Salvatore M. Capizzi, CEPA, CBDA, is Dunham's Chief of Sales & Marketing and a 2026 Wealthies CMO of the Year Finalist. His work focuses on retirement planning, emerging trends for financial advisors, and advanced tax, trust, and estate strategies.
Originally published 2023 | Updated 2026
The feminization of wealth describes the growing control women have over U.S. assets, businesses, investments, and inherited wealth. By 2030, women are projected to control $34 trillion in U.S. assets under management, making relationship-driven, goal-based planning essential for financial advisors seeking to retain and grow client assets.
Key Takeaways:
Women controlled an estimated $18 trillion in U.S. assets under management in 2023—34% of the total—and that figure is projected to nearly double to $34 trillion by 2030.
The Great Wealth Transfer is accelerating this shift. Cerulli projects that $124 trillion will change hands through 2048, including nearly $40 trillion expected to transfer first to widowed women in the Baby Boomer and older generations.
Women-owned businesses now represent 39.2% of all U.S. businesses and generate approximately $3.3 trillion in annual revenue, even as a substantial revenue and employment gap remains.
Advisor retention is especially vulnerable during major life transitions. BlackRock cites research showing that 80% of widowed women leave their advisor within a year of their spouse’s death, often because the advisor never established a meaningful relationship with them.
Advisors that build relationships early, lead with education, connect planning to life goals, and serve the entire household will be better positioned to retain assets and earn the next generation’s trust.
Over the next decade, the financial-services industry will undergo a dramatic transformation—one driven by the feminization of wealth.
Women are taking greater control of household finances, business ownership, investments, and inherited assets. The shift is being fueled by higher educational attainment, entrepreneurship, rising lifetime earnings, and the Great Wealth Transfer now moving through American households.
According to McKinsey & Company, women controlled approximately $18 trillion in U.S. assets under management in 2023, up from roughly $10 trillion in 2018. By 2030, women are projected to control $34 trillion, or about 38% of all U.S. assets under management.
For financial advisors, this is becoming a practice-management imperative.
Why? Because the advisors best positioned for the future won't simply market to women as a broad audience. They will build genuine relationships with female clients and spouses, understand the planning challenges that arise across a longer lifespan, and deliver advice that connects investments to the outcomes clients care about most.
Let’s explore why this change is happening - and what financial professionals can do to stay ahead.
Women’s Growing Economic Power
Women’s financial influence is expanding across education, employment, entrepreneurship, and inheritance.
1. Women Are Outpacing Men in Education and Employment
Education remains one of the most important long-term drivers of earning power and financial independence.
Women have outpaced men in higher educational attainment among employed adults for decades, and the gap continues to widen. In 2025, 49.6% of employed women age 25 and older held at least a bachelor’s degree, compared with 41.7% of employed men.
Figure 2: BLS (2026)
This matters because higher levels of education can support higher lifetime earnings, greater retirement-plan participation, increased investing capacity, and more financial decision-making authority within households.
2. Women-Owned Businesses Are Booming
Women aren't just earning more - They're building more.
The 2025 Impact of Women-Owned Businesses Report found that women-owned businesses represented 39.2% of all U.S. businesses. These firms generated approximately $3.3 trillion in annual revenue and employed about 12.9 million people.
Meanwhile, women-owned businesses outpaced male-owned businesses in firm creation, employment, and revenue between 2019-2024.
Figure 3: The Impact of Women-Owned Businesses, Wells Fargo (2025)
That growth creates a significant opportunity for advisors. Business owners often need more than investment management. They need coordinated guidance around:
Cash-flow management and emergency reserves
Retirement-plan design
Tax-aware investing
Business succession and exit planning
Insurance and risk management
Estate planning and intergenerational wealth transfer
Women entrepreneurs are also not a one-size-fits-all market. Their needs can vary widely by industry, business size, life stage, family responsibilities, and ownership structure.
Advisors who take the time to understand the business behind the balance sheet can build more valuable, durable client relationships.
3. The Great Wealth Transfer Is Putting More Assets in Women’s Hands
A historic wealth transfer is already underway.
Cerulli Associates projects that $124 trillion will transfer through 2048, with $105 trillion expected to pass to heirs and $18 trillion to charity.
A substantial share will first move between spouses. Cerulli estimates that $54 trillion will transfer to surviving spouses, with nearly $40 trillion expected to go to widowed women in the Baby Boomer and older generations.
Women are more likely to outlive their spouses, which means many will eventually become the primary decision-maker for household assets. But inheritance is not simply a financial event. It is often accompanied by grief, uncertainty, major lifestyle changes, and a need to make decisions quickly.
