Maine and Hawaii have emerged as the leading U.S. hotspots for the concentration of wealth held by older households, highlighting markets where inheritance planning and intergenerational asset movement could have an outsized effect on investors, advisers and local economies.

The ranking, compiled by financial-services firm Acuity and reported by InvestmentNews on Aug. 17, estimates the wealth controlled by households headed by adults aged 65 or older in each state. Acuity then divides that amount by the state’s entire population, producing a measure of senior wealth per resident rather than an estimate of the inheritance that any individual is likely to receive.

Maine placed first at an estimated $225,172 in senior-household wealth per state resident. Hawaii followed at $207,338, while Massachusetts ranked third at $159,004. Washington was fourth at $138,169, followed by New Hampshire at $131,143 and Montana at $130,001.

New Jersey ranked seventh with an estimated $129,056 per resident, narrowly ahead of Maryland at $124,634 and Oregon at $124,494. Florida completed the top 10 at $116,719. Seven of the 10 leaders are in New England or the western United States, according to Acuity.

The figures give advisers a state-level view of where older Americans’ balance sheets carry the most economic weight. They do not show where beneficiaries live, how much will be consumed during retirement, or what portion will ultimately pass to heirs. Still, a high concentration can indicate strong demand for estate administration, trust services, tax coordination, philanthropic planning and advice on transferring businesses and real estate.

Smaller states perform strongly because the ranking adjusts estimated senior wealth for total population. Maine has one of the country’s oldest populations, increasing the relative presence of households that have spent decades accumulating homes, retirement accounts and taxable investments. Hawaii combines a comparatively older population with expensive property and other household assets, lifting its estimated concentration despite its modest population.

Massachusetts and Washington present a different mix. Both have large pools of financial and property wealth, supported by high-income industries and long periods of asset appreciation. Their presence near the top shows that the ranking captures more than traditional retirement destinations. It also highlights states where older owners and executives may hold closely held companies, concentrated stock positions or other complex assets requiring specialized succession work.

“Older Americans play an increasingly important role in local economies, from homeownership and consumer spending to charitable giving and family support,” Matthew May, a certified public accountant and accounting services leader at Acuity, said in the firm’s research. He said the results show where that influence is strongest and where the next generation may experience the largest transfers in coming years.

The ranking changes substantially when wealth is measured in total dollars instead of on a per-resident basis. California’s households headed by people 65 and older control an estimated $4.2 trillion, the largest state total, according to Acuity. Florida follows at approximately $2.64 trillion. Texas, New York, Illinois and New Jersey each have more than $1 trillion in estimated senior-household wealth, while Massachusetts and Washington also surpass that threshold.

That distinction matters for advisory firms allocating staff and marketing resources. Maine offers the highest estimated concentration, meaning senior wealth may be especially important relative to the state economy. California, by contrast, represents the largest aggregate pool and potentially the greatest volume of planning engagements. Florida combines both attributes: it is among the largest markets in absolute dollars and remains in the top 10 on a per-resident basis.

Acuity constructed the ranking by combining state estimates of average household net worth with the number of households headed by adults aged 65 or older. Because a directly comparable public dataset of age-specific household wealth for all states is unavailable, its researchers applied a national age-based wealth premium. Federal Reserve data indicated that households headed by someone at least 65 years old possess, on average, 1.4186 times the net worth of the typical U.S. household. Acuity used that multiplier to estimate each state’s senior wealth and then divided the result by population.

The methodology makes the ranking a directional indicator rather than a precise ledger of transferable assets. Applying one national multiplier can obscure differences in portfolio composition, debt, home equity, pensions and business ownership across states. Average net worth can also be pulled upward by a relatively small number of very wealthy households, while the per-resident denominator includes children and adults outside the likely pool of beneficiaries.

Nor does wealth held today equal wealth that will eventually reach younger generations. Retirees may use assets for housing, health care and long-term care, sell property to finance consumption, make lifetime gifts, donate to charity or pay taxes and professional fees. Market performance and longevity will affect the eventual amount. A beneficiary may also live in another state, meaning the inherited capital could leave the community where it was accumulated.

Those qualifications do not diminish the ranking’s usefulness as a map of potential planning intensity. In states with heavy concentrations of older wealth, advisers are more likely to encounter clients who need to revise wills, update beneficiaries, appoint fiduciaries, evaluate trusts and decide whether to transfer assets during life or at death. Families with homes in multiple jurisdictions may also need coordinated advice on domicile, probate exposure and state taxation.

Illiquid assets are a central concern. Real estate represents a substantial portion of household wealth in high-cost markets such as Hawaii, Massachusetts, Washington, New Jersey and California. An estate can appear wealthy on paper while lacking cash for maintenance, taxes, equalization among heirs or other settlement costs. Advisers may need to model whether a property should be retained, sold, placed in a trust or transferred through a business entity.

