Are you ready for the Great Wealth Transfer?

We are fast approaching a watershed moment poised to impact the financial futures of countless women. This turning point will affect financial professionals across the industry, yet research shows many are unprepared.

The Great Wealth Transfer is predicted to triple the roughly $10 trillion in household assets U.S. women now control to about $30 trillion by 2030. This exceeds the U.S. Gross Domestic Product in 2023 by more than $2 trillion. If the sum were divided evenly among the U.S. population, every citizen would receive over $89,000.  

This asset boom is expected to occur as the historically unmatched wealth of male baby boomers is transferred to their spouses. Women, who tend to live longer than men by about six years, will be the primary beneficiaries. Later, the larger millennial generation with its record number of single women should receive most of it.

This mammoth capital transfer will reshape many women’s lives and the economy. The Washington Post suggests that last year’s “Summer of Women,” highlighted by the success of the “Barbie” movie and Taylor Swift’s “Eras Tour,” is only the beginning. These events that flashed women’s growing economic influence indicate a much greater seismic shift underway.

Yet there’s evidence our industry is unprepared for this tectonic upheaval. Recent research by Jackson in partnership with the Center for Retirement Research at Boston College finds that only one-third of financial professionals alter their retirement planning approach by gender at least some of the time. Among those who do, longer life expectancy is the most cited reason, with only about half indicating they consider risk tolerance or planning style.

This lack of customization is concerning because most women approach financial planning with different priorities, goals and expectations than men that are essential for financial professionals to understand and consider.

For instance, Jackson’s research shows that women solo or as lead decision-makers focus more than their male counterparts on long-range planning and projecting that ensures they can spend affordably without running low on money. This compares to the careful monitoring of spending and constant investment management their male equivalents tend to prefer. And separate industry research shows that women acting alone are more risk-averse and often lack confidence in their investment decisions and financial knowledge.

Women also face unique financial challenges that are widely known such as lower average pay and taking more time out of the workforce for caregiving. Considering all these factors, it’s not surprising that female financial decision-makers Jackson surveyed are more likely than their male counterparts to be interested in annuities and value products that provide guaranteed lifetime income more than others.

This is all essential information. But because it’s often not considered in retirement planning, women are increasingly dissatisfied with their financial professional, citing poor customer service, lack of personal connection and substandard performance as key reasons. Women value building strong working relationships with their financial professional, yet many report feeling unheard, patronized or otherwise treated differently than men.

Ready or not, the Great Wealth Transfer is coming, and millennial women will be the main beneficiaries. Financial professionals who strive to genuinely understand and address women’s unique financial needs and challenges and accommodate their investment styles will experience better client outcomes, greater client retention and practice success. Most importantly, they will help more women pursue the financial freedom they deserve.

Ashley Golson is SVP, National Sales Desk at Jackson National Life Distributors LLC (JNLD), the marketing and distribution business of Jackson®.

Jackson^® is the marketing name for Jackson Financial Inc., Jackson National Life Insurance Company^® (Home Office: Lansing, Michigan) and Jackson National Life Insurance Company of New York^® (Home Office: Purchase, New York).