$84 trillion is moving — not trickling, not dripping, but flooding — into the hands of a new generation.
This is the Great Wealth Transfer, the largest movement of money in American history. And it’s already happening. Every portfolio, every inheritance, every hard-earned dollar your high-net-worth and ultra-high-net-worth clients have built is part of this tidal wave.
But here’s the twist: studies show that 90% of heirs don’t just inherit the money — they switch financial advisors the moment it lands in their hands.
That’s not just a statistic. That’s your business walking out the door.
Why? Because they don’t know you. They’ve never sat across the table from you, never shaken your hand, never heard your advice. And if you don’t take action now, they probably never will.
Here’s the good news: this isn’t a problem — it’s an opportunity. An opportunity to redefine your role. To move beyond managing portfolios and start managing relationships. To become the Family Financial Advisor — the one who bridges the gap between generations, not just managing money but nurturing trust.
Are you ready to meet your clients’ children before they meet someone else? If you are, keep reading. Because the future of your business isn’t in the portfolios you manage today. It’s in the hands of the next generation.
Understanding the Magnitude of the Problem
The math is simple, but the implications are staggering. The Great Wealth Transfer isn’t just a historic shift — it’s a ticking clock for financial advisors. Baby Boomers currently hold over 50% of America’s financial assets. In the next 20 years, much of that wealth will pass to the next generation.
The problem? This isn’t a neat handoff.
Cerulli Associates reports that intergenerational wealth transfer consistently leads to assets moving to other firms, leaving advisors scrambling to replace what they’ve lost. That scramble isn’t sustainable. The average financial advisor is already stretched thin, managing an aging client base while new clients are harder to come by.
Here’s the truth: you can’t outpace this problem by focusing solely on new business. The solution lies with the clients you already serve — their children, their adult children, the beneficiaries. The ones you haven’t met yet.
This isn’t just about preserving wealth — it’s about building trust before the inherited wealth changes hands. Any registered investment adviser who fails to establish relationships with the next generation risks losing assets to firms already courting these future inheritors. For the dedicated investment advisor, that risk is even higher — because your clients expect more from you.
Make no mistake: those other firms are acting now. And the question isn’t whether this will happen. It’s whether you’ll be ready.
The Risk of Losing Assets
The wealth you’ve spent years managing isn’t yours to keep. It’s a temporary stewardship — a bridge between your clients and their loved ones. And that bridge has cracks.
When Baby Boomers pass their wealth to their adult children, those cracks become chasms.
Most financial advisors never meet the family members who will inherit their clients’ net worth. And without that relationship, the odds are high that the assets you manage today will be gone tomorrow.
Why? Because to the next generation, you’re just a name on an account statement. When they receive their inheritance, they’ll do what feels natural: move the money to someone they already trust. Someone who’s already had the conversations you haven’t.
This isn’t about your expertise or your performance. It’s about connection. Relationships. Trust.
How To Capitalize On The Great Wealth Transfer As The Family Financial Advisor
The future of your practice doesn’t rest on the portfolios you manage today — it rests on the relationships you haven’t built yet. Being a great financial advisor or CFP to your clients is no longer enough. If you want to secure their generational wealth for future generations, you need to step into a new role.
You need to become the Family Financial Advisor.
What does that mean? It means being more than a trusted steward of wealth — it means being a trusted presence at the heart of a family’s financial journey.
It means knowing not just your clients, but their family members, their adult children, their grandchildren, and even their great-grandson. It means being the advisor they turn to for everything, from estate planning and coordinating legal advice to financial security across generations.
In fact, one of our advisors is the advisor of record for entire families — four and five generations deep. He’s mastered the wealth transfer process by doing something most advisors overlook: building client retention into the relationship itself, from day one.
1. Make Relationships the Priority
Your greatest competitor isn’t the advisory firm down the street or the robo-advisor with the flashy app — it’s time. Every day that passes without engaging younger generations is a missed opportunity. These heirs don’t want to inherit a financial advisor; they want to inherit someone they already know and trust.
Start now. Reach out to your clients and ask about their adult children. Invite them to a meeting — not as an afterthought, but as a critical part of the conversation. Understand their values, their fears, and their goals. Don’t just ask about their inheritance. Ask about their lives.
When you meet Gen X and Millennials where they are, you’re not just planting seeds for future business — you’re building the roots of a relationship that can withstand the wealth transfer.
2. Shift the Focus to Family
Your role isn’t just to manage portfolios — it’s to manage connections. Ask deeper questions:
- Who are the beneficiaries on their accounts?
- How involved are their adult children in major financial decisions?
- What legacy — including plans for charitable giving — do they want to leave for their loved ones?
Bridge the gap between your services and their family’s future. Make it clear that your value isn’t just in the numbers — it’s in preserving and growing their family wealth for future generations. Show them that you’re not just their advisor; you’re the advisor their family can depend on.
