When it comes to the generational conflict at the heart of America's inequality split, there is no contest: the elderly - those between the ages of 65 and 75 who own the bulk of financial assets - have over 13 times as much wealth as America's Millennials (see chart below), young people between 25 and 35, who may not be rich, but have come up with a biting, witty response to their much richer elders: "Ok, Boomer."

Unfortunately for America's youth, who may have been hoping to get rich quick when they inherit the wealth of their aging parents, we have some very bad news.

While it is true that an unprecedented $36 trillion - roughly a third of total US household wealth - will flow from one US generation to another over the next 30 years with the pace of bequests already surging as Americans inherited $427 billion in 2016, up 119% from 1989, it's not the Millennials who stand to benefit.

Instead, the beneficiaries of this inheritance tsunami are quite old themselves; according to the the study, from 1989 to 2016 U.S. households inherited more than $8.5 trillion. Over that time, the average age of recipients rose by a decade to 51. Fast forward a few more years, and now, more than a quarter of bequests now go to adults 61 or older.