69% of Millennials Say an Inheritance Is Critical to Their Retirement, According to the Northwestern Mutual 2025 Study

69% of Millennials rate an expected inheritance as critical or highly critical to long-term financial security, exceeding the 57% average among inheritance-expecting adults. Only 26% of Millennials expect to receive an inheritance, down from 32% in 2024, while Gen Z expectations fall from 38% to 30%. This mismatch turns retirement planning based on wealth transfer into a gamble. The saving rate drops from 6.2% in Q1 2024 to 4.0% in Q1 2026 despite rising per capita disposable income. Households appear to spend most disposable dollars, leaving limited room for independent retirement contributions. Wages rise, but costs rise as well, tightening financial margins further.

"69% of Millennials say an expected inheritance is "critical" or "highly critical" to their long-term financial security or retirement, well above the 57% average across all inheritance-expecting adults. The framing matters, as a generation that came of age through two recessions, a pandemic, and a housing market that priced many of them out is now telling pollsters that someone else's estate is a critical component of their retirement plan."

"The mathematical reality presents a massive complication: only 26% of Millennials now expect to receive an inheritance, down from 32% in 2024. Gen Z expectations simultaneously slipped from 38% to 30% over the exact same period. Building an entire retirement strategy around a wealth transfer that the vast majority of recipients no longer expect to receive turns a financial plan into a mere gamble. The widening gulf between critical dependence and actual likelihood is exactly where structural fragility lives."

"The harsh macro backdrop directly explains why an anticipated generational windfall has morphed into a critical planning anchor. The national personal saving rate plummeted from 6.2% in the first quarter of 2024 to 4.0% in the first quarter of 2026, even as per capita disposable income rose from $63,638 to $68,617. Working households are technically earning more paper wealth while keeping far less of it. Modern consumers are currently burning through 96 cents of every single disposable dollar, leaving an incredibly thin margin for independent retirement contributions on top of immediate daily obligations."

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