52% of Parents Have Not Discussed Their Net Worth with the Kids

95% of Adult Children are Ready to Manage Inherited Wealth – A Quarter of Parents Disagree

Fidelity Provides Resources to Help Families Grow and Protect their Wealth

BOSTON --(BUSINESS WIRE)

Fidelity Investments® today released data from the 2025 Family & Finance study, highlighting a powerful yet often overlooked opportunity for families to strengthen connections during the ongoing Great Wealth transfer1: open and honest conversation. While 97% of families recognize the importance of having conversations about estate planning, nearly one-half have yet to engage in the critical conversations – leaving plans unclear or vulnerable to misinterpretation. Even more, nearly half of parents haven’t told their kids what they’ll inherit – or whether they’ll inherit at all.

“As people get older – especially past 70 – they often become less willing to talk about things like estate planning, long-term care, or how their family can be involved in planning and decision-making,” said Timothy Habbershon, managing director and founder of the Fidelity Center for Family Engagement. “But with trillions of dollars preparing to change hands, there are millions of families going through generational transitions. This is a unique opportunity to start planning conversations that can create confidence, closeness, and peace of mind for years to come.”

The study reveals that 70% of parents have created a will or estate plan. However, 68% have yet to share inheritance details with their children – details that may include not just money, but also real estate, family businesses, or other valuable assets. This leaves room for deeper conversations that can align expectations and reduce future stress. Even more, Fidelity data shows that when families engage in open dialogue, confidence and preparedness rise significantly.

Generational Expectations are Misaligned

While the next generation claims they’re ready to step up, parents aren’t so sure. Nearly all adult children (95%) say they’re ready to manage inherited wealth – but 25% of parents disagree, claiming they have concerns about how their children will manage their inheritance. Additional data from The Generations Project, a research initiative of the Fidelity Center for Family Engagement Fidelity data shows 76% of the next generation want to know if they are named as a beneficiary, but only 35% of baby boomers (individuals born between 1946 and 1964) feel a need to talk with the person being named2. This underscores the need for shared planning and education as building trust across generations is key to a successful wealth transfer.

“Planning for the future isn’t just about protecting wealth – it’s also about protecting relationships,” said David Peterson, head of Advanced Wealth Solutions at Fidelity Investments. “The upcoming holiday season offers a natural opportunity for families to come together and start these important conversations. While money can feel like a taboo topic, approaching it with openness and empathy can help families feel more connected – and better prepared to navigate life’s transitions with clarity and care.”

Women Are Taking Charge – But there’s More to Plan for Later in Life

Despite most women saying they have a financial plan in place, the data suggests many haven’t prepared for the full picture – including health care, caregiving and legacy decisions. And while inheritance expectations may vary for women, the realities of aging and legacy leave a critical gap in later in life planning:

  • 30% have created a will and/or estate plan
  • 30% have documented their health care wishes
  • 27% have assigned a health care power of attorney
  • 24% have assigned a financial power of attorney
  • 16% have planned for their future care needs

Encouragingly, 3-in-4 women currently in a relationship and living with their partner say they feel confident they could manage financial decisions were their partner to pass before them, and that number is even higher among Boomer women (87%).

Families That Talk More are Significantly More Prepared – Fidelity Can Help

The study underscores another key insight from the Fidelity Center for Family Engagement: parents who are actively talking with their children are more likely to have confidence that their plans will be carried out seamlessly. They are also more likely to believe their planning will create closeness in the family. To get started, there are several key opportunities for families:

  • Start the conversations early – even small steps like talking about values or financial literacy can build momentum
  • Document health care and financial wishes clearly to avoid confusion
  • Empower the next generation by involving them in the process, not disclosing decisions
  • Review Fidelity’s 4 keys to a successful estate plan for more tips and to stay on track

For those looking to learn how they can have deeper conversations around wealth and planning, the Fidelity Center for Family Engagement offers research, coaching, tools, resources, and skill-building experiences. Fidelity also offers support for every type of investor, whether clients prefer a more self-led experience, digital advice, or full-service wealth management for those with more complex planning and investment needs.

For customers looking for help building and managing their family financial plan, Fidelity expanded access to its personalized wealth management offering enabled by the Unified Managed Household (UMH) platform, which provides goal-based planning and investment management across the household in a tax-smart3 way.

For those unsure of where to start, Fidelity offers access to licensed financial advisors to help provide guidance. Insights from Fidelity Wealth ManagementSMare also available for those looking to educate themselves on various wealth topics—including advice on how families can get critical money conversations started.

About the 2025 Family & Finance Study
Versta Research conducted national surveys of parents and adult children about estate planning and intergenerational transfer of wealth. The parent sample was designed to reflect all U.S. parents age 55 or older with at least $500,000 in investable assets and who have adult children ages 25 to 54. The adult child sample was designed to reflect a matched sample of all U.S. adults age 25 to 54 who have a living parent age 55 or older with at least $500,000 in investable assets. Sampling was stratified, and data weighted, by age, gender, race, ethnicity, income, and education to achieve accurate representation of the target populations based on estimates from the U.S. Census Bureau and the Federal Reserve Board’s Survey of Consumer Finances. The surveys were conducted from July 21 to August 14, 2025. Assuming no sample bias, the maximum margin of error for full-sample estimates of each survey is ±3%.

About Fidelity Investments
Fidelity’s goal is to strengthen the financial well-being of our customers and deliver better outcomes for the clients and businesses we serve. Fidelity’s strength comes from the scale of our diversified, market-leading financial services businesses that serve individuals, families, employers, wealth management firms, and institutions. With assets under administration of $17.5 trillion, including discretionary assets of $6.8 trillion as of September 30, 2025, we focus on meeting the unique needs of a broad and growing customer base. Privately held for 79 years, Fidelity employs more than 78,000 associates across the United States, Ireland, and India. For more information about Fidelity Investments, visit https://www.fidelity.com/about-fidelity/our-company.

Keep in mind that investing involves risk. The value of your investment will fluctuate over time, and you may gain or lose money.

Fidelity does not provide legal or tax advice. Consult an attorney or tax professional regarding your specific situation.

Past performance is no guarantee of future results.

Views expressed are of the date indicated, based on the information available at that time, and may change based on market or other conditions. Fidelity does not assume any duty to update any of the information.

The Fidelity Center for Family Engagement is an affiliated business unit of FMR, LLC and operates externally from Fidelity's broker dealer and registered investment adviser entities ("Affiliated Entities"). Services available through FCFE are neither brokerage nor advisory products or offerings of the Affiliated Entities.

Investment advisory services provided through Strategic Advisers LLC, a registered investment adviser, for a fee. Brokerage services provided through Fidelity Brokerage Services LLC, Member NYSE, SIPC. Both are Fidelity Investments companies.

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1

The Cerulli Report—U.S. High-Net-Worth and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Markets 2024

2

Timothy G. Habbershon and Joshua A. Morris, Later-in-Life Conversations Study, The Generations Project℠ of the Fidelity Center for Family Engagement (Boston, MA: Fidelity Investments, 2024).

3

Tax-smart (i.e., tax-sensitive) investing techniques, including tax-loss harvesting, are applied in managing certain taxable accounts on a limited basis, at the discretion of the portfolio manager, primarily with respect to determining when assets in a client’s account should be bought or sold. Assets contributed may be sold for a taxable gain or loss at any time. There are no guarantees as to the effectiveness of the tax-smart investing techniques applied in serving to reduce or minimize a client’s overall tax liabilities, or as to the tax results that may be generated by a given transaction.

 

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