An estate plan is designed to transfer assets. A legacy plan can help transfer meaning. Both plans matter, but many individuals and families only know about the first.
As women, we spend much of our lives as employees, business owners, partners, parents, friends, and mentors. Throughout these roles, we search for purpose and meaning in what we do and in the impact we have on the people around us. We find fulfillment in supporting those we care about, giving to our communities, and making a difference through our daily actions. These experiences shape who we are and help form our values.
Women who have built or inherited significant wealth have an opportunity to extend their impact far beyond their own lifetimes. Through thoughtful legacy planning, wealth can become more than a financial asset. It can serve as a powerful expression of personal values, priorities, and aspirations for future generations. The conversation shifts from deciding who can inherit wealth to considering the legacy that wealth can create.
Legacy planning takes traditional estate planning to another level — beyond the mechanics of an asset transfer to deliberately articulating your values, intentions, and purpose. It can help ensure that the wealth you’ve built reflects who you are and the lasting impact you wish to leave behind.
What does a values-driven legacy look like?
Articulating your legacy goals before you create the legal structure
Estate planning sometimes begins with essential documents — wills, trusts, powers of attorney, and healthcare proxies — and uses those documents to fit your intentions into them. A values-driven approach reverses that order. Before you sign anything, you can articulate what you want your wealth to accomplish. That might mean funding education for future generations, sustaining causes you’ve championed for decades, or helping ensure a family business carries your principles forward. When your goals lead, the legal structure can follow.
Values inventory: What do you want your wealth to say about you?
Completing a values inventory is a straightforward but powerful exercise. List the principles that have guided your financial decisions — generosity, independence, responsibility, stewardship. Then ask whether your current plan reflects them. If your wealth says one thing but your documents say another, that gap is where legacy planning can matter most.
The difference between leaving money and leaving impact
Passing on wealth is important, but passing on purpose can be even more meaningful. The greatest legacy is the understanding, values, and intentions that accompany a wealth transfer. Wealth shared without context can leave future generations uncertain about its purpose.
Wealth shared with intention can inspire the next generation to create their own lasting impact.
The Great Wealth Transfer and why women’s values are reshaping philanthropy
The numbers behind the Great Wealth Transfer are striking:
- A potential $124 trillion will change hands by 2048, with $18 trillion directed to charity.1
- Women stand to inherit roughly 70% of transferred wealth, largely because they tend to outlive their spouses.2
- Around $54 trillion is projected to pass first to surviving spouses, and 95% of that is likely to go to women.3
This shift is reshaping philanthropy. Women are making or influencing 85% of their families’ philanthropic decisions.4 Women are more likely than men to direct support toward the advancement of women and girls and to take the lead in teaching their children about giving.5 For women managing established wealth, the Great Wealth Transfer is both an opportunity and a responsibility — a chance to align significant resources with the values that have guided their financial lives.
The financial tools that can translate values into action
Donor-advised funds
A donor-advised fund (DAF) is one of the most accessible charitable vehicles. You give assets and receive a tax deduction, then recommend grants to charities over time. DAFs are flexible, let you involve your family in granting decisions, and can hold appreciated assets as a tax-efficient way to give. DAFs held a record $327.87 billion in assets in fiscal year 2024, with grantmaking rising 17.9% to $64.60 billion.6
Charitable remainder trusts
A charitable remainder trust (CRT) lets you transfer assets into a trust that pays you (or another beneficiary) income for life or a set period, with the rest going to charity. This can provide an income stream, an immediate tax deduction, and a way to diversify a concentrated position without triggering full capital gains. For women who coordinate tax and estate planning, a CRT can bridge income needs and charitable intent.
Family foundations
A family foundation is a more involved commitment, and it’s suited to those who want giving to become a lasting institutional pursuit. Foundations offer control over grantmaking and a platform for multigenerational engagement, but they carry administrative requirements and ongoing costs. They tend to make the most sense when philanthropy is a central part of your family’s identity.
Impact and ESG investing
Values don’t have to be limited to charitable giving. Impact and ESG (environmental, social, and governance) investing allows you to align your investment portfolio with your principles by directing capital toward companies and funds that reflect your priorities — such as climate change, racial justice, or women’s rights. Values-based investing coordinates your investments with the rest of your financial picture so your portfolio and your philanthropy tell the same story.
Bringing family into the legacy conversation
Multigenerational family meetings: How to run them and what to cover
Taking the time to bring family into the conversation helps create clarity, builds trust, and strengthens family connections. These conversations offer an opportunity to share your values, explain your intentions, and explore how future generations can thoughtfully steward the wealth they receive.
