Millennial women are about to control more money than ever — and they’re betting on each other.
Researchers at financial organization Ellevest surveyed 2,041 women aged 18 to 69 with a salary higher than $150,000 or a net with of $750,000 or more to determine how an expected great wealth transfer will impact and be impacted by women.
The great wealth transfer refers to the tens of trillions of dollars that baby boomers are expected to pass down over the next 20 years.
As that money is shared, “seismic changes” in the economy and society are expected to take place with what has been coined “the feminization of wealth,” the Ellevest survey found.
The majority of women (94%) said they believe their economic power is being underestimated.
Only 17% of men and 42% of women believe women will benefit the most from the great wealth transfer, the report found — but they will, according to Ellevest.
“By 2030, American women will manage at least $30 trillion, more than the national GDP,” a report on the survey said. “We’ve never seen this kind of change.”
This is expected to shrink — but not close — the gender wealth gap.
As women typically outlive men, boomer women are expected to inherit more money and pass it down to millennials — a generation that has a record number of single women.
Nearly half — about 45% — of millennial women either had received or soon expected to receive a financial windfall of about $300,000, according to the report.
Of those lucky inheritors, 80% said they would feel comfortable challenging long-held money taboos and talking about finances with their families.
This extra chunk of change will also allow about a quarter of women to leave relationships “that no longer serve them” — double that of women who don’t expect a financial windfall.
Adding to their wealth won’t just impact the women individually, but their unique spending habits will influence societal changes, according to the report.
“The numbers for the Great Wealth Transfer are so large that women have the opportunity to reshape broad swaths of our society,” it noted.
Millennial women will make investing a financial windfall their top priority (45%) with others planning to put it in the bank (39%) and spend money traveling (33%).
When they do invest, millennials are twice as likely as boomers to invest in impact-based causes, the survey found.
In fact, 88% of millennials say they are interested in investing in climate causes with it being one of their top financial concerns — climate change impacts women more drastically than it does men, according to the report.
Women have also been found to give away a larger percentage of their wealth than men.
Many women plan to donate to organizations backing women and girls, using their financial power to support issues like reproductive rights and women’s health.
They are also likely to invest in other women, hire other women and pay women high salaries.
“A world where women control more wealth could look very different,” researchers said.