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How Advisors Can Win In The Great Wealth Transfer
The modern advisor must be a family integrator, a legacy facilitator and a tech-enabled guide. By Scott Winters
THE NUMBERS ARE STAGGERING. Over the next two decades, more than $ 84 trillion is set to move from baby boomers to their heirs— the largest transfer of wealth in human history. For context, that’ s larger than the GDP of China, more than double the U. S. national debt, and about $ 83 trillion more than most of us expected to inherit from our own parents. Millennials are projected to control five times as much wealth by 2030 as they do today. The question isn’ t whether the wealth transfer is coming— it’ s whether financial advisors will still be standing when it does.
Because here’ s the brutal truth: Heirs tend to fire their parents’ advisors. In fact, studies suggest as many as 70 % of heirs cut ties within the first year of inheriting. Translation? If you’ re still clinking glasses with your boomer clients while ignoring their kids, you may be planning a retirement party for yourself— just not the one you had in mind.
The intergenerational wealth shift isn’ t just money moving from one account to another; it’ s a wholesale shift in expectations, values and trust. Baby boomers, many of whom grew up in a world of pensions and paper statements, often prize stability and a handshake. Their children— millennials and Gen Z— have been raised in an environment of apps, algorithms and global uncertainty. They want transparency. They want digital-first service. And they want their portfolios to reflect their principles, whether that means ESG investing, sustainable business practices or steering clear of industries they deem problematic.
This is not a minor preference tweak. It’ s a rewiring of your financial relationship with them. Advisors who think they can win the Great Wealth Transfer without adapting to these new priorities are about as forward-looking as Blockbuster the week Netflix went public.
Consider the family dynamics. Mom and Dad worked with you for 20 years. You guided them through market cycles, college tuition and even their second home purchase. But when the wealth passes, the kids— who never saw you as more than“ their parents’ advisor”— take the assets elsewhere. Why? Because you never built a bridge. You didn’ t engage them in family meetings, you didn’ t explain the plan and you didn’ t show up in the digital channels where they live. The result: 20 years of loyalty evaporates in 20 minutes.
It doesn’ t have to be this way. Advisors who proactively engage heirs before the transfer— inviting them into conversations, addressing their unique priorities and facilitating family discussions— can dramatically improve the odds of retention. Instead of being dismissed as a legacy service provider, they become trusted family partners.
If you’ re wondering whether these generational differences are really that stark, just look at this year’ s headlines. Gen Z is leading
NOVEMBER 2025 | FINANCIAL ADVISOR MAGAZINE | 25