Mutigenerational Financial Planning On The Rise

For financial planners, the standard has been that the relationship is with the client alone with little interaction between the planner and the heirs of the client. As a result, the heirs usually find their own financial management team and rarely retain those that are most familiar with the intricacies of the estate. However, a new trend has emerged as financial advisers increasingly seek to manage an estate for multiple generations rather than one and done. The result of this trend, at least the hoped for result, is that the heirs will stick with the same planner which will allow for continuity.

One of the steps that multigenerational planners take is to bring the would be heirs into the fold by meeting with them and keeping them updated on the health of the estate. This builds a relationship and helps to create a bond of trust that will allow the relationship to continue. While not everyone requires this type of continuity, complex estates are better served by keeping a management team in place that is familiar with all the details rather than passing control to those with less knowledge about the assets.

See David Port, Why multigenerational planning is too important to ignore, Life Health Pro, July 30, 2015.

Special thanks to Jim Hillhouse for bringing this article to my attention.