3. Host Experiences, Not Just Meetings
Relationships aren’t built through quarterly review emails or a folder of performance charts. They’re built face-to-face, through shared experiences that create trust and connection.
- Educational Sessions: Host discussions on topics that matter to younger generations — real estate investments, long-term goals, or strategies for managing a sudden windfall.
- Family Appreciation Events: Plan gatherings that celebrate families. Whether it’s a casual barbecue or a sophisticated evening event, focus on connection over transactions.
- Workshops for Heirs: Teach Millennials and Gen Z how to approach financial planning, emphasizing financial education, financial literacy, responsibility, and achieving their unique goals.
Each event is an opportunity to connect with the next generation in a way that feels personal and genuine.
4. Offer Tailored Solutions for Each Generation
Not all heirs think alike. Recognize that Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z have different priorities, and tailor your approach accordingly.
- For Gen X: Focus on their role as the “sandwich generation.” Highlight strategies like estate planning, retirement planning, navigating tax implications, funding long-term care for their parents, and balancing their own investment strategies.
- For Millennials and Gen Z: Emphasize topics that align with their values — sustainable investing, setting personal finance goals, navigating student debt, housing affordability, and real estate opportunities.
When your solutions resonate with their life stage and values, you’re no longer just their parents’ advisor — you’re theirs, too.
5. Be Proactive About Communication
Every touchpoint matters. Add heirs to your regular communications — newsletters, market updates, event invitations. Share relevant insights that align with their concerns: interest rate trends, sustainable investing, long-term planning strategies.
Proactive communication ensures that when the time comes for them to make their own financial decisions, your voice is already familiar. You’re not starting a relationship from scratch. You’re continuing a conversation they’ve been part of all along.
Why Now?
The clock is ticking. The Great Wealth Transfer isn’t a distant event — it’s happening every day. Advisors who wait to embrace the role of Family Financial Advisor risk being left behind. Americans are more mobile and digitally connected than ever before, and younger generations are accustomed to instant, accessible relationships. If you’re not actively reaching out, someone else will be.
By positioning yourself as the Family Financial Advisor, you’re not just securing today’s business — you’re building a foundation for future generations. You’re transforming from a standard investment advisory service into an indispensable part of the family. And that’s a role no one else can fill.
How To Start Building The Relationship With Gen X, Millennials And Gen Z
The experts all say it: “Build a relationship.” Simple advice, but here are the key takeaways.
But here’s a question: can you do it entirely with social media?
Sure, LinkedIn and Facebook are powerful tools. You can attract attention, educate with bite-sized tips, and even tug at heartstrings with the right post. But relationships — the kind that matter, the kind that retain assets across generations — aren’t forged through likes and comments.
Sooner or later, you need to bridge the virtual world to the real one. Millennial heirs and even Gen Z don’t just want a digital presence. They need face-to-face conversations, real trust, and actionable guidance. And when those conversations happen, two age-old emotions come into play:
- Fear: They’re worried they won’t have enough money.
- Greed: They want their fortune to grow.
These emotions haven’t changed with Millennials or Gen Z, and they likely never will. What’s changed is how you engage with them. If you can tap into what heirs fear and desire most — and show them you can help — you’ll earn something far greater than assets. You’ll earn their trust.
7 Steps to Build a Relationship with the Next Generation
If you have a large wealth management practice, you can’t personally forge deep relationships with every single heir. This is where structure comes in. Whether it’s you or a team member dedicated to client marketing and asset retention, your practice needs a strategy.
Step 1: Build the Right List
Every relationship starts with awareness. Comb through your CRM and identify the beneficiaries tied to your clients’ wealth. Don’t stop at names — map out relationships. Who is the financial decision-maker in the family? Who is inheriting the largest share? Use this list as your starting point for personalized outreach.
Step 2: Bring Beneficiaries into the Loop
Get beneficiaries to opt into your communications. Whether it’s a newsletter, market update, or insight on investment strategies, make sure heirs hear from you regularly. The goal: to become a familiar, trusted voice before the inherited wealth changes hands.
Step 3: Celebrate the Small Moments
Trust isn’t built in grand gestures — it’s built in the moments that show you care. Collect and track birthdates, graduations, marriages, and new jobs in your CRM. Send thoughtful notes. These gestures are small, but they leave a big impression.
Step 4: Map the Family Dynamics
Every family has its own story. Map out relationships in your CRM — who are the beneficiaries, who holds influence over major financial decisions. Ask the right questions during client meetings: Who is the financial decision-maker in your family? What are their priorities? What challenges do they face?
Step 5: Find Out What They Love
Most financial professionals stop at numbers. But families are more than portfolios. Discover what matters to heirs — passions, hobbies, interests. Add these details to your CRM and use them to create relevant events and personalized outreach. When you connect with what they care about, you show that you care about them.
