We are currently witnessing the 'Great Transfer' of wealth from the Greatest Generation to the baby boomers, according to Bank of America's Sarbjit Nahal and Beijia Ma. The Greatest Generation refers to the generation in the U.S. that experienced the Great Depression and then fought in World War II, and was coined by Tom Brokaw.

But Nahal and Ma point out that "a second and even larger wealth transfer from the Boomers to their heirs is starting now and will continue over the next 30 to 40 years."

The great transfer will see a handover of about $12 trillion from those born in 1920s and 30s to the boomers. But the boomers are expected to transfer some $30 trillion in assets to their heirs over the next 30-40 years in just the U.S., they write.

There were 12 million global high-net-worth individual (HNWI) — those with investable assets of over $1 million — in 2012, with aggregate investable wealth of $46.2 trillion.

North America has 3.73 million HNWIs with investable wealth of $12.7 trillion. Asia-Pacific comes in close second with 3.68 million HNWIs, with investable assets of $12.0 trillion.

Only 4 in 10 retirees in the U.S. uses a financial advisor, which means there is a huge opportunity for advisors.

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Bank of America





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