‘Significant for the economy’: Largest wealth transfer in history begins

Australian families are expected to transfer three-and-a-half trillion dollars worth of wealth between generations over the next twenty years. Baby boomers have accumulated most of this wealth and are already starting to distribute it to their children. Grant Thornton Head of Family Business Consulting Kirsten Taylor-Martin explained why this is significant for the Australian economy. “At the moment, only 12 per cent of family businesses successfully transition to the third generation, and only one in 20 families transition more wealth than what they inherited,” Ms Taylor-Martin told Sky News Business Reporter Edward Boyd. “So, if we don’t get this right, the stakes have just got a whole lot higher ... for the economy, we could have a lot more businesses go bankrupt, and that could cause unemployment.” In partnership with Grant Thornton.