YOUR BUSINESS
They are also unapologetically digital and want real-time access to things, not quarterly communication. They assume from the start that your offerings and fees are transparent— they don’ t necessarily admire you for it.
But the deeper shift isn’ t technological. It’ s philosophical. These clients are more into the meaning of things. They see money as capacity, as the ability to fund freedom, influence outcomes and align their resources with their values. Growth without purpose feels hollow to them. Optimization without context feels cold.
That creates a problem for legacy advisory models that put retirement and the end of work as a person’ s primary goal. advisory firms when they’ re built on paternalistic mentoring models. But change they will have to make.
One of the ways you can expand your thinking is to adopt a family office model. This approach means you’ re talking to different generations— the wealth makers and the ones who have yet to make nine figures— and focusing on education and empowerment rather than transactions. Such offices assume that the needs of the clients cross generations and are complex. Such offices embrace collaboration. And they can adapt as their clients’ lives changes.
Such a mindset works beautifully with next-generation clients who view their financial lives as integrated ecosystems build better frameworks and their ability to co-create plans will better validate the decisions you’ re making. The difference in this approach is subtle but powerful. You’ re signaling respect for the client’ s agency and intelligence.
Digital engagement tools matter, too, but they are not the relationship, just part of your infrastructure. An online connection will keep you present in your clients’ lives; but a personal connection will keep you relevant. Technology will help you scale your business, but the trust you’ re building will still be formed in moments of human contact and understanding.
Advisors who evolve now will be fluent in partnership, comfortable with
Gen Xers and millennials are now the fastestgrowing segment of wealth creators, and they don’ t think like heirs or retirees. They think like business owners.
Many firms continue to market stability, preservation and hand-holding as their primary value proposition. That resonates with clients who want delegation. It falls flat with clients who want collaboration. Gen X and millennials don’ t want to be managed like dependents. They want to be engaged like partners.
Anyone who has raised grown children recognizes this shift instantly. When you’ re a parent, you first show your children authority, but eventually that gives way to dialogue with them. Advice becomes a conversation, not a directive. The advisor’ s role evolves from an expert in charge to experienced co-pilot.
Such transitions are uncomfortable for rather than isolated accounts.
In some cases you might want to redesign your business advisor model, perhaps turning to subscription or retainer-based models, which resonate with clients because they feel transparent and continuous, not transactional. Clients want to know what they’ re paying for and what return they’ re getting beyond market performance. They value advice that helps them make better decisions for their entire financial universe, not just inside an investment account.
These clients will also want to be personally involved in shaping strategies and experiences. That doesn’ t mean they are the experts, but their insight will help you transparency and confident guiding clients who ask better questions than their predecessors ever did. Those advisors won’ t just inherit the next wave of wealth. They’ ll help define how it’ s used.
The clients who think like owners are already here. The only question is whether the industry is ready to meet them where they are.
That shift is already reshaping the ways advice is delivered, whether or not your firm acknowledges it. Advisors who succeed with this new majority are not changing who they serve, they are changing how they operate.
SCOTT WINTERS is the CEO of Financial Gravity and author of The 10X Financial Advisor.
22 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | JANUARY / FEBRUARY 2026 WWW. FA-MAG. COM