Some wonder just how much cash members of the Silent Generation and baby boomers will really pass on, but Brian Dunham is a Great Wealth Transfer believer.
"Every time I look at these numbers, it astounds me just how much wealth we have in this country," Dunham said Tuesday during an insurance webinar organized by KPMG.
Dunham, KPMG's wealth and asset management strategy leader, said most studies suggest that people who are now 78 or older will leave $84 trillion to heirs and beneficiaries by 2045, even after taking health care bills into account.
But he showed that the number of the best U.S. prospects is small: Just 900,000 households control $24 trillion of the country's $73 trillion in investable assets, according to a KPMG analysis of Federal Reserve figures.
More than 80% of the heirs and beneficiaries are likely to move what they inherit to new financial advisors, and life and annuity specialists should be in a good position to capture a share of the money that's on the move, Dunham said.
