The Wealth Transfer Is Coming. Are You Ready?

Over the next two decades, an estimated $68 trillion will change hands in North America alone as baby boomers pass their assets down to younger generations. For wealth managers and family offices, this represents not just opportunity—but risk. Assets can vanish almost overnight when successors feel disconnected from the firm managing their family’s legacy. 

Today’s top-performing wealth managers are preparing for this shift by modernizing one of the most overlooked areas of financial planning: household data. 

From “client” to “family”: rethinking relationship mapping

Traditionally, client records were focused on the individual, the main point of contact, the investment strategy, and portfolio performance. But that model is increasingly outdated. 

To safeguard generational assets, advisors are now expanding their lens. They’re building household records that go beyond spouses and dependents, encompassing adult children, trusts, businesses, power of attorney details, and even charitable giving interests. The goal? To create a 360-degree view of the family’s wealth ecosystem. 

By mapping these relationships, advisors not only understand who holds the wealth but also who influences it, inherits it, and could potentially move it elsewhere. 

Why fragmented records put assets at risk

Imagine this: a client passes away, and no one in the advisory firm knows their daughter by name, let alone her values, goals, or financial literacy. That’s how you lose AUM in a heartbeat. 

Fragmented records, spread across emails, spreadsheets, and paper notes, are a liability. They make it hard to maintain continuity, hard to plan for succession, and hard to demonstrate long-term value to the family. 

Wealth managers with detailed household profiles, by contrast, are positioned to continue the relationship. They’ve documented everything from communication preferences to upcoming life events. They’ve made themselves essential—not replaceable. 

The shift toward proactive engagement

Building out household data isn’t just about preparing for death and taxes. It’s about proactive engagement. 

Many advisors are now using this data to identify when to bring next-generation family members into planning conversations. Some firms set internal triggers, like a client turning 60, as a prompt to introduce adult children to the advisory process. Others track university graduations, new marriages, or home purchases as cues for personalized outreach. 

This kind of anticipatory service creates connection. And connection is what retains assets across generations. 

Household data as a tool for succession

Let’s not forget: this isn’t just about client succession. It’s about advisor succession, too. 

Many senior advisors nearing retirement are looking to sell or pass on their book of business. A digitized, organized, and deeply detailed household database increases the value of that book. It allows incoming advisors to hit the ground running, with full visibility into the family’s financial and interpersonal landscape. 

In short, household data isn’t just a record. It’s an asset—one that adds equity to the firm and confidence to the buyer. 

3 ways to start building better household records

1. Standardize Data Collection
   Move beyond the basics. Every new client intake should include fields for family relationships, professional networks, and key life events. 
2. Tag and Segment Intelligently
   Use your CRM or record-keeping system to tag clients by generation, inheritance potential, or level of engagement. This enables more relevant, timely communication. 
3. Schedule Regular Household Reviews
   Treat household reviews like portfolio reviews. Make them part of your regular cadence—an annual opportunity to update, deepen, and align around the family’s evolving needs. 

The great wealth transfer isn’t a future event—it’s already happening. And the firms that win in this era won’t just be good at investing. They’ll be exceptional at relationships. Those relationships start with better data—data that captures the full picture of a household, not just the name on the account. 

Because when the money moves, the trust needs to stay. 

Want to learn more about how to improve your record keeping with technology? Talk with the Maximizer team.