There are some ways that money moves around in an economy that have very little to do with the stock market or unemployment statistics.

• Even though the recession has ruined many a good portfolio, Boston College’s Center on Wealth and Philanthropy is predicting a “golden age of philanthropy” between 1998 and 2052.
• Wealthy individuals often distribute their assets at death among heirs, tax payments, charities, and legal fees, and these distributions are largely unaffected by the current economic climate. As a result, analysts project that this is the largest wave of charitable giving ever in the United States.
• Some people, though, are donating large chunks of their net worth while they are still alive, thereby eliminating the portion that would typically go to the government after death, and confounding the researchers at Boston’s CWR.

Facts & Figures

• CWR researchers projected an overall wealth transfer of $41 trillion between 1998 and 2052, mostly as resulting from asset exchanges at death.
• The $41 trillion estimate still applies during the recession because researchers used a very conservative 2% annual increase in wealth in their calculations.
• Federal data show approximately $12 trillion being transferred to heirs between 1998 and 2017.

Best Quote

“The downturn is not going to keep people from dying, and it is not going to keep a wealth transfer from occurring.” – Paul Schervish, Director of The Center on Wealth and Philanthropy at Boston College

Tags: Center on Wealth and Philanthropy, estate taxes, philanthropy, wills