The Northwestern Mutual 2025 Study Says 74% of Millennials Want to Leave an Inheritance But 74% Also Have No Will

Seventy-four percent of Millennials identify leaving an inheritance as a top or highly important financial milestone. Thirty-two percent expect to leave an inheritance or charitable gift, and for that group leaving something behind ranks above retirement security and debt payoff. Many Millennials also rely on receiving inheritances for long-term financial security, with 69% of those expecting to receive an inheritance calling it critical or highly critical. Despite these priorities, estate planning remains weak. Sixty-one percent of Gen X and 39% of Baby Boomers have no written will, and Millennials show the same lack of preparation. The result is a gap between wealth-transfer goals and the legal paperwork needed to make them enforceable.

"Northwestern Mutual found that 69% of millennials who expect to receive an inheritance call it critical or highly critical to their long-term financial security. Their retirement math, home-buying math, and debt-payoff math all rely on a transfer from parents who, according to the same study's numbers, have not completed the legal work to make that transfer clean."

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