History’s largest intergenerational wealth transfer is happening in the next few decades

Less than a third of wealth transfers to the second generation

Just 12% of family wealth reaches the third generation, and 3% makes it to the fourth. Family offices work to prevent that kind of attrition and ensure family fortunes are passed to the next generation.

Family offices are estimated to manage more assets globally than hedge funds

As baby boomers prepare to transfer more than $84T in assets to the next generation over the next 20 years, family offices’ impact is expanding.

Roughly 90% of generational wealth dries up by the third generation, epitomized by the phrase 'shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations'

Several factors can influence how wealth is passed down from generation to generation, but some of the main threats are mismanagement, estate taxes, and an expanding family tree.

More than half of family offices have succession plans in place

The UBS annual report on family offices found that its clients are preparing for trade wars, generative AI, and generational wealth transfers.

Americans are projected to inherit $105T over the next 30 years

Today, someone's financial standing has more to do with their families than any other outside factor. Of the more than $100T of projected inheritance, that money is concentrated among a few wealthy estates and families.

Read why Gen Z is saving more for retirement than older generations

Despite more and more Americans taking money from their retirement funds to cover expenses, many members of Gen Z are investing more in their retirement. Part of the reason for increased savings amongst this generation could be better-designed retirement plans.

How the wealthy are preparing for an estate tax clip

In 2017, the federal government passed a tax bill that raised the estate tax threshold for individuals and married couples. However, this exemption was temporary and is set to expire at the end of 2025. This Bloomberg Tax podcast episode explains what wealthy individuals are doing to protect their estates before the tax change. Listen here.

Contrary to popular belief, trusts aren’t only for the wealthy

Trust funds can be expensive to set up, given that their establishment often requires paying a lawyer for their time. But for many, that expense might be worth it depending on the complexity of the assets and the ability to specify when, where or how an estate’s assets are used.

Addressing psychological barriers to building wealth

Almost half of adults in the US report owning no investable assets. For many, the barrier to entry is the belief that investing is too complex for them to get involved. Consulting with a financial psychologist, this article addresses the cognitive bias that causes so many people to miss out on financial opportunities, and offers tips on how to get past the anxieties and just begin.

The Rockefellers' family office expanded to become a multifamily office

The Rockefellers created the first known single-family office in the late 1800s but the firm has evolved since to serve many wealthy American families.

One dad, one hundred babies

A look at the companies offering surrogacy to the ultrarich—including Chinese men taking their reproductive cues from Elon Musk.

Financial advice from America’s founding fathers

Several of America's founding fathers—Benjamin Franklin, Thomas Jefferson, and Alexander Hamilton—espoused various financial platitudes during their lives. According to the financial publication Kiplinger, much of their advice holds up in modern times. This article rounds up a few wise words from the founding fathers (and even one first lady) about compound interest, taxes, and education. For money-management tips from America's early days, click here.

One of Warren Buffett’s investing principles is investing in well-managed companies

The "Founders" podcast reviews biographies of the world’s top entrepreneurs, and this episode explores a 2012 book about Warren Buffett. The episode includes Buffett's advice on becoming a better business manager and investor.

Meet the ‘SPY kids’ tied to Wall Street’s first ETF

When SPY became the first ETF to launch in 1993, regulators wanted its issuers to set a termination date. After initially saying the fund would cease to exist in 25 years, its issuers came up with a different strategy. They named 11 children born between 1990 and 1993 and declared that the fund would cease to exist in 2118, or 20 years after the last of the 11 “SPY kids” died. The kicker? According to Bloomberg, none of the children knew they were connected to the fate of this giant fund.

US housing costs have risen by roughly 175% between 1991 and 2026—but a growing number of Gen Zers are becoming homeowners anyway. In 2025, 4% of homebuyers were Gen Z, up from 3% the year before.

The average wealth gap between homeowners and renters was more than $1.3M in 2022

In 2022, the median wealth gap between homeowners and renters was closer to $390K—a significant divide. Over the past three decades or so, the median wealth gap between homeowners and renters increased by 70%, while the average wealth gap increased by more than 250%.

Estate planning involves organizing your financial documents—and making sure your family knows where to find them

This article offers tips for keeping yourself organized, such as the list of documents your family may need and suggestions for where to keep the files, both digital and physical.

The Giving Pledge was a movement started by Warren Buffett, Bill Gates, and Melinda Gates

The Giving Pledge was started to encourage the world’s richest individuals to donate most of their wealth either during their lives or in their wills. Buffett has committed to donating 99% of his money.

Contributing to a friend’s child’s 529 Account

A podcast listener asks about contributing to a 529 savings plan for their friend’s child. The hosts go over the basics of what a 529 is and how it works, and then give advice on how the listener can contribute, touching on how to have conversations about money with friends.

