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How Does Intergenerational Wealth Transmission Affect Wealth Concentration? Accessible Data

Figure 1: Size Distribution of Inheritances

Percent

  Count Dollars
<50K 55.45911 5.80991
50K-249K 30.32645 21.16943
250K-499K 8.240075 16.80761
500K-1M 3.858321 15.95561
>1M 2.116054 40.25744

Percent of Count in Size Category: 1995 to 2016 annual average: 1,700,000 inheritances.

Percent of Dollars in Size Category: 1995 to 2016 annual averages: $290 billion in inheritances.

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board.

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Figure 2: Size Distribution of inter vivos Transfers

Percent

  Count Dollars
<50K 73 10
50K-249K 20 21
250K-499K 4 13
500K-1M 1 8
>1M 2 49

Percent of Count in Size Category: 1995 to 2016 annual average: 1,700,000 inheritances.

Percent of Dollars in Size Category: 1995 to 2016 annual averages: $290 billion in inheritances.

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board.

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Figure 3: Inheritance Receipt by Age and Income

  Probability of Inheritance Receipt by Income Group (Fraction)   Conditional Amount of Inheritance Receipt by Income Group (Fraction)
Age Bottom 50% 50th - 90th Percentiles Top 10%   Bottom 50% 50th - 90th Percentiles Top 10%
25 0.0263 0.0410 0.0540   11.1566 26.4286 283.5551
26 0.0257 0.0419 0.0531   12.3802 38.0259 284.4703
27 0.0260 0.0426 0.0524   18.2947 47.8852 297.4855
28 0.0248 0.0415 0.0536   19.0704 49.0738 310.4696
29 0.0255 0.0422 0.0517   27.9056 63.4746 307.3185
30 0.0247 0.0408 0.0515   29.3991 63.9588 319.2375
31 0.0258 0.0425 0.0526   40.5702 76.3655 333.7292
32 0.0254 0.0427 0.0540   43.8433 80.2109 340.7831
33 0.0252 0.0424 0.0531   44.1817 86.0736 345.4809
34 0.0260 0.0428 0.0517   51.4850 93.1498 340.6185
35 0.0259 0.0438 0.0559   52.7191 97.0077 358.1796
36 0.0262 0.0442 0.0566   58.8311 101.9923 360.4529
37 0.0269 0.0454 0.0545   61.6283 106.5248 360.7930
38 0.0275 0.0453 0.0584   67.7153 110.1420 371.5491
39 0.0282 0.0454 0.0588   73.8255 112.0081 371.3802
40 0.0291 0.0493 0.0614   77.9346 126.0927 383.1901
41 0.0294 0.0501 0.0628   81.0800 126.8239 384.7587
42 0.0305 0.0515 0.0646   83.2333 129.7113 389.1613
43 0.0309 0.0523 0.0644   89.3190 134.4586 382.9836
44 0.0318 0.0534 0.0678   90.3465 138.9354 395.7082
45 0.0327 0.0537 0.0698   95.6426 137.4764 397.9167
46 0.0337 0.0558 0.0713   99.0197 140.0712 397.4727
47 0.0348 0.0580 0.0724   102.6825 146.0317 399.6094
48 0.0355 0.0591 0.0741   104.6912 147.3490 404.8680
49 0.0373 0.0618 0.0765   111.2034 152.7403 408.5334
50 0.0367 0.0617 0.0769   107.3902 152.5602 407.7383
51 0.0367 0.0639 0.0812   110.1318 157.0653 408.9517
52 0.0370 0.0632 0.0829   110.0612 151.9768 412.0812
53 0.0401 0.0670 0.0845   117.2077 158.1546 414.0314
54 0.0400 0.0684 0.0863   118.3034 162.3145 413.5127
55 0.0397 0.0684 0.0877   115.7408 157.1083 417.1698
56 0.0417 0.0698 0.0900   118.5495 161.5343 422.2037
57 0.0414 0.0702 0.0889   117.0594 159.1595 424.1363
58 0.0434 0.0707 0.0896   118.6336 157.8828 417.4794
59 0.0441 0.0732 0.0942   119.6969 164.7915 424.1660
60 0.0420 0.0725 0.0919   113.6140 160.8385 420.6898
61 0.0420 0.0739 0.0953   112.0609 164.4774 421.8640
62 0.0421 0.0728 0.0955   115.3950 160.5055 424.0162
63 0.0423 0.0746 0.0942   109.7450 161.7829 421.9164
64 0.0415 0.0715 0.0930   112.0359 155.8883 417.1675
65 0.0414 0.0742 0.0933   112.1802 157.7363 414.9262
66 0.0411 0.0709 0.0904   108.1885 157.9671 420.6444
67 0.0416 0.0697 0.0893   106.9034 151.5748 411.2740
68 0.0392 0.0660 0.0865   104.5845 148.8167 406.2771
69 0.0374 0.0657 0.0866   99.4852 149.5475 412.9524
70 0.0361 0.0652 0.0779   98.0026 149.2658 404.2460
71 0.0356 0.0615 0.0808   97.3241 146.1117 407.2015
72 0.0327 0.0598 0.0743   88.8459 138.6289 394.6463
73 0.0327 0.0570 0.0780   95.0739 137.0561 403.2726
74 0.0295 0.0558 0.0726   89.4515 143.3084 406.4092
75 0.0259 0.0490 0.0702   82.3133 125.7522 402.7880
76 0.0259 0.0471 0.0637   80.8502 128.9017 397.5989
77 0.0249 0.0446 0.0545   84.0426 131.1419 363.4744
78 0.0212 0.0402 0.0560   75.9806 124.0558 386.0152
79 0.0190 0.0354 0.0492   69.7134 108.9180 379.5119
80 0.0186 0.0315 0.0483   71.5786 106.3383 389.7972

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board.

