How Millennials and Gen Z Plan to Use Inheritances

Sixty-eight percent of millennials and Generation Z expect to receive an inheritance or have already done so, according to a recent survey by USA Today Blueprint. The average windfall amounts to about $320,000 on average.

The survey found that while 82% of respondents expect to inherit cash, 62% look forward to receiving real estate. Other transfers of wealth include vehicles, investments and ownership stakes, and other property.

A majority of survey respondents saw a downside to the ongoing generational wealth transfer. Fifty-seven percent, including 54% who are in the inheritance pipeline, believe it will perpetuate wealth inequality in the United States.

Blueprint used the Prolific online research platform on Nov. 13 to survey 1,255 Americans ages 18 to 42, asking about family inheritances, debt and financial support of aging parents, and how the inheritance will affect their futures.

Inherited Wealth Priorities

The survey results showed that millennials and Gen Zers have a variety of plans for how they will use their inheritances, including: 

Savings and/or investments: 76%
Paying off debt (excluding mortgages): 40%
Travel: 22%
Pass on to children: 21%
Paying off mortgage: 20%
Home improvement: 17%
New property purchase: 16%

Charitable giving appears to be in the plans of only 8% of millennial and Gen Z inheritors, according to the survey.

Among millennials and Gen Zers who expect to pay off money they owe, student loan debt is an especially heavy burden, comprising about 36% of the outstanding U.S. total (although Gen Xers are the most heavily burdened, owing 57% of the total).