Should Seattle’s young millionaires be thinking about trusts? The answer is – yes.
Seattle is minting new millionaires by the thousands – now above 54,000.
According to a recent KUOW article, the city may have lost high-profile billionaires like Jeff Bezos, but a new wave of wealth is rising — driven largely by tech professionals, startup founders, and crypto investors.
Many of these individuals are in their 20s, 30s, and 40s, accumulating significant wealth earlier than previous generations.
This explosion of early-stage affluence raises a timely question: should these young millionaires be thinking about trusts?
The answer is yes — and not just for the reasons people traditionally associate with estate planning. Trusts aren’t reserved for the ultra-rich or the elderly. For young professionals with complex financial portfolios, trusts can offer a powerful, flexible way to manage wealth, protect assets, and plan for the future.
Why Trusts Are Relevant Now
Many of Seattle’s new millionaires didn’t grow their wealth slowly over decades — they acquired it through sudden events like IPOs, acquisitions, or massive gains in equity compensation.
That kind of rapid financial growth brings both opportunity and risk. Without a solid long-term strategy, wealth can be mismanaged, overtaxed, or lost to legal complications. While this group of newly wealthy individuals is young, many may benefit from considering how they want to use their funds now, and also start thinking about how to grow their wealth and pass it on to future generations. Trusts can help provide structure and strategy. For example, a revocable living trust can consolidate assets, provide clarity around ownership, and make it easier to manage finances in the event of incapacity. An irrevocable trust can shield wealth from estate taxes or lawsuits and ensure assets are used according to specific instructions.
Crucially, many of these trusts can be created and controlled during the grantor’s lifetime — making them useful tools not only for passing down wealth, but for managing it wisely while alive.
But where to start?
Common Trust Strategies for Young Wealth Creators
Not all trusts are the same, and the right structure depends on an individual’s assets, goals, and risk tolerance. Here are a few that young Seattle millionaires may want to consider:
- Revocable Living Trusts
These are flexible and easy to update. They don’t offer tax benefits but do allow the grantor to maintain control of assets while streamlining the process of asset transfer upon death. They also avoid probate, which is a public and sometimes costly process. - Irrevocable Trusts
Once assets are placed in these trusts, they typically cannot be removed — but in return, they can remove those assets from the taxable estate. This can be a smart move for someone expecting continued asset growth, such as a founder holding pre-IPO stock. - Grantor Retained Annuity Trusts (GRATs)
These are particularly valuable for tech entrepreneurs or crypto investors. A GRAT allows someone to place appreciating assets into a trust, receive annuity payments for a set period, and potentially pass any growth to heirs free of gift tax. - Charitable Trusts
For young donors with a philanthropic bent, charitable remainder trusts (CRTs) or charitable lead trusts (CLTs) can combine giving with financial benefits like income tax deductions or estate tax reduction
Additionally, young investors dabbling in cryptocurrency or digital assets should consider trusts specifically structured to secure and manage these unique assets, including access controls and beneficiary succession plans.
Benefits Beyond Tax
While tax savings are a major reason people use trusts, they also offer broader protections and benefits.
Trusts provide privacy — unlike a will, which becomes part of the public record, a trust’s contents can remain confidential. They can also offer asset protection in the event of lawsuits, divorce, or creditor claims — all of which can be especially relevant to public figures, entrepreneurs, or professionals in high-risk industries.
Trusts can also ensure continuity of financial management in case of incapacity and help guide responsible use of wealth over time, especially if young children or future heirs are involved.
Estate Tax Considerations
While Washington State does not impose an income tax, it does levy an estate tax upon a death where assets exceed $3 million (effective July 1, 2025). In addition, the federal estate tax still looms for estates valued over $13.99 million for individuals and $27.98 million for married couples (as of 2025). For a young professional with startup equity or stock options, it’s entirely possible to reach that threshold over time — especially with compounding returns.
Seattle’s culture of innovation and fast-moving financial success means that many young people are creating wealth in forms that traditional estate planning may not fully address. Trusts offer a forward-thinking way to account for unique, fast-changing assets like company shares, intellectual property, or digital currencies.
Trusts for the Young and Affluent in Seattle
Trusts may sound like tools for the ultra-rich, but they’re increasingly relevant for the young and affluent — especially in a city like Seattle, where tech-driven success is reshaping the wealth landscape. For young millionaires navigating the complexities of sudden prosperity, a trust can offer protection, structure, and peace of mind.
The bottom line? If you’ve hit your first million (or more), it’s time to think beyond bank accounts and brokerage statements. A trust may be one of the smartest financial moves you make — not just for your future, but for the legacy you’re already building.