Millennial Inheritance: How Can We Prepare to Receive & Leave a Legacy?| Emily Paulsen & Nicole Meihofer
The largest wealth transfer in history is already underway. Trillions of dollars are moving from baby boomers to millennials and Gen X, changing not just financial accounts but entire family dynamics. In this week’s episode of Curious Life of a Childfree Woman, I spoke with Nicole Meihofer, financial advisor, wealth strategist, and founder of Pearlvest Capital. Nicole has built her work around guiding millennial inheritors and entrepreneurs, helping them use money not as a source of pressure, but as a way to live with more clarity, joy, and impact in the present.
What struck me most in our conversation was how often the real challenge isn’t overspending, but underspending. So many of us inherit the belief that responsibility means saving for an imagined future, even at the cost of experiences we’ll never get back. Nicole reframed financial planning as more than a long-term strategy. She described it as a way of organizing our values, setting goals, and choosing what deserves our resources today. Money, in her words, is both a safeguard and a tool for joy. That shift in perspective made me reconsider my own assumptions about what it means to be “responsible.”
Redefining Legacy
We also spent time on legacy, how we define it and what it looks like when it isn’t tied to children. Nicole works with clients who are building legacies through businesses, jobs, and charitable causes. Legacy, she reminded me, is not limited to what you leave behind when you’re gone. It can be the ripple effect of how you live right now, whether that’s showing others what freedom looks like, investing in your health, or supporting something larger than yourself. As someone who has chosen a childfree life, this perspective resonated deeply. It widened the frame of what’s possible and what counts as meaningful contribution.
The Power of Conversation
Another powerful thread was the importance of communication. Inheritance can be both a gift and a burden if it arrives without preparation. Nicole encouraged opening conversations early, with parents, relatives, or anyone you expect might pass along resources. These discussions don’t just help with logistics. They provide clarity, reduce stress, and create the space for honest reflection on what money should actually make possible.
Curious About Rethinking Wealth? Start Here.
If this episode sparked questions for you, here are a few ways to begin exploring your relationship with money this week:
Start the conversation: Choose one family member or loved one and ask a clear, open question about their financial wishes or plans.
Define your financial values: Write down the top three priorities that guide your money decisions right now, joy, security, health, travel, contribution, and see how your spending aligns.
Build your “board of directors”: Identify the trusted professionals you’d want on your side, an advisor, attorney, or accountant, so you’re not scrambling if wealth does come your way.
Revisit your spending: Look at one area of your budget and ask whether it reflects what brings you fulfillment today, not just what you think you should save for tomorrow.
Picture your legacy: Without children in the equation, what do you want your resources to make possible, for yourself, your community, or the world?
Let’s Stay Curious Together
This episode reminded me that money isn’t only about security for the future. It’s also about shaping the kind of life we want to inhabit right now. Whether you’re anticipating an inheritance, building wealth on your own, or simply rethinking what legacy means, the conversation with Nicole is an invitation to align money with meaning.
You can listen to the full episode of Curious Life of a Childfree Woman wherever you get your podcasts.
I’d love to hear from you: what’s one financial value you want to bring more fully into your life this year?
Share with me on Instagram @curiouslifeofachildfreewoman. Let’s stay curious together.