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Figure 4: Inter vivos Transfer Receipt by Age and Income

  Probability of Inter Vivos Receipt by Income Group (Fraction)   Conditional Amount of Inter Vivos Receipt by Income Group (Fraction)
age bottom 50% 50-90% Top 10%   bottom 50% 50-90% Top 10%
25 0.0129 0.0171 0.0197   36.7018 52.9671 268.6223
26 0.0133 0.0176 0.0204   34.6183 65.2205 271.0310
27 0.0131 0.0176 0.0196   39.5290 68.2019 272.8050
28 0.0126 0.0176 0.0198   37.7532 66.3220 281.6761
29 0.0126 0.0176 0.0195   42.0330 78.9936 273.0549
30 0.0124 0.0168 0.0188   44.0826 71.6644 278.8442
31 0.0125 0.0169 0.0188   52.5764 79.7776 294.0349
32 0.0122 0.0168 0.0190   54.9363 81.2610 298.9007
33 0.0120 0.0163 0.0178   52.3099 83.2307 293.4659
34 0.0119 0.0161 0.0179   56.6293 90.0325 293.5579
35 0.0116 0.0158 0.0187   55.0195 86.9537 317.2818
36 0.0111 0.0155 0.0177   55.9005 92.3669 305.0655
37 0.0113 0.0152 0.0168   60.5825 90.3887 309.1360
38 0.0107 0.0146 0.0174   59.3441 91.7281 324.0981
39 0.0104 0.0139 0.0163   62.7384 87.6663 309.9063
40 0.0104 0.0143 0.0166   66.3059 105.4645 332.2035
41 0.0101 0.0141 0.0162   69.6954 108.1975 331.0065
42 0.0100 0.0138 0.0158   71.8071 109.5206 334.7363
43 0.0097 0.0135 0.0148   79.4774 118.6838 317.0683
44 0.0095 0.0128 0.0148   80.4671 117.4745 335.8786
45 0.0091 0.0122 0.0148   82.7794 112.1803 344.7405
46 0.0089 0.0122 0.0143   88.1300 119.0302 340.6891
47 0.0088 0.0119 0.0139   92.7091 126.0047 346.2423
48 0.0085 0.0116 0.0129   96.4978 128.1652 341.9688
49 0.0084 0.0115 0.0130   105.5654 136.0242 354.9766
50 0.0080 0.0109 0.0125   103.5370 137.6566 356.2592
51 0.0076 0.0106 0.0126   108.5090 142.9269 358.2543
52 0.0073 0.0101 0.0122   109.6291 137.5353 364.1442
53 0.0074 0.0105 0.0120   119.1046 155.5208 370.8277
54 0.0072 0.0097 0.0114   124.1631 149.4750 362.7973
55 0.0068 0.0097 0.0111   120.2841 153.2136 372.1001
56 0.0068 0.0091 0.0109   125.4739 152.5609 380.8364
57 0.0064 0.0088 0.0104   123.6885 150.0447 388.6559
58 0.0066 0.0087 0.0102   130.2615 154.7424 381.3333
59 0.0063 0.0086 0.0102   130.6523 165.3445 391.2520
60 0.0060 0.0084 0.0096   126.1383 166.6106 386.2435
61 0.0059 0.0083 0.0098   128.6514 172.7334 394.6220
62 0.0057 0.0081 0.0097   134.8208 171.4936 402.0810
63 0.0056 0.0081 0.0091   126.7881 175.3268 393.1295
64 0.0054 0.0075 0.0087   134.1614 163.7033 384.4471
65 0.0052 0.0077 0.0089   133.1841 170.5463 389.7435
66 0.0053 0.0073 0.0084   133.5742 173.3354 398.1808
67 0.0052 0.0071 0.0084   128.1605 164.1754 389.0318
68 0.0050 0.0068 0.0079   129.1432 162.0765 373.7338
69 0.0048 0.0070 0.0082   122.3755 171.8020 399.0845
70 0.0047 0.0068 0.0073   124.6381 165.6674 378.5191
71 0.0047 0.0063 0.0078   124.1885 155.3808 390.1835
72 0.0045 0.0064 0.0074   111.0916 148.5786 369.6110
73 0.0045 0.0066 0.0078   118.8500 156.7493 380.7892
74 0.0041 0.0064 0.0075   108.3331 158.2429 384.8934
75 0.0040 0.0061 0.0075   104.1162 137.9824 377.3536
76 0.0043 0.0060 0.0073   107.9050 141.0621 374.8044
77 0.0043 0.0061 0.0067   112.0033 148.1219 319.3693
78 0.0039 0.0058 0.0071   94.9399 134.3650 351.8886
79 0.0039 0.0055 0.0069   93.4578 108.8521 347.5166
80 0.0041 0.0055 0.0074   91.6916 111.3870 365.9717

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board.

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Figure 5: Concentration of Intergenerational Transfers Received by Income and Wealth

  Income by Income Group Wealth by Income Group
Bottom Half 21% 8%
50th-90th Percentiles 41% 36%
Top 10 Percent 38% 56%

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board.

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Figure 6: Effect of Direct Transfers on Wealth Holdings

Actual and Counterfactual Wealth Shares

  Actual Net Worth Counterfactual NW Share
  Share @r=3% @r=5%
Bottom 50% 3% 14% 26%
Next 40% 25% 29% 35%
Top 10% 72% 57% 39%

Source: Survey of Consumer Finances, Federal Reserve Board.

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Last Update: June 01, 2018