The Largest Wealth Transfer in History Is Happening Now

Over the last several weeks, I’ve been sharing a framework for thinking about wealth differently: the three shifts, how to find and evaluate deals, and the importance of tax strategy.

This week, I want to zoom out and talk about something bigger. Something that I believe represents the single greatest wealth-building opportunity in a generation.

The largest wealth transfer in the history of the world is happening right now.

And over the next 10-15 years, it’s going to reshape who owns what and create massive opportunities for people who are positioned correctly.

The Numbers Are Staggering

The estimates vary, but we’re talking about somewhere between $80 trillion and $105 trillion changing hands from baby boomers to millennials.

Let that sink in for a second.

The baby boomer generation owns more businesses, more real estate, and more investable assets than any generation in history. And they’re retiring. They’re ready to move on. Many of them have no succession plan.

That means tens of millions of businesses and properties are going to change hands. Some will be sold. Some will be inherited. Some will simply close because nobody stepped up to buy them.

What This Means for You

This is where the invisible deals are going to come from over the next decade.

I’ve said before: I like buying businesses and real estate from baby boomers who are retiring. Why? Because they’re not trying to maximize every dollar. They just want to move on. They want to know their business is in good hands. They want a fair deal that lets them retire in peace.

That’s a very different negotiation than buying from an institution that’s going to gouge you – selling based on “future earning potential” rather than today’s present value.

When you buy from a retiring boomer, you’re often getting a business that’s been run conservatively, that has real cash flow, that has loyal customers and employees. And you’re getting it at a fair price because the seller’s motivation isn’t to squeeze out every last dollar – it’s to find a buyer they trust.

Seller Financing Is Everywhere Right Now

Here’s another thing that’s happening: With interest rates higher than they’ve been in years, seller financing is rampant.

A lot of the businesses being bought right now are being done via seller finance. The seller becomes the bank. They carry the note. And the terms are often far better than what you’d get from a traditional lender.

This opens up opportunities for people who don’t have millions sitting in cash. You can acquire real, cash-flowing businesses with creative deal structures – sometimes with little or no money down.

I’ve done deals where I earned cash flow on money that “didn’t exist” when I bought the property because the seller financed it and I negotiated favorable terms. That’s the power of creative deal structuring.

Where the Opportunities Are

If you really want to know where the next big opportunities are, follow the millennials.

How do they shop? How do they work? What do they do for recreation? How do they travel? How do they live? What are their habits and values?

All the data you need is right there. The businesses and real estate that will thrive over the next 20 years are the ones that serve how this generation wants to live – not how their parents lived.

And right now, there’s a mismatch. The boomers own the assets. The millennials have the spending power and the values that will shape the future. That gap is where the opportunity lives.

The Category of Ultra-Wealthy Is Growing

Here’s something interesting I’ve been tracking.

Five years ago, there were about 30,000 U.S. households worth over $100 million. As of last year’s data? 74,000.

There are now over 430,000 U.S. households worth $30 million or more, and that number has jumped significantly in just the last few years.

The category of ultra-wealthy is growing. And a lot of that growth is coming from people who positioned themselves correctly during this transition – who saw the wealth transfer coming and got in front of it.

The Takeaway

This isn’t a “someday” opportunity. It’s happening now. The next 10-15 years will determine who captures this wealth and who misses it.

The people who position themselves in the right networks, who have access to deal flow, who know how to evaluate opportunities and structure creative deals – they’re going to be the ones who benefit.

Everyone else is going to wonder what happened.

Next week, I want to bring this all together. We’ve talked about the three shifts, invisible deals, evaluation frameworks, tax strategy, and now the wealth transfer opportunity. But there’s one piece I haven’t addressed directly: How do you actually get access to all of this?

I’ll share my thoughts on that next week.

Until then,

Justin

P.S. If you know someone who’s been thinking about buying a business – or who’s sitting on the sidelines wondering where the opportunities are – forward this to them. The wealth transfer is the biggest tailwind any of us will see in our investing lifetimes. I don’t want people to miss it.