Raising financially responsible heirs without removing motivation
One of the most important balances in legacy planning is providing for your family while helping them develop their own sense of purpose, responsibility, and independence. Regular conversations can make all the difference. When heirs understand not just what they can receive but why they’re receiving it, they’re likely better equipped to steward their newfound wealth. Involving the next generation in charitable decisions early can be a powerful way to build financial responsibility, generosity, and a connection to the legacy you hope to create.
The legacy letter: A nonlegal document with lasting power
A legacy letter (sometimes called an ethical will) isn’t a legal document, but it can be a meaningful part of your plan. This is where you put into words the values, stories, and hopes you wish to leave alongside your assets. It doesn’t have to follow any specific structure, and the most important thing is that it reflects your authentic voice.
A legacy is built intentionally
As women, we often define ourselves not only by what we achieve, but by the lives we touch, the values we uphold, and the difference we make along the way. Legacy planning provides an opportunity to carry that impact forward, helping ensure that the wealth you’ve built reflects the same purpose and intention that has guided your life.
Designing a legacy that reflects your values isn’t a one-time exercise. It’s an ongoing conversation that connects your wealth to your purpose, your family, and the causes you care about most. The financial tools themselves — whether donor-advised funds, charitable remainder trusts, family foundations, or impact investing strategies — are only as meaningful as the intentions behind them.
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A values-based legacy plan goes beyond transferring assets to articulating the principles and intentions you want your wealth to carry forward. An estate plan handles the legal mechanics of who receives what; a legacy plan helps ensure those decisions reflect your values, your family’s needs, and the causes you care about. The two complement each other — your values guide the structure your estate plan creates.
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A donor-advised fund (DAF) lets you contribute assets, take an immediate tax deduction, and recommend grants to charities over time. DAFs are flexible, can hold appreciated assets, and let you involve family in giving decisions. They can suit donors who want tax efficiency and the ability to give strategically without the administrative burden of a private foundation.
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Involving your family can help heirs understand the purpose behind your wealth and build financial responsibility. Early involvement — through family meetings or shared granting decisions — helps give the next generation context and confidence. The right level of involvement depends on your family dynamics, but silence around wealth often creates more confusion than clarity.
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Yes. Impact and ESG investing lets you direct capital toward companies and funds that reflect your principles so your portfolio and your philanthropy support the same goals. This coordinates your investments with the rest of your financial picture and can be tailored to your risk tolerance and objectives.
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Both support charitable giving, but they differ in complexity and control. A donor-advised fund is more straightforward and less costly to operate, and it offers an immediate tax deduction and flexible granting. A family foundation offers more control over grantmaking and a platform for multigenerational engagement, but it carries administrative requirements and ongoing costs. Your choice depends on the scale of your giving and how involved you want your family to be.
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A charitable remainder trust (CRT) pays you or a beneficiary income for life or a set period, with the rest going to charity. It can provide an income stream, an immediate tax deduction, and a way to diversify concentrated assets. For women coordinating tax and estate planning, a CRT bridges income needs and charitable intent in a single structure.
1 “Cerulli Anticipates $124 Trillion in Wealth Will Transfer Through 2048.” Cerulli Associates, Dec. 5, 2024.
2 “Women Will Get Most of the $124 Trillion ‘Great Wealth Transfer,’ Studies Show. Here’s Why.” CNBC, March 12, 2025.
3 “Older Women Set To Inherit Most of $54 Trillion in ‘Great Wealth Transfer’ to Widowed Spouses.” CNBC, March 14, 2026.
4 “Are Women Donors the Key to Unlocking More Giving?” Stanford Social Innovation Review, Jan. 27, 2025.
5 “Bank of America Private Bank Study of Affluent Americans Finds Generational and Gender Divides in Charitable Giving.” PR Newswire, Oct. 9, 2024.
6 “Annual DAF Report 2025.” DAF Research Collaborative, May 11, 2026.
All expressions of opinion reflect the judgment of the author as of the date of publication and are subject to change. Some of the research and ratings shown in this presentation come from third parties that are not affiliated with Mercer Advisors. The information is believed to be accurate but is not guaranteed or warranted by Mercer Advisors. Content, research, tools and stock or option symbols are for educational and illustrative purposes only and do not imply a recommendation or solicitation to buy or sell a particular security or to engage in any particular investment strategy. All investment strategies have the potential for profit or loss. Changes in investment strategies, contributions or withdrawals may materially alter the performance and results of your portfolio. Different types of investments involve varying degrees of risk, and there can be no assurance that any specific investment will either be suitable or profitable for a client’s investment portfolio.
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