The largest intergenerational wealth transfer in US history is about to take place — though the vast majority of Americans are unlikely to inherit much money at all. About $US105 trillion ($164 trillion) is projected to be passed down from older generations over the next quarter century, according to research firm Cerulli Associates, an amount roughly equal to global gross domestic product in 2023. Rising stock markets and home prices, as well as inflation, have fattened the estates that members of the baby boom generation are expected to leave their heirs. Credit: Glenn Hunt Rising stock markets and home prices, as well as inflation, have fattened the estates that members of the baby boom generation, born between 1946 and 1964, are expected to leave their heirs. The latest inheritance projection by Cerulli is 45 per cent higher than the 25-year forecast the firm made only three years ago. US gifts and inheritances are expected to total $US2.5 trillion next year alone. “About 80 per cent of the wealth held today is going to be in motion,” Chayce Horton, the lead author of the Cerulli report, said in an interview. “The ratio of wealth expected to be changing hands in the next 25 years is significant, and much greater than what we even saw a decade ago.” Yet even as the assets of millions of ageing Americans are passed on, the share of the US population that will benefit from inherited money has remained static, a sign of how accumulating family wealth has become more concentrated among the most affluent households. At the same time, money passed down from one generation to another accounts for a growing share of the overall wealth of heirs, rising relative to income from work or investments. Inherited money represented about a quarter of the net worth of households that received it, a Bloomberg analysis of the Federal Reserve’s 2022 Survey of Consumer Finances found, up from roughly 10 per cent in the late 1990s. “We’re becoming less of an economy that promotes entrepreneurship and production and more of an economy focused on inheritance and dynasty,” said Chuck Collins, Director of the Program on Inequality and the Common Good at the Institute for Policy Studies. Collins, whose great-grandfather founded the hot dog and lunchmeat maker Oscar Mayer, gave up his inheritance when he was in his twenties. He is now a member of the Patriotic Millionaires, a nonprofit group of affluent Americans that pushes for the wealthy to pay higher tax rates. Receiving any funds from a deceased family member remains the exception in the US, not the rule. Just one in five American households have received a substantial gift, trust or inheritance in recent decades, according to Bloomberg’s analysis. Inherited wealth is expected to become increasingly concentrated among the most affluent, according to Cerulli. The firm estimates that more than half of the wealth transferred between generations through 2048 will come from households with at least $US5 million in investible assets. Only about 2 per cent of US households meet that threshold. The share of the US population that will benefit from inherited money has remained static, a sign of how accumulating family wealth has become more concentrated among the most affluent households. Credit: Bloomberg The figures lend support to an idea that has long had currency among economists but that has been difficult to confirm — that the share of overall wealth derived from inheritance is far higher than it appears. A 2017 paper argued that inherited money had accounted for more than half of total wealth in the US and Europe since the 1990s, and that “self-reported inheritance flows are implausibly low.” “Inheritance is still the most important factor in terms of wealth concentration,” said Kaushik Basu, professor of economics at Cornell University and former chief economist at the World Bank. The trillions of dollars set to be passed on in coming years could create more social mobility for younger generations, even though its greater concentration among the wealthiest Americans is likely to create more obstacles for lower-income households and exacerbate inequality. “Markets may still flourish, and overall economic growth may continue, but the polarisation between the born-poor and born-rich will become more acute,” Basu said. He added that many of the economic advantages of family wealth are conferred indirectly, through access to education and other opportunities. As more members of the massive baby boom generation die, the annual rate at which wealth is being passed on is expected to increase until the end of the decade. Millennials, born between 1981 and 1996, are expected to inherit more than $US45 trillion by 2048, including some $US3.9 trillion that year alone. Generation X, sandwiched between the baby boomers and millennials, will see their annual inheritance levels peak in 2038 at just shy of $US2 trillion, according to Cerulli. ‘Markets may still flourish, and overall economic growth may continue, but the polarisation between the born-poor and born-rich will become more acute.’ Wealth isn’t only cascading down to younger generations, it also is moving sideways. Before reaching younger heirs, inheritances are often transferred to surviving spouses and partners. Since women tend to outlive men, they are expected to receive a large share of the fortunes being passed on. “A significant amount of the wealth that is held today is believed to be controlled by men,” said Cerulli’s Horton. As those men die, “we expect that wealth to be much more equitably distributed on a gender basis.” Cerulli estimates that women will inherit nearly half of the total projected value of inheritances over the next 25 years. US tax policy has made it easier for wealthy heirs to hang on to more of the money they inherit. President-elect Donald Trump wants to extend part of his 2017 tax-cut package that doubled the estate-tax exemption from $US5.49 million to $US11.18 million. For many older Americans, money handed down from previous generations has shaped their own planning. Alan Jewett, a 75-year-old retiree in Delaware, and his wife received an inheritance of nearly $US3 million from her childless aunts in 2014, after the couple had already put both their children through college and bought a home. “Having money changes the way you look at things in the sense that it gives you and your family a feeling of security,” Jewett said. He and his wife gave part of the inheritance to their kids and set up an irrevocable trust for their three young grandchildren. Some heirs say they have used inherited money to prepare for their own health and elder-care expenses. Lee Robin Gebhardt, a 63-year-old wine seller living in Putnam County, New York, said she invested a $US150,000 retirement account that she received from her father, who died in 2020, in her long-term care. Gebhardt, who plans to work for at least another two years, has enough money put away to last her until she’s 110. “That will take some pressure off my children,” she said. Other relatively wealthy baby boomers have decided to pass on some of their wealth while they’re still able to see its effects for themselves. “I’ve seen an increasing focus on ‘giving while living,’ where people provide for their family’s needs during their lifetime,” said Jared Jones, senior advisor at Omega Wealth Management. “There’s definitely a big focus on not waiting until one passes away to help and witness the benefits of the wealth from the family.” Bloomberg The Business Briefing newsletter delivers major stories, exclusive coverage and expert opinion. Sign up to get it every weekday morning .In context: Google does not want to sell off Chrome, which the U.S. government has proposed, so it has countered with its own suggestion about how to remedy its outsized and – according to a recent ruling – illegal domination of the online search market. Google is proposing to modify its agreements with Apple and other partners regarding default search engine settings on new devices. This comes in response to a recent U.S. ruling that found the tech giant unlawfully dominating the online search market. Google's proposal, submitted to U.S. District Judge Amit Mehta in Washington, suggests a more limited approach compared to the government's push for more drastic measures. It aims to address the court's concerns while urging caution against interventions that could potentially stifle innovation, especially in the rapidly evolving field of artificial intelligence and its impact on online services, including search engines. While the company plans to appeal the ruling that it holds an illegal monopoly in online search and related advertising, it suggests that the upcoming "remedies" phase should focus primarily on its distribution agreements. These agreements, which the judge found to give Google a "major, largely unseen advantage over its rivals," have resulted in most U.S. devices coming pre-loaded with Google's search engine. To address this, Google proposes making the agreements non-exclusive, particularly for Android manufacturers, and unbundling the Play Store from Chrome and search for Android phone manufacturers. Additionally, the company suggests allowing browser developers to annually reconsider Google as the default search engine. Notably, Google's proposal does not include ending revenue-sharing agreements, which provide a portion of ad revenue to device and software companies that set Google as the default search engine. These agreements have been crucial for independent browser developers like Mozilla, with Apple reportedly receiving an estimated $20 billion from its agreement with Google in 2022 alone. The proposal has already faced criticism from competitors. Kamyl Bazbaz, spokesperson for search engine competitor DuckDuckGo, argued that Google's suggestions attempt to maintain the status quo and fall short of truly restoring competition in the affected markets. In contrast to Google's more limited approach, the U.S. Department of Justice and a coalition of states are seeking more extensive remedies. These include forcing Google to sell off Chrome and potentially its Android mobile operating system, stopping Google from paying to be the default search engine, ceasing investments in search rivals and query-based AI products, and licensing Google's search results and technology to rivals. Google maintains that the government's proposed remedies are extreme and don't properly reflect the specific conduct found to be illegal by the judge. The company argues that courts have historically discouraged such drastic measures and that remedies should be of the "same type or class" as the violations. Lee-Anne Mulholland, Google's vice president for regulatory affairs, emphasized that the company's proposal would allow competing browsers like Apple's Safari to have the freedom to partner with any search engine they deem best for their users. Google also proposes allowing device makers to preload multiple search engines and not requiring them to include Chrome and Google search if they want to include other Google apps. As the case progresses, Judge Mehta has scheduled a proceeding in April to decide on appropriate measures to address the lack of competition in the industries Google has dominated. This trial will see prosecutors calling witnesses from OpenAI, AI search startup Perplexity, and Microsoft. A final decision is expected by August 2025.