The number of illiquid millionaire households is increasing

"Illiquid" refers to the increasing number of millionaire households who have most of their net worth tied up in housing and retirement accounts.

Hear Ray Dalio's principles for navigating a changing world order

Dalio argues that there aren't new events in history, per se, and that people are taken by surprise by events because they just haven't happened in their lifetimes—not because they are actually novel.

Student protests over endowments

College students across the country are urging their universities to divest from a range of companies—some tied to business in Israel, others linked to climate change. But what does “divestment” actually mean when it comes to billion-dollar endowments? In this episode of Planet Money, the hosts break down how endowment divestment works, and why its impact might not be as straightforward as protesters hope.

Ten writers and thinkers on what growing older actually requires of us

The Marginalian's Maria Popova curates a collection arguing our culture has learned to dread aging while forgetting it is a privilege, and that the antidote is sustaining passions strong enough to keep us from turning inward. Voices include Simone de Beauvoir, Joan Didion, Pablo Casals, and Kahlil Gibran.

Some venture capitalists believe cryptocurrency will revolutionize global finance

Some of the brightest minds at Andreesen-Horowitz, one of the country’s leading venture capital firms, believe the cryptocurrency ecosystem will revolutionize global finance in the coming decades. This podcast recounts, through their view, the history of crypto, how it works, and trends they see emerging in the future.

Inside entrepreneur Bryan Johnson's race to live forever

Created by entrepreneur Bryan Johnson in 2022, the Rejuvenation Olympics asks participants to find ways, including exercise and dietary supplements, to slow their biological aging. But some of these tactics are extreme in cost or nature—such as Johnson's regular injections of blood from his teenage son.

Roughly 10% of US apartments were owned by private equity firms as of 2025

Almost half of those apartments were purchased after 2021. However, local community groups across the country are experimenting with ways to put residential and commercial real estate in the hands of community members.

Warren Buffett's former professor Benjamin Graham is known as the 'father of value investing,' a strategy in which investors seek to buy stocks trading below their intrinsic worth.

A Yale student wrote a profound essay about the consulting industry's influence on elite college students that was published in a book of her writing after she died in a post-graduation car accident.

Use this tool to calculate the dollar value of your parental mental load, from meal planning to coordinating after-school care, then see resources that help generate solutions.

Watch this video that uses Lego bricks to explain how venture capital works.

Dozens of S&P 500 stocks, including Coca-Cola and Walmart—known as the dividend aristocrats—have increased dividends every year for 25 years

Children are now three times more likely to say they want to be a YouTuber when they grow up than an astronaut, with some even attending 'YouTube camps' that teach kids how to create content for the platform.

Hedge funds, the private investment firms that trade a wide swath of financial assets, make money by imposing steep fees on investors and from the fund's investment performance.

Indefinite cloning of some endangered species may not sustain their longevity because cloning success rates decrease as genetic mutations accumulate.

The power and influence of the American presidency have expanded significantly over time—far beyond what the founders envisioned.

Play the role of a student in a game where you try to navigate college and remain debt-free, selecting different income levels, high school experience, race, ethnicity, and more.

After NASA's Voyager 1 captured Earth as a single pixel as it left the solar system in 1990, astronomer Carl Sagan used the image to reflect on humanity's fragility and the responsibility to protect 'the only world we've ever known.'

Electrical grids worldwide must double their power delivery capacity by 2050 to meet surging demand from AI and electric vehicles.

Legendary architect Frank Lloyd Wright designed the SC Johnson headquarters in Wisconsin, aiming to make a cathedral-like workplace

Explore an interactive map built from more than 100,000 survey responses on where people find joy in their lives

How Amazon operates a 'flywheel' business model, a self-reinforcing cycle that drives continuous growth

The idea for the Federal Reserve was conceived in secret in 1910—with bankers donning duck hunt gear for disguise while traveling to a remote country club on Georgia's Jekyll Island

Cultural norms about how to handle the bodies of loved ones in communities in West Africa have hampered Ebola responses.

Art theft is the third-largest source of criminal revenues worldwide, thanks in part to the subjective nature of valuing a work of art.

Up to a million Girl Scouts sell about 200 million cookie boxes every spring, generating $800 million, largely because refusing a child is frowned upon

Apeirophobia is an overwhelming fear of living forever, perhaps stemming from the brain's inability to conceptualize an infinite life.

Studies suggest when you sleep is as important as how much you get, and syncing with your circadian rhythms may lead to less fatigue and improved long-term health outcomes

Listen to an in-depth conversation on the links between Parkinson's disease and herbicide exposure and the challenging pace of scientific investigation.

Hear 50 years of iconic hip-hop samples, the genre's foundational looped tracks

Gerrymandering works through two techniques: cracking opposing voters across districts to dilute their power, and packing them into a few to waste their votes in lopsided majorities.