Closely held companies create another layer of complexity. Owners must address valuation, management succession and the differing objectives of family members who work in the business and those who do not. Life insurance, buy-sell agreements, recapitalizations and staged gifts can play roles, but each carries legal, tax and liquidity implications. Delaying those decisions until an owner becomes incapacitated or dies can narrow the family’s options.

The broader scale of the transfer is substantial. Cerulli Associates projects that $124 trillion will move through 2048. About $105 trillion is expected to go to heirs and $18 trillion to charities, with rounding accounting for the difference in the total. Baby boomers and older generations are expected to originate nearly $100 trillion, or 81% of all transfers.

Cerulli estimates that more than half of the total transfer volume, or $62 trillion, will come from high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth households, even though those groups represent only about 2% of households. This concentration means national totals may overstate the experience of a typical family while underscoring the high stakes for private banks, registered investment advisers, trust companies and family offices serving affluent clients.

A large share of wealth is also expected to move first between spouses rather than directly to children. Cerulli projects $54 trillion in intra-generational transfers, including nearly $40 trillion expected to go to widowed women in baby-boomer and older generations. That sequence can extend the transfer timeline and shift control of family finances before assets ultimately reach descendants or charitable organizations.

For advisers, the immediate competitive issue is whether assets remain with the incumbent firm after control changes. A relationship centered almost entirely on one spouse can become vulnerable when the surviving spouse takes charge. The same is true when adult children inherit accounts but have little connection to their parents’ adviser, use digital investment platforms or live far from the firm’s offices.

Cerulli found that building relationships with clients’ spouses and children is a leading long-term growth strategy among high-net-worth practices. In its 2024 survey, 89% of firms identified family meetings and a regular communication cadence among family members as a key practice. The implication is that technical estate work alone is insufficient; continuity depends on engaging the people who will eventually make allocation, custody and philanthropic decisions.

Generational timing also affects how firms should prepare. Cerulli expects millennials to inherit the most over the next 25 years, at $46 trillion. Over the coming decade, however, Generation X is projected to receive $14 trillion, compared with $8 trillion for millennials. Advisers focused exclusively on much younger beneficiaries could therefore overlook the nearer-term needs of middle-aged heirs who may be managing their own retirement, supporting children and assisting aging parents simultaneously.

The state ranking adds a geographic dimension to that client strategy. Firms in Maine, Hawaii and other high-concentration states may have an unusually strong reason to identify beneficiaries, hold multigenerational meetings and document family decision-making. Firms in California, Florida and Texas confront a different scaling challenge because the absolute volume of older wealth is so large. National providers must plan for both patterns.

Local economic effects could extend beyond portfolio management. Older households support health care, travel, home services, nonprofit organizations and other businesses. As ownership changes, heirs may sell second homes, relocate capital, alter charitable commitments or redeploy investment portfolios. Communities with high senior-wealth concentration could experience meaningful changes in property supply, philanthropy and business ownership even if the national transfer unfolds gradually.

Charitable organizations also have reason to examine the state data. Cerulli’s projected $18 trillion in transfers to charity implies substantial potential for donor-advised funds, private foundations, charitable trusts and direct bequests. Nonprofits in senior-wealth hotspots may benefit from stronger planned-giving programs, although they will compete with national institutions and causes outside a donor’s home state.

For affluent households, the practical message is less about a state’s position in the ranking than about preparation. Account titles, beneficiary designations, wills and trust documents need to work together. Families should understand where records are stored, who can act in an emergency, how liabilities will be paid and whether heirs are equipped to oversee unfamiliar assets. Plans also require periodic review after marriages, divorces, births, deaths, relocations and major transactions.

Cybersecurity and fraud controls are increasingly part of that process. Older clients can be targeted for exploitation, while death or incapacity can create periods of confusion in which account access and authority are contested. Secure document sharing, verified contact protocols and clear powers of attorney can help advisers and families reduce operational risk without unnecessarily exposing sensitive financial information.

Acuity’s ranking therefore should not be interpreted as a prediction that every resident of Maine or Hawaii is positioned for a large inheritance. It is a measure of where estimated senior wealth is heavy relative to population. Its value lies in identifying markets where demographic change and accumulated assets are likely to intersect most visibly.

The wealth transfer will occur through thousands of individual decisions rather than a single event. Assets will pass at different times, through different structures and often across state lines. For advisory firms, the winners are likely to be those that can combine estate and tax coordination with durable relationships across spouses and generations. For families, early communication and careful liquidity planning may matter more than the size of the headline estimate.