Posthaste: Why the great wealth transfer might not be all it's cracked up to be

financialpost.com:

The great wealth transfer has started, but millennials and generation Z may not inherit as much as they think.

A survey by Vanguard Canada out today found “a sizeable generational gap in expectations” around the wealth transfer that was expected to pass trillions of dollars from baby boomers to their children.

About $1 trillion has been predicted to move from Canadians to their heirs over the next few years, according to Chartered Professional Accountants Canada. This “seismic quantity of wealth” is expected to be the largest generational transfer in Canadian history.

In the United States the numbers are even bigger, with baby boomers expected to pass more than US$68 trillion on to their children.

Vanguard Canada’s survey found that inflation and the rising cost of living has made an inheritance even more important to younger Canadians.

Thirty-four per cent of those aged 18 to 34 said the money would be crucial to meeting their goals and 61 per cent said it would be important to hitting their investment targets.

Yet the older generation may have other ideas.

While half of the older Canadians surveyed acknowledged that an inheritance was essential for their children’s financial future, a third either didn’t expect to or were uncertain about leaving any inheritance at all, Vanguard found.

“Canadians of both generations, from boomers to millennials, are feeling the pressure of inflation and the rising cost of living, and this impacts the transfer of wealth,” said Mario Cianfarani, of Vanguard Investment Canada Inc.

“This is a difficult conversation for many people and expectations may not match reality.”

The survey found that Canadians over 55 are also facing pressures that could complicate the wealth transfer. Thirty-five