How Millennials Will Change the Face of Philanthropy

Wednesday, September 17, 2014

Three decades from now a subtle shift will have taken root in our economy. It will start slowly, with billions of dollars changing hands annually, and then move to amass over $14 trillion by 2031. Millennials are expected to be the core beneficiaries of a coming $30 trillion transfer of wealth between generations, according to Accenture’s report on the “Greater Wealth Transfer.” This will impact philanthropy, investments, and possibly even global financial markets.

While many of the recent Millennial millionaires have been self-made—and are often the first generation in their family to hold significant wealth—the crop of wealthy Millennials is about to rapidly expand as family fortunes change hands. With a new swath of billionaires consistently gracing Forbes’ annual list of the world’s wealthy, Millennials will slowly start to change the face of philanthropy. Every year the rising popularity of philanthropic pledges, most notably the billionaire club known as the Giving Pledge, signs up new moguls to commit to giving away half of their wealth to philanthropy or charity.

This begs the question: how will Millennials impact, and possibly disrupt, finance, and philanthropy in the coming decades? Twenty years from now, Millennials could be swimming in up to $30 trillion, and what they do with it will change the financial and charitable giving markets. Here are three trends to look for in the coming decade:

Source: Diplomatic Courier (link opens in a new window)

Categories
Environment
Tags
impact investing, philanthropy