Millennials could become the richest generation ever — but only if they already come from money

• Millennials are projected to inherit $90 trillion over the next two decades, according to a new wealth report.
• This wealth transfer is set to make them the richest generation ever.
• But, Gen Zs are in a position to have more ways to create their own wealth, the report says. 

If you're a Millennial whose parents have a boatload of money, you're about to make your generation historically rich.

Over the next 20 years, $90 trillion worth of assets is expected to move between generations, mostly from older generations, such as Boomers, to Millennials, according to a new wealth report from global property consultancy Knight Frank.

The transfer in wealth will make "affluent millennials the richest generation in history," according to the report.

Millennials have struggled much more than previous generations to purchase their own homes, thanks to rising debt, high interest rates, and a drop in the housing supply.

And while Millennials' best chance for wealth may be to simply inherit it, some are better poised to create it for themselves, said Mike Pickett, a director at Cazenove Capital, in the report.

"It goes beyond a simple shift of existing wealth," Pickett said. "I think the diversity of opportunity to create wealth has also grown — for example, there are YouTubers worth tens of millions. First-generation wealth creation is on the rise, as is the array of entrepreneurial routes to create it."

The report urges the financial sector to be ready for the influx in monied millennials by offering wealth management "on their wavelength." This could especially be useful as more millennials try to maintain the surprising amount of wealth they generated during the pandemic years.

The report also revealed that the amount of super rich people has been growing too. The number of ultra-high-net-worth individuals, which Knight Frank defines as anyone with more than $30 million to their name, increased 44% in the past five years. And in the next five years, Knight Frank expects their numbers to increase 28%, mostly in India and mainland China.