"Excessive" call wait times and disclosure violations led to $133,000 in fines for CenturyLink, according to the Washington Utilities and Transportation Commission . CenturyLink, also branded as Lumen Technologies or Lumen, was dinged for nine violations of failing to connect customers to a live representative within 60 seconds of them asking to speak with someone, as required by state law. The company is Washington's largest local telephone company, as well as a major internet service provider. Under state law, the automated phone system for a business or repair center "must provide a caller with an option to speak to a live representative within the first sixty seconds of the recorded message, or it must transfer the caller to a live representative within the first sixty seconds." The commission found an additional 169 infractions for failing to properly disclose business records to the commission as required by a 2017 law. The violations were recorded from March 2022 to November 2022, as well as March 2023 to February 2024, according to a news release. Each violation carries a $750 penalty that must be paid by Dec. 30. A spokesperson for Lumen Technologies did not immediately respond to a request for comment. This is not CenturyLink's first run-in with the commission tasked with regulating rates and services of utility companies. In July 2023, the company was fined almost $1 million for violating Gov. Jay Inslee's proclamation prohibiting telephone companies from disconnecting service due to nonpayment during the COVID-19 pandemic. Get local news delivered to your inbox!60% of new homebuyers in India to be millennials and Gen Z by 2030We’ve curbed oil theft, degraded criminal elements in Akwa Ibom – ArmySelkirk College instructor reaches new heights of recognition in ceramics (Nelson)
Australia's prime minister said Sunday he was ready to "engage" with billionaire X owner Elon Musk over his criticism of the government's ban on under-16s joining social media. Anthony Albanese hailed the parliament's Thursday passage of landmark legislation requiring social media firms to take "reasonable steps" to prevent young teens from having accounts. Javascript is required for you to be able to read premium content. Please enable it in your browser settings.No. 12 West Virginia women beat Boise State 82-47 to reach title game of Gulf Coast Showcase
LSU will play host to Oklahoma on Saturday in the first meeting between the two teams as members of the same conference. This will also be the first showdown between the Tigers and the Sooners since 2019's College Football Playoff, when Ed Orgeron's historic Tigers downed Lincoln Riley's Oklahoma to advance to the CFP National Championship. The Tigers hold a 2-1 advantage in the series, with Oklahoma's only win against the Tigers coming in 1950. LSU is fresh off a bounce-back 24-17 win against Vanderbilt . Prior to that, the previously 6-1 Tigers dropped three SEC contests in a row. All three of those losses came by double digits, including one defeat against unranked Florida . Not to be outdone, Oklahoma notched its biggest win of the season -- and took a sledgehammer to Alabama's College Football Playoff hopes -- in a 24-3 romp over the Crimson Tide. That was Oklahoma's sixth win of the year, which means that the Sooners will make it to a bowl game for a 26th straight season, the second-longest streak in the FBS. Though both teams have already locked down a bowl game, a win Saturday is still important to improve either team's stock during the postseason bidding process. How to watch LSU vs. Oklahoma live Date : Saturday, Nov. 30 | Time : 7 p.m. ET Location : Tiger Stadium -- Baton Rouge, Louisiana TV: ESPN | Live stream: fubo (Try for free) LSU vs. Oklahoma: Need to know Help could be on the way for Oklahoma: Oklahoma's offense has struggled a lot this season -- the Sooners notably fired offensive coordinator Seth Littrell on Oct. 20, one day after a 35-9 loss to South Carolina -- and a big reason why is the fact that the Sooners have been without their five top wide receivers for a majority of the year. Most of the injuries that set that room back occurred either in the preseason or within the first few games. The good news for Oklahoma is that help could be on the way at the receiver spot. There is a possibility that Deion Burks and Jalil Farooq are both able to return against LSU. Farooq has only played in two games this season, including a brief appearance against Missouri , while Burks hasn't played since Nov. 9. Burks' return would be a special boon as, in spite of his missed time, he still leads the Sooners with three touchdowns catches. All eyes on Garrett Nussmeier : Saturday could be LSU quarterback Garrett Nussmeier's last time in Tiger Stadium. The redshirt junior, who spent three years biding his time and learning LSU's system before emerging as a starter in 2024, is eligible to declare for the 2025 NFL Draft . At one point, he was seen as a potential first-round prospect due to his excellent frame and big arm. But his stock has dropped a bit down the stretch amid some late-season struggles. Nussmeier has thrown five touchdowns to five interceptions in LSU's last four games and seven of his 11 interceptions came in the past six contests. LSU coach Brian Kelly recently said he is "hopeful" that Nussmeier will return in 2025 in an attempt to recover some of his draft buzz. Strength vs. Strength: Even with Nussmeier's struggles of late, LSU still has one of the most prolific passing attacks in the nation. And Nussmeier did have a good game against Vanderbilt, posting 332 yards and one touchdown through the air while completing just over 75% of his passes. The Tigers currently rank second in the SEC with 317.7 yards passing per game. They have plenty of talented receivers to spread the ball to, including wideout Kyren Lacy , who is currently tied for first place in the SEC with eight touchdowns. Oklahoma's secondary will be a huge test. The Sooners have held each of their last three opponents -- and four of their last five -- under 200 yards passing. They've also been opportunistic when it comes to creating turnovers. Oklahoma had three interceptions against Alabama, one of which linebacker Kip Lewis returned for a crucial touchdown to give the Sooners their decisive advantage. All sports betting odds via Caesars Sportsbook . Check out the latest Caesars promo code to get in the game. LSU vs. Oklahoma prediction, picks Oklahoma has quietly had an excellent defensive season. Or, at least it was quiet before the Sooners held Alabama's explosive offense to three total points. The Sooners currently rank fourth in the SEC in total defense (311.3 yards per game) and are holding opponents to just 20.2 points per contest. Jackson Arnold has also been solid for the Sooners after returning to the field -- especially with his legs. He has 221 yards and one touchdown rushing in Oklahoma's last three games. All this to say, Oklahoma is a bad matchup for an LSU team with a faltering offense and a defense that really struggles to defend against rushing quarterbacks. The Sooners may not win straight-up (the game's a tossup in my mind), but it will be incredibly close either way. The six-point betting line seems like too much. Pick: Oklahoma +6 SportsLine's proven computer model is calling for several outright upsets in Week 14 of college football . Visit SportsLine now to see them all , plus get spread picks for every game from the model that simulates each game 10,000 times.
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