visa Business & Economic Insights That said, after subtracting liabilities and accounting for retirement expenses, charitable bequests, taxes and fees, Baby Boomers have about $36 trillion in wealth. $93 trillion The next 20 years will move to Gen
The BNY Wealth study found that wealth owners have a clear interest in transferring their wealth during their lifetime, and they plan to transfer an average of 17% of their wealth over the next five years and 21% over the next 11 to 20 years. However, despite that intention, there is still an expectation that the transfer of wealth will occur at the end of life, with 55% of the total wealth transferred only after the owner passes away.
The research also found that wealthy families that trust their heirs are also more willing to impose stricter and more formal guardrails, including performance or conduct clauses. The minimum age limit is considered to be the most common or enforced one, cited by 46% of respondents. Trustee or advisor review/sign-off ranked second at 43%, followed by completing education or training at 33%.
Golden opportunity for consultants
Against this backdrop, the Great Wealth Transfer nevertheless represents a golden opportunity for advisers, according to Lo.
“The mentorship I have observed over my career over the last 20-plus years, and supported by this research, shows us that it is not just about the ‘what’, but also the ‘how’,” he said. “These people have resources like lawyers, accountants and consultants who can explain to them the benefits of transferring and how to do it.”
But Lo believes that apart from the technical aspects, it’s really important to help customers with the human side. “We spend a lot of our time talking about who will be involved, who will be the trustee of your trust,” he said. “Whether you choose your friend, your family member or a corporate trustee and why one may be better than others depending on your situation and what the trust actually looks like.”
Clearly, for advisors, the main thing is not that the great wealth transfer is coming on a different deadline than expected – it’s that the deadline is going to impact them. More than half of families still lack a complete plan, and heir readiness has been cited as a major barrier to earlier transfers, with advisors now interested in having that conversation – rather than waiting for a death or liquidity event – they are positioned to preserve assets across generations rather than losing them at the time of transfer.
This may mean starting not just the transfer conversation, but the readiness conversation and reframing life giving around control, not just tax savings. Guardrails should also be brought up in the initial planning conversation, not as a fallback, and advisors should urge their clients to have trustee conversations early and clearly.
Communication, as always, is key. “People who are willing to have a conversation about money are actually more willing to give it away,” Lo said. “Because they’ve had that conversation and they’ve talked about it.”