Would it be fair to say that your clients’ children likely don’t fully comprehend the importance of a well-planned financial future? Now that we’re in the midst of The Great Wealth Transfer, that lack of knowledge could be a problem.
Young adults who feel secure in their financial skills may be better prepared for their inheritance as wealth passes from one generation to the next. As an advisor, you can certainly schedule time to meet with your clients’ children and share knowledge, but true skill building takes more than a few meetings. This is one more area where technology can be a powerful tool.
As we learned in our first-of-its-kind white paper, “The Intelligent Financial Life: The Unexpected Intersection Between Technology, Clarity, and the Human Connection,” three things are true at the same time:
- All generations want to work with a human advisor, rather than digital-only options. They want the connection and the expertise
- All generations want some level of digital support and access, and that desire increases as you look at younger adults
- 50% of Americans don’t know where to start when it comes to getting their finances in order
These three facts shine a spotlight on an important opportunity for advisors to provide massive value to clients – be the human being to give your clients’ children or grandchildren (whether they are still in kindergarten or preparing for college) a digital way to learn more about personal finance and the power of being financially savvy and independent. You’ll be meeting their needs, preparing them for the future, and also deepening your relationship with them to protect your book of business… all in a very scalable way.
Multigenerational relationships are critical
Cerulli Associates expects the transfer of wealth from one of the largest generations ever in the U.S. to their heirs to be massive, with estimates as high as $84.4 trillion projected to change hands through 2045.1 There is always risk when wealth is transferred. An often-quoted stat by GOBankingRates says 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the next generation, with 90% losing it the generation after that.2
The advisors who are most successful at delivering financial education go beyond portfolio planning in their day-to-day work. They form close relationships with their clients’ children and grandchildren before wealth is transferred, helping to ensure the entire family is educated and prepared for the shift in responsibility.
In doing so, those advisors protect themselves as well. Cerulli research also found that only 13% of affluent investors choose to work with the same advisor their parents used. Of the remaining 87% of investors who reported not using their parents’ advisor, 88% of them indicated that they had never even considered doing so.1 Building relationships with and educating younger generations about how to be fiscally responsible not only helps to prepare them to inherit and maintain wealth for future generations to come, but it also solidifies their trust in you and your firm. Let’s take a closer look at what that could look like, using Envestnet’s partnership with Goalsetter as an example.
Digital tools make financial education
Founded by former Nickelodeon and Discovery Education children’s digital programming executive Tanya Van Court, Goalsetter is a goal-based savings and smart spending platform that provides families with both engaging educational media and foundational tools. The platform is designed to help families retain generational wealth by helping kids to develop a financial skill set, from their kindergarten days to their college years. Our partnership with the platform aims to complement Envestnet’s existing ecosystem, a diverse set of solutions designed to empower advisors to help their clients and their future clients feel secure in their ability to meet their financial goals.
The Goalsetter platform is aligned with the JumpStart.org national financial education standards for financial education, while also using fun, engaging financial education content to teach families the language of money. App users are able to drive their experience, ensuring that the content they interact with is relevant to their interests and needs. For example, allowance features such as “Learn to Earn” and “Learn Before You Burn” have been favorites for kids and parents alike. Another example is the Moneylingo section, which houses informative, short-length videos that provide a lot of information in a short amount of time.
To get started, simply fill out the form at https://goalsetter.co/envestnet and you’ll be able to offer your clients:
- Savings tools, including auto-save and round-ups, to make saving easier
- Smart spending tools to keep budgets under control
- Fun educational quizzes for users of all ages
- Allowance and chore settings so kids can earn cash towards their goals
- A video library of short animated and live action content
We’re finding that after exploring Goalsetter themselves, many advisors are using the tool as a way to start conversations with younger generations – introducing them to all of the fun content and opening the door to more conversations in the future. These conversations can create a generational impact and drive deep understanding of personal finance and financial savvy.
It is easy to take action today
According to a survey from The Motley Fool, 50% of parents with kids at least 10 years old have already taught them about investing and another 38% plan to do so when they’re older. It is highly likely your clients want their children to understand how to manage money.3
Tools like Goalsetter give advisors a way to help their clients and their heirs increase their confidence about their financial future. Living an Intelligent Financial Life doesn’t have to start late in life. Visit https://goalsetter.co/envestnet today to see if it is a good fit for your practice.
1 Cerulli Associates, “U.S. High-Net-Worth and Ultra-High-Net-Worth Markets 2021, Evolving Wealth Demographics,” 2021
2 https://www.gobankingrates.com/money/wealth/how-to-maintain-your-familys-generational-wealth/
3 https://www.fool.com/research/parents-kids-investing/