Step 6: Help the Older Generation Help Their Kids
Position yourself as the family’s advocate, not just the portfolio manager. Suggest Roth IRAs, 529 plans, and legacy-building strategies. When parents see you as a partner in their family’s future, they’ll trust you to guide their heirs.
Step 7: Open the Door with an Account
The best way to secure future generations as clients? Start working with them today. Even small brokerage accounts establish a relationship and demonstrate your value before any inheritance arrives. When heirs are already clients, the wealth transfer process becomes seamless.
Why this Strategy Works
Relationships aren’t built overnight. They’re built one thoughtful interaction at a time. By focusing on these steps, you position yourself as more than a financial advisor. You become the family’s trusted partner — their guide through the wealth management process, and their ally in preserving and growing inherited wealth across generations.
This isn’t just about retaining assets. It’s about creating connections that last a lifetime. And it starts with showing up today. Because when the wealth transfers, the trust should already be there.
Securing Generations with Bill Good Marketing
The Silent Generation and Baby Boomers built the wealth. The next chapter belongs to their heirs. The Great Wealth Transfer is happening now—and as a standard disclaimer, with this massive transfer of wealth comes both risk and opportunity. The risk is losing assets when families move their inherited wealth to advisors they trust. The opportunity? Becoming that trusted advisor before the wealth ever changes hands.
The future of your practice isn’t just about managing portfolios — it’s about managing relationships. And that’s where we come in.
For over 45 years, Bill Good Marketing has been helping financial professionals like you not only survive market changes but thrive by building lasting relationships. We understand that positioning yourself as the Family Financial Advisor isn’t just about strategy — it’s about execution.
- Engaging Communication: From birthday letters to family-focused events, our systems help you create touchpoints that resonate with clients and their heirs.
- Relationship Mapping: With tools to map family members and track important details, we make sure you’re always one step ahead.
- Content That Builds Trust: Our resources — custom newsletters, client letters, and educational materials — ensure you stay top-of-mind for inherited wealth conversations.
The clock is ticking, and the next generation is already deciding who they’ll trust with their inheritance. Let us help you become the advisor who bridges generations, preserves legacies, and grows relationships.
With Bill Good Marketing, you’ll have the tools, systems, and strategy to secure not just today’s assets — but tomorrow’s as well.
About the Author
Andrew D. White is the Director of Marketing at Bill Good Marketing and part of the team behind Altitude, the AI-native CRM built exclusively for financial advisors. He develops marketing strategies that strengthen client relationships, accelerate asset growth, and reduce time spent in the office. With hands-on experience working alongside top advisors, Andrew focuses on proven systems that elevate prospecting, branding, and practice management into predictable growth engines.
Frequently Asked Questions about the Great Wealth Transfer
The Great Wealth Transfer is the largest movement of money in American history — an estimated $84 trillion passing from Baby Boomers to younger generations over the next two decades. It is already underway. Financial advisors who fail to build relationships with the next generation before it happens risk losing the assets they currently manage.
Studies show that 90% of heirs switch financial advisors after inheriting wealth. This makes the wealth transfer process the single greatest asset retention risk for most financial advisory practices.
A Family Financial Advisor is a financial advisor who manages relationships across multiple generations of a single family — not just the primary client. Rather than serving one account holder, the Family Financial Advisor is known, trusted, and engaged by adult children, grandchildren, and beneficiaries before any inherited wealth changes hands.
Financial advisors retain assets during the wealth transfer process by identifying beneficiaries in their CRM and initiating contact before inheritance occurs, adding heirs to regular communications, hosting family-focused events and workshops, mapping family dynamics and decision-makers, and helping clients open accounts for adult children now — so the transition is seamless when inherited wealth moves.
A registered investment adviser (RIA) is a firm or individual registered with the SEC or state securities regulators, often maintaining membership with SIPC, to provide investment advice for compensation. A dedicated investment advisor goes beyond portfolio management to serve as an ongoing, relationship-centered advisor for a client and their family — often across generations. Both face significant asset retention risk during the wealth transfer process, but the dedicated investment advisor faces greater accountability because clients expect a higher level of personalized, long-term service.
An estimated $84 trillion will transfer from Baby Boomers and older generations to Gen X, Millennials, and Gen Z over the next 20 years. Baby Boomers currently hold over 50% of America’s financial assets. This is the largest intergenerational wealth transfer in American history.
CRM is essential to the wealth transfer process. Advisors should use their CRM to map beneficiaries to client accounts, track family relationships and financial decision-makers, record personal milestones such as birthdays, graduations, and marriages, and trigger proactive outreach to heirs. Without structured CRM data, most advisors have no visibility into the next generation until the inherited wealth has already moved.
Financial advisors should engage Millennial and Gen Z heirs by addressing their specific concerns — student debt, housing affordability, sustainable investing — hosting educational workshops on managing a windfall, communicating through digital channels while building toward in-person relationships, and demonstrating relevance beyond traditional portfolio management. The goal is to become a trusted voice before the inherited wealth changes hands.
