WHY THE $41 TRILLION WEALTH TRANSFER ESTIMATE IS STILL VALID: A REVIEW OF CHALLENGES AND QUESTIONS Introduction

The release of the report, Millionaires and the Millennium: New Estimates of the Forthcoming Wealth Transfer and the Prospects for a Golden Age of Philanthropy by the Social Welfare Research Institute at Boston College in 1999 regenerated interest in the intergenerational transfer of wealth. Although the report documented a low-, a mediumand a high-growth scenario, the most cited figure is the low-growth minimum estimate of $41 trillion (in 1998 dollars) during the 55-year period from 1998 through 2052.