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The #1 skill advisors need to help clients navigate the Great Wealth Transfer

How your firm can prevent losing business as your clients transfer their wealth.

By Betterment Editors

Published Jul. 09, 2025

The #1 skill advisors need to help clients navigate the Great Wealth Transfer Jul 9, 2025 1:01:43 PM How your firm can prevent losing business as your clients transfer their wealth. We’ve been hearing about the “Great Wealth Transfer” for years now. There is an estimated $100+ trillion that will pass from baby boomers to Gen X and millennials, but recent data has found that most clients are still not ready for it. The problem? Many families aren’t having essential conversations about how their wealth will be passed down—or who will be responsible for managing it. Here’s how your firm can help. The challenge: Guiding clients through a generational shift Money can be stressful. In Betterment research, we’ve found that 62% of people have moderate to significant anxiety around their finances. Pair together the complexities of financial planning with potentially emotional conversations with loved ones, and many families may feel lost or confused. Recent data shows that many families are underprepared: An RBC Wealth Management–U.S. survey found that only 52% of givers have had conversations about values with their heirs, and just 39% have provided guidelines for what they want to do with their inheritance. Meanwhile, UBS research highlights a gender difference within this gap: 80% of women who inherited wealth from their parents and 83% of widows experienced a “wealth transfer challenge.” UBS found that many widowed women did not have an established wealth transfer plan with their partner, and one in four said they did not know where all their partner’s wealth was before their passing. This lack of preparedness is alarming, but it presents an opportunity for your firm to step up and help your clients, ultimately building long-term relationships. “Advisors can offer a lot of value by helping their clients create an estate plan and navigate conversations with family members. By being a trusted partner in the process, advisors can build stronger relationships not only with current clients but also with the next generation.” – Alison Considine, Director of Betterment Advisor Solutions The opportunity: Become a family’s long-term guide According to the RBC Wealth Management–U.S. survey, the primary driver of feeling unprepared for an inheritance is not tax complexity or investment strategy—it’s a breakdown in or lack of communication. The UBS research found the same issue, with nearly one-third of women who inherited assets from their parents having no prior conversations with them about the wealth transfer. Over the coming years, communication is likely going to be the #1 skill advisors need to help clients manage a wealth transfer. If advisors want to keep financial planning relationships intact across generations, they need to get ahead of and lead these conversations. Here are three guidelines for successful wealth transfer conversations: Educate clients early. Help them understand how to transfer wealth tax-efficiently, preserve family assets, and make sure their wishes are clearly documented. Proactive education builds confidence and prevents costly surprises down the line. Bring the next generation to the table. Sit down with clients and their children or heirs to discuss goals, responsibilities, and expectations to help avoid misunderstandings down the road. Reframe the discussion. Wealth transfer isn’t just a financial transaction—it’s a personal story about family legacy, passions, and future impact. Use open-ended questions to surface values like philanthropy, entrepreneurship, or family tradition—and make those priorities central to the planning process. 10 questions to ask clients and their heirs to help facilitate a smooth wealth transfer Use the following questions as a starting point to begin intergenerational discussions around wealth transfers. As an advisor, you know your clients best, so tailor your conversations to their personal situations. For clients (Wealth givers—often Baby Boomers or Gen X): Have you clearly communicated your intentions for your wealth with your children or heirs? (Start by opening the door to alignment and transparency around values and expectations.) What values or legacy do you hope your wealth will help preserve or promote? (Encourage your client to think beyond dollars and towards impact.) Have you established or updated your estate plan, including wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations? (Identify potential gaps and ensure documents match current intentions.) Would you consider giving a gift to heirs or causes during your lifetime to see the impact of your wealth now? (Spark discussion about strategic giving and potential tax benefits.) Have you talked to your heirs about the responsibilities that come with inheriting wealth? (Emphasize financial literacy and preparedness of the next generation, which can lead to more intergenerational communication.) For heirs (often Gen X or Millennials): Do you understand your parents' or benefactors’ financial values and intentions for passing on their wealth? (Encourage open dialogue and reduce surprises or misunderstandings.) Do you feel prepared to manage or invest inherited assets? If not, what guidance do you need? (Help identify financial education needs or planning opportunities.) Do you have your own estate plan in place to manage future wealth transfers? (Promote proactive planning to help protect assets and preserve family goals.) Do you want to be involved in your own charitable giving or collaborative family philanthropy efforts? (Engages heirs in legacy planning and shared purpose with their parents.) What are your personal financial goals, and how might an inheritance affect those plans? (Show that you are thinking about the heir's personal needs as well.) How Betterment Advisor Solutions can help navigate the Great Wealth Transfer Betterment Advisor Solutions equips advisors with technology and tools that make it easier to communicate and collaborate across generations: Tax-smart technology: Leverage automated tax-loss harvesting, customizable drift-based rebalancing, automated asset location, and more to help clients manage taxes. Streamlined client portal: Offer your clients a white-labeled client portal, where they can easily see their full financial picture, with your branding on their statements and tax forms. Goals-based framework: Create customized goal names to create a personal feel for each client’s cash, investments, or held-away accounts.

