THE BIG IDEA Controlling the Purse Strings
The hot topic in the field of philanthropy this year has been the imminent transfer of financial power from men to women-a trend that will accelerate as the wealth creators of the baby boomer generation die and as women continue to gain ground as high earners themselves. How they choose to spend their newfound cache stands to unleash some of the most profound changes to philanthropy in decades.
By 2030, American women are expected to control most of the $30 trillion in financial assets held by baby boomers, a level approaching that of the annual GDP of the United States, according to a McKinsey report. By 2035, women will have inherited 70 percent of this unprecedented intergenerational wealth transfer, according to a report by Citibank, largely because women tend to be younger than their husbands and to live longer.
But these days, women aren't just inheriting their money. Wealth creation is now much more equally distributed. A recent study by Altrata, a data-analysis company, found that more than half of female ultra-high-net-worth Americans are
