Earn the Generational Financial Advisor Role by Making Family Wealth Transfer Planning Simple
Your clients (both individuals and families) have been financially fortunate, managing their assets thoughtfully and intentionally throughout their lives; as their financial advisor you are an important key to that success.
When clients look ahead – not just to retirement, but even beyond their own lifetime – many ask:
- What comes next? And more importantly,
- Where do we begin?
As a financial advisor, you know legacy planning transcends numbers – it is about aligning clients’ wealth with their values. The Great Wealth Transfer is shifting $124 trillion to younger generations ($45.6T to millennials, $39T to Gen X).
Advisors can guide client discussions with simple strategies that make family wealth transfers smoother, optimize financial and tax outcomes, and preserve a sense of family unity and long- term vision.
As financial advisor you can be key to those discussions, plans, and solutions. It can be simple and comprehensive with the right resources.
Tip: Advisors – Understand how the OBBBA may change the way your clients give. This tax season is the perfect time to start or continue the discussion with clients and update plans
Simplified Family Wealth Transfer: The One Page Legacy Plan
Born from personal experience
When iGiftFund Founder and Board Chair, Phil Tobin, was reviving his estate and financial plans with his wife, he realized there might be a more complete approach. Phil concluded the trusted advisors (financial advisor, attorney, CPA) skillfully used their professional perspectives and experience to focus on the three traditional wealth planning areas and develop a solid plan.
Traditional Wealth Planning Area – What | When | Where | Who
- Wealth preservation
- Control over assets
- Tax efficiencies
While these skilled professionals developed a solid plan, an important but unasked question remained: – Why?
“Why” is often considered the most important question:
- Provides the context
- Identifies challenges and solutions
- Considers and fosters important relationships
- Illustrates motivations, beliefs, and goals
Phil concluded that a resource was needed to communicate and display a more complete approach in a simple and meaningful way – including full family participation and ownership to carry out the family intent.
The One Page Legacy Plan was the result! It combines the financial, accounting, and legal components with the family mission and purpose – including philanthropic impacts.
Complement your clients’ traditional wealth preservation, asset control, and tax efficiency with this tool – it will spark deeper client conversations on:
- Family Mission: Idealistic “why” and family purpose
- Sources of Wealth: Financial + philanthropic
- Goals/Objectives: Measurable family mission and accomplishment targets
- Strategies: Action steps
- Wealth Distribution: Roadmap for heirs, speaking to both inheritable and charitable assets
Dynamic and easy to update, the One Page Legacy Plan boosts client engagement—assisting financial advisors to incorporate traditional wealth planning with family collaboration, mission, and philanthropic purposes – the Why!
The Power of Donor Advised Funds
Donor advised funds (DAFs) are a versatile tool that address wealth dissipation while enhancing your role as a trusted advisor.
In concert with the One Page Legacy Plan, donor advised funds are a simple and powerful tool for consideration in a family wealth transfer plan.
To understand how DAFs work, explore the basics here.
Tip: Advisors who engage the full family – not just the primary wealth holder – are best positioned to retain assets during generational transfers. Family–wide engagement is a key pillar to long-term AUM retention.
Deepening Client Engagement
DAFs are more than a financial tool – they are a gateway to meaningful family conversations about values and legacy. Facilitating family planning meetings, whether in your office or during family trips, creates a space for open dialogue. These discussions go beyond logistics (the “what,” “when,” and “how much”) to explore the “why” of family wealth.
Helping families articulate their philanthropic vision—often for the first time—reveals shared passions and differing priorities, enabling you to craft a unified “Family Mission Statement.” This process strengthens family bonds and positions you as a trusted advisor who adds unique value, reducing client attrition as heirs remain loyal to you.
Tip: Connecting with heirs and involving the broader family is one of the most effective ways to retain AUM.
Are you Ready to be the Financial and Trusted Advisor?
Clients are looking for more than financial expertise. They are looking for an advisor who simplifies the family wealth plan – with clarity, ease, and building lasting legacies for their family.
Start the Conversation | Lead the Way
Obtain your free copy of The One Page Legacy Plan, a guide on using DAFs, by iGiftFund Founder and Chairman, Phil Tobin. This resource complements your advisory services in building family legacies.
Contact iGiftFund – Our experienced professionals are here to assist and provide insights on seamlessly integrating DAFs into your practice.
This information contained in this article is intended solely for educational purposes.
The content is not intended, and shall not be construed as professional advice (or a substitution for) including but not limited to legal, financial, tax or any other professional interpretation.