Nell Derick Debevoise Dewey, Senior Contributor
Feb. 26, 2026
By the end of this decade, women are projected to control 40% of investable assets in the United States. By 2048, they are expected to inherit an estimated $86 trillion .
The headlines frame this as a transfer. But it may be something more consequential: a directional shift in power. And more importantly, the way we use our power.
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In a recent conversation with Syama Bunten, founder of Wealth Catalyst and host of the Getting Rich Together podcast, one theme surfaced again and again: the risk isn’t that women will mismanage this wealth. It’s that they will leave it untouched.
“We are inherently complicit in a capitalistic world whether we like it or not,” Bunten told me. “Inaction will make our nieces, nephews, younger generations, children suffer.”
In other words, silence is not neutral.
The Conversation That 95% of Women Avoid
Bunten didn’t begin her work in finance. She began in isolation.
During her divorce nearly seven years ago, she emailed 50 successful female peers (business owners, corporate executives, investors) with a simple question: would they talk with her about money?
“95% of them did not want to talk to me about this,” she said.
They were happy to offer emotional support. They would meet for cocktails. They would shop. But the topic of wealth itself remained off limits.
The reason wasn’t ignorance. It was shame.
“Women often won’t share successes because they don’t want to make others feel bad. And they won’t share struggles because they don’t want to look bad.”
In that gap between performance and vulnerability, wealth becomes private not just legally, but psychologically.
From Possession to Stewardship
The traditional wealth model is preservation-focused: accumulate, protect, diversify, repeat.
But preservation alone does not build the future.
Christine Benz of Morningstar has noted that women investors often take a longer-term, goals-based approach, characteristics more aligned with stewardship than short-term accumulation.
Building on that point, Bunten said, “Money is nonlinear.”
Cash flows in and out across life stages. Markets fluctuate. Opportunities appear and disappear. Yet many investors treat wealth as a static number on a brokerage dashboard rather than a dynamic system.
The deeper issue is identity. Many high-achieving women can run a $100 million business, Bunten noted, yet hesitate to ask a wealth manager to reallocate $100,000.
The resources are there. The ability is demonstrated. Yet the agency is not always exercised .
The Risk of Legacy Portfolios
The coming inheritance wave will not arrive as blank checks. It will come largely in “legacy portfolios:” established allocations built for a different era.
“The risk of not being capitally active and taking agency with your money,” Bunten said, “is simply that you are not going to be investing into the people, businesses, and ideas that will really sustain the future of the world that you want to steward.”
Legacy portfolios are, by definition, backward-looking. They are optimized for yesterday’s assumptions. In rapidly evolving markets like healthcare innovation, climate tech, and AI, passivity becomes a strategy in itself. And not a strategy that wins.
Women today are increasingly investing in emerging sectors, including women’s healthcare, deep tech, entrepreneurship through acquisition, and women’s sports, which are historically undercapitalized yet culturally and economically significant. These sectors are often overlooked precisely because they sit outside legacy allocation models, creating potential for outsized long-term impact and return.
Capital, in this framing, is not just a store of value. It is stored power. Where it flows determines what grows.
The Great Wealth Enlightenment
On her nationwide Freedom Tour, Bunten hosts intimate salons where women share both financial successes and questions – often for the first time. At larger summits, she invites participants to see themselves as both teachers and students.
“Every woman in the room is qualified to be on stage,” she said.
The goal is not to replace advisors, but to rebalance the dynamic. Experts execute strategy. Women define it.
She calls this moment “the great wealth enlightenment:” a rare convergence where women can combine earnership, inheritorship, and stewardship at scale.
Historically, those elements did not align. Today, they do.
Why Inaction Is the Bigger Risk
In leadership conversations, risk is often framed as action: a bold investment, a strategic pivot, a major reallocation.
But in rapidly shifting markets and cultural systems, standing still may be the greater gamble.
As Bunten puts it, “You can’t be like, it doesn’t matter to me. It’s accelerating.”
Capital that remains in default settings quietly compounds in outdated assumptions. Capital that is activated compounds in future-facing ones.
The difference is not ideological. It is directional.
A 3D View of Wealth
In my own work on multidimensional leadership, I often describe sustainable success as requiring alignment across three dimensions: personal wellbeing (ME), collective performance (WE), and broader societal impact (WORLD).
Wealth intersects all three.
- ME: Financial agency reduces fear and expands optionality.
- WE: Shared conversations reduce shame and increase competence.
- WORLD: Intentional capital shapes markets and institutions.
The next chapter of women’s wealth will not be defined by net worth alone. It will be defined by how consciously that worth is directed.
The transfer is coming either way.
The question is whether it remains private… or becomes powerful.
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