A wealth windfall for women is well and truly underway according to a new study from JPMorgan Wealth Management, with some $9 trillion in assets expected to be transferred from spouses to their partners over the next few decades.
While the 13-figure sum will prove significant for those who receive a share of it, women say they’re not relying on the cash to achieve their goals. In fact, three in four women say they’re well on track to achieve their financial milestones without receiving any inheritance from family or spouses.
The “sideways succession” of spousal inheritance forms one part of the wider “Great Wealth Transfer” picture. Studies have found that over the next 20 to 30 years as much as $124 trillion will be passed down from older generations to their younger counterparts, with baby boomers—people born between age 1946 and 1964—identified as the wealthiest generation in history. As these individuals begin passing on their wealth, some will go immediately to their Gen X, Millennial and Gen Z successors, but some will go to spouses.
In December, UBS put the spousal transfer figure at $9 trillion. Women are statistically more likely to outlive their husbands. In the U.S., men live to an average age of 75.8 years while women live to 81—a split further divided by a 2.2 year age difference, on average, in husband and wife partnerships.
But a recent study from JP Morgan Wealth Management found the vast majority of women aren’t relying on the funds. And while spending the money on travel is their top choice what they’re doing in reality is investing it.
The report, based on 1,045 American adults aged 25+ with at least $25,000 in investable assets, found 63% of boomer women had already received an inheritance. For Gen X, 45% expect to receive an inheritance and for Gen Z and Millennial women, 39% are expecting an inheritance.
However, 93% of the women interviewed who are expecting an inheritance aren’t relying on the money to achieve their financial goals. The report adds the women “are proactively building wealth independently, with three in four women overall feeling confident they are on track to meet their objectives.”
And while men currently are the most confident in their portfolio strategy, that may well change with the influx of cash to women. In 2023 a study from BNY Mellon Investment found men had more invested in their 401ks, their IRAs and their brokerage accounts—be it stocks, bonds, mutual funds, ETFs and so on. Of course, some of this comes down to the wage gap, but it is also a question of confidence: 45% of the women surveyed said investing money in the stock market, be it through an individual security or a fund, is too risky.
The JPMorgan study suggests that may be about to change: 45% of the women who have already inherited wealth have invested it, while 43% have used it to pay off debt. A further 41% are spending it on travel, 33% to support family and friends, and 28% are donating it to charity.
Women’s roles in the economy
The economic power of women is also changing. Traditionally, women have been in charge of households’ purse strings and are responsible for more discretionary spending than their male counterparts. This makes them a powerful cohort of consumers and a key barometer in the health of the economy.
According to a Bank of America study this summer, the growth of women’s spending is slowing. While their consumption has outpaced their male counterparts—though only by a matter of roughly 0.5%—BofA economist Taylor Bowley wrote: “Though growth has fallen from the start of the year for both, it remains positive on a three-month moving average, suggesting spending still has some room to run.”
The economist also observed in her September report that women’s average annual growth in labor force participation rate fell below men’s for the first time in six years. Bowley questioned whether this is because cooling labor market data is impacting women first: “Specifically, the labor force participation rate of women ages 25 to 44 living with a child under five fell nearly three percentage points, from 69.7% to 66.9%. The participation of those women had soared from 2022 to a peak in January 2025.
“Could this be a detour or just a bump in the road? The good news is, for both men and women overall, the pay disruption rate, which acts as a proxy for someone who has either temporarily or permanently left the labor force remains below 2024 average levels, according to Bank of America deposit account data. And perhaps more notably for women, the rate has become more closely aligned with men’s from 2024 levels, suggesting that an imbalance in unemployment or inactive worker trends between both groups isn’t stark for now.”