For advisors, the opportunity is not to “win” the assets after a spouse dies. The opportunity is to earn trust well before that transition occurs.
Why Women Invest Differently - and Why It Matters
Women have distinct financial priorities compared to men, and understanding these differences is key for financial advisors.
1. Women Prioritize Security Over Risk
Women tend to be more risk-averse, focusing on long-term security, retirement planning, and wealth preservation.
This cautious approach is influenced by longer life expectancy, higher healthcare costs, and the need to ensure financial stability in later years.
2. Women Seek Personalized Financial Advice
Research shows that women are twice as likely as men to pay for professional financial advice, especially during major life transitions like retirement or widowhood.
However, 70% of women switch financial advisors within a year of inheriting wealth from a spouse - a major risk for advisors who fail to meet their needs.
3. Women Focus on Family and Impact Investing
Female investors are more likely to prioritize family well-being, philanthropy, and sustainable investing over short-term profits.
Advisors who align with these values will have an edge in retaining and attracting female clients.
What Financial Advisors Can Do
To succeed in the era of female wealth, financial advisors must adopt new strategies that cater to the distinct needs of women. Here are some key approaches for advisors:
Personalize the Approach - Women value advisors who take time to understand their unique circumstances and life objectives. Building trust and personal connections is crucial to long-term success.
Focus on Life Goals - Female clients prioritize financial goals such as retirement security, managing healthcare expenses, and ensuring they don’t outlive their assets. And as more women increase their earnings power through higher wage potential and entrepreneurship, advisors should align financial plans with these objectives.
Plan for Longevity – Since women tend to live longer than men, their financial strategies need to account for longer retirement periods, healthcare expenses, and the risk of outliving savings.
Guide Them Through Transitions - Women often manage their wealth through significant life transitions, such as inheritance or retirement. Advisors should provide both financial and emotional support during these periods.
The Future of Wealth Management is Female
As the Great Wealth Transfer continues, women will play an increasingly dominant role in shaping the financial industry.
For financial advisors, the message is clear: adapt now, or risk losing assets under management (AUM).
Are you prepared to serve the growing female wealth market?
Take Action Today
Include both spouses or partners in every appropriate planning conversation.
Review your client-service model for widowhood, divorce, retirement, caregiving, and inheritance transitions.
Build a formal process for engaging adult children and future heirs.
Lead with life goals, planning outcomes, and financial education—not product features alone.
Evaluate whether your marketing, website, content, and referral strategy speak directly to women as investors, business owners, and wealth creators.
Ready to grow your practice and better serve the evolving wealth market?
What is the feminization of wealth? The feminization of wealth refers to women gaining greater control over household assets, investments, businesses, and inherited wealth. It is being driven by higher earnings, education, entrepreneurship, longevity, and the Great Wealth Transfer.
How much wealth will women control by 2030? McKinsey projects that women will control approximately $34 trillion in U.S. assets under management by 2030, representing about 38% of total U.S. assets under management.
Why is the Great Wealth Transfer important for women? Women are likely to receive a significant share of transferred wealth because they tend to outlive male spouses and are also major beneficiaries of intergenerational inheritance. Cerulli estimates that nearly $40 trillion will first transfer to widowed women in the Baby Boomer and older generations through 2048.
Why should financial advisors engage both spouses? Advisors who primarily work with one spouse risk losing the relationship when assets transfer. Meaningful engagement with both partners can strengthen trust, improve continuity during difficult life transitions, and support long-term asset retention.
How can advisors better serve female clients? Advisors can better serve female clients by avoiding assumptions, listening closely to individual goals, prioritizing financial education, planning for longevity, involving the full household, and providing proactive support during transitions such as widowhood, divorce, retirement, inheritance, or a business sale.
This communication is general in nature and provided for educational and informational purposes only. It should not be considered or relied upon as legal, tax or investment advice or an investment recommendation, or as a substitute for legal or tax counsel. Any investment products or services named herein are for illustrative purposes only and should not be considered an offer to buy or sell, or an investment recommendation for, any specific security, strategy or investment product or service. Always consult a qualified professional or your own independent financial professional for personalized advice or investment recommendations tailored to your specific goals, individual situation, and risk tolerance. All examples are hypothetical and are for illustrative purposes only.
Information contained in the materials included is believed to be from reliable sources, but no representations or guarantees are made as to the accuracy or completeness of information. This document is provided for information purposes only and should not be considered as investment advice.
Dunham & Associates Investment Counsel, Inc. is a Registered Investment Adviser and Broker/Dealer. Member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services and securities offered through Dunham & Associates Investment Counsel, Inc.