How your firm can prevent losing business as your clients transfer their wealth.

We’ve been hearing about the “Great Wealth Transfer” for years now. There is an estimated $100+ trillion that will pass from baby boomers to Gen X and millennials, but recent data has found that most clients are still not ready for it.

The problem? Many families aren’t having essential conversations about how their wealth will be passed down—or who will be responsible for managing it. Here’s how your firm can help.

The challenge: Guiding clients through a generational shift

Money can be stressful. In Betterment research, we’ve found that 62% of people have moderate to significant anxiety around their finances. Pair together the complexities of financial planning with potentially emotional conversations with loved ones, and many families may feel lost or confused.

Recent data shows that many families are underprepared:

An RBC Wealth Management–U.S. survey found that only 52% of givers have had conversations about values with their heirs, and just 39% have provided guidelines for what they want to do with their inheritance.
Meanwhile, UBS research highlights a gender difference within this gap: 80% of women who inherited wealth from their parents and 83% of widows experienced a “wealth transfer challenge.” UBS found that many widowed women did not have an established wealth transfer plan with their partner, and one in four said they did not know where all their partner’s wealth was before their passing.

This lack of preparedness is alarming, but it presents an opportunity for your firm to step up and help your clients, ultimately building long-term relationships.

“Advisors can offer a lot of value by helping their clients create an estate plan and navigate conversations with family members. By being a trusted partner in the process, advisors can build stronger relationships not only with current clients but also with the next generation.”

– Alison Considine, Director of Betterment Advisor Solutions

The opportunity: Become a family’s long-term guide

According to the RBC Wealth Management–U.S. survey, the primary driver of feeling unprepared for an inheritance is not tax complexity or investment strategy—it’s a breakdown in or lack of communication.

The UBS research found the same issue, with nearly one-third of women who inherited assets from their parents having no prior conversations with them about the wealth transfer.

Over the coming years, communication is likely going to be the #1 skill advisors need to help clients manage a wealth transfer.

If advisors want to keep financial planning relationships intact across generations, they need to get ahead of and lead these conversations.

Here are three guidelines for successful wealth transfer conversations:

Educate clients early. Help them understand how to transfer wealth tax-efficiently, preserve family assets, and make sure their wishes are clearly documented. Proactive education builds confidence and prevents costly surprises down the line.
Bring the next generation to the table. Sit down with clients and their children or heirs to discuss goals, responsibilities, and expectations to help avoid misunderstandings down the road.
Reframe the discussion. Wealth transfer isn’t just a financial transaction—it’s a personal story about family legacy, passions, and future impact. Use open-ended questions to surface values like philanthropy, entrepreneurship, or family tradition—and make those priorities central to the planning process.

10 questions to ask clients and their heirs to help facilitate a smooth wealth transfer

Use the following questions as a starting point to begin intergenerational discussions around wealth transfers. As an advisor, you know your clients best, so tailor your conversations to their personal situations.

For clients (Wealth givers—often Baby Boomers or Gen X):

Have you clearly communicated your intentions for your wealth with your children or heirs? (Start by opening the door to alignment and transparency around values and expectations.)
What values or legacy do you hope your wealth will help preserve or promote? (Encourage your client to think beyond dollars and towards impact.)
Have you established or updated your estate plan, including wills, trusts, and beneficiary designations? (Identify potential gaps and ensure documents match current intentions.)
Would you consider giving a gift to heirs or causes during your lifetime to see the impact of your wealth now? (Spark discussion about strategic giving and potential tax benefits.)
Have you talked to your heirs about the responsibilities that come with inheriting wealth? (Emphasize financial literacy and preparedness of the next generation, which can lead to more intergenerational communication.)

For heirs (often Gen X or Millennials):

Do you understand your parents' or benefactors’ financial values and intentions for passing on their wealth? (Encourage open dialogue and reduce surprises or misunderstandings.)
Do you feel prepared to manage or invest inherited assets? If not, what guidance do you need? (Help identify financial education needs or planning opportunities.)
Do you have your own estate plan in place to manage future wealth transfers? (Promote proactive planning to help protect assets and preserve family goals.)
Do you want to be involved in your own charitable giving or collaborative family philanthropy efforts? (Engages heirs in legacy planning and shared purpose with their parents.)
What are your personal financial goals, and how might an inheritance affect those plans? (Show that you are thinking about the heir's personal needs as well.)

How Betterment Advisor Solutions can help navigate the Great Wealth Transfer

Betterment Advisor Solutions equips advisors with technology and tools that make it easier to communicate and collaborate across generations:

Tax-smart technology: Leverage automated tax-loss harvesting, customizable drift-based rebalancing, automated asset location, and more to help clients manage taxes.
Streamlined client portal: Offer your clients a white-labeled client portal, where they can easily see their full financial picture, with your branding on their statements and tax forms.
Goals-based framework: Create customized goal names to create a personal feel for each client’s cash, investments, or held-away accounts.