Journal of Financial Planning: November 2025
Mo Buckner is a first-year Ph.D. student at Kansas State University. Prior to this, she spent seven years in various roles in private wealth management. Her research interests include communication styles and social interaction, culture and diversity, marriage and family structure, financial therapy, socioeconomics, and how these variables will impact the Great Wealth Transfer and reshape generations.
Nicholas Frederick, CFP®, CTFA, is a graduate of the Kansas State University M.S. in personal financial planning program. Nicholas has conducted research related to economic development initiatives within rural areas and their effectiveness in spurring entrepreneurship. He has experience in developing qualitative surveys for primary data collection.
Congrong Ouyang, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the financial planning program at Texas A&M University. Her research focuses on household financial decision-making, financial well-being, wealth management, and the adoption of financial technologies. She actively contributes to the academic community as a reviewer, associate editor for Financial Planning Review, and frequent presenter at national conferences. Through her scholarship and service, she aims to bridge academic insights with real-world financial planning practices.
Cory Thompson, Ph.D., is an assistant professor in the department of consumer sciences at the University of Alabama. He has a diverse background in the oil and gas industry, which led to his interest in personal financial planning due to observing financial windfalls within the industry. His interests include inheritances, family dynamics and structure, and financial windfalls.
With almost 52 percent of baby boomers planning to transfer over $100 trillion in assets to heirs by 2048, the Great Wealth Transfer is a popular topic in the financial planning and services industry (Horton 2024). As wealth evolves due to factors like globalization and demographic shifts, the traditional client profile and their needs change along with them, creating a disconnect between practitioners and clients. In a 2022 survey completed by Cerulli, 56 percent of client submissions cite transparency in financial adviser interactions as an important factor when choosing or remaining with an adviser (Buhrmann 2023). Furthermore, only 35 percent of investors indicated that they believe their planner always acts in their best interest (Revelli 2023). Many elements can impact these statistics, including communication differences and relationship expectations as well as cultural differences that lead to obscurity and lack of transparency.
This disconnect has measurable business consequences. Recent research reveals that financial planners consistently overestimate the effectiveness of their communication, with planners rating themselves higher across every communication category (Financial Planning Association 2024). What is more concerning is that while 91 percent of planners believe they discuss critical retirement concerns like running out of money, only 28 percent of clients recollect having these conversations (Financial Planning Association 2024). This perception gap contributes to widespread client dissatisfaction and adviser switching, with 75 percent of clients considering or actually changing advisers in 2023 (Financial Planning Association 2024). While this information may be concerning, it is not irreversible.
Discussing the Great Wealth Transfer through the intersection of life cycle hypothesis and altruism theory provides a comprehensive framework for understanding this transitional era, as it explains both the systematic timing of transfers (life cycle hypothesis) and the underlying motivations driving them (altruism). This theoretical lens enables professionals to anticipate when clients will transfer wealth and why they prioritize specific beneficiaries and outcomes, allowing for more targeted planning strategies. Moreover, recognizing that inheritors often hold different values than their descendants regarding wealth stewardship, social impact, and financial priorities will be essential for evolving multigenerational inheritors into steadfast clients. Therefore, practitioners who want to capture and retain wealth across generations during the Great Wealth Transfer will need to focus on implementing life cycle-based transparency strategies with clients. Furthermore, focusing on these diverse inheritors and their values will be the key to business development and longevity in this era of distinctive wealth.
Client-Centered Communication and Financial Planning Personalization
Within the realm of transparency, clients are prioritizing more personalized advice including practitioner accessibility, straightforward communication, and customization of planning. Roughly two-thirds of Americans state that personalization within their financial plan would be a very important factor in financial adviser selection, as 60 percent of consumers are currently not satisfied with the financial advice they have received (Buhrmann 2023). This information is concerning, but the communication disconnect between planners and clients is restorable. According to 60 percent of clients, more frequent and personalized contact would give them increased confidence in their financial plan, and 85 percent consider frequency and style of communication integral to their decision to retain services (Nastasi 2024). Ultimately, taking the time to understand and adapt to a client’s communication style will ensure that financial advisers and planners deliver more personalized and enriching advice. Moreover, nourishing the relationship with increased follow-ups and personalized interactions can further elevate the quality of the client experience.
Furthermore, as clients and the diverse group of inheritors of the Great Wealth Transfer seek to improve their understanding of their wealth, customized financial plans will be an imperative element of adviser and planner offerings. They may also prove crucial to building and retaining client relationships. In a study of financial advising firms, about 50 percent offer estate planning, charitable planning, or cash flow/budgeting analysis (Buhrmann 2023). Additionally, a 2022 Cerulli survey found that 57 percent of respondents expressed a preference for the ability to complete all financial functions at one institution (Buhrmann 2023). Put simply, in a world of convenience, a one-stop shop can make all the difference. Anticipating clients’ needs and making their lives easier whenever possible is an essential piece of both business and relationship development.
Holistic Planning and the Life Cycle Hypothesis
Connecting client needs by creating and understanding their personalized money story is important. A great tool to utilize for this purpose is the life cycle hypothesis (LCH). Developed in the early 1950s by Economic Sciences Prize winner and pioneer researcher Franco Modigliani as well as his student Richard Brumberg, LCH is an economic theory that describes the spending and saving habits of people over the course of a lifetime (Hayes 2025). The theory states that individuals seek to smooth consumption throughout their lifetimes by borrowing when their income is low and saving when their income is high (Hayes 2025). In other words, wealth accumulation is likely to follow a “hump-shaped” pattern that is low during young adulthood as well as older years but peaks between these phases of life (Hayes 2025). For practitioners, utilizing this theory means maintaining transparency by adapting advice to fit each client’s life stage holistically.
LCH supports the need for holistic planning by integrating all aspects of a client’s financial life over time due to shifting financial priorities. Holistic planning is growing in preference particularly among younger investors who are a component of changing client demographics. These clients have shown an increased desire for their financial advice to holistically include life stage, value-based, and total well-being planning (Buhrmann 2023). A preference for life stage planning shows that there is a preference among the new generation of clients for their adviser or planner to maintain versatility, growing with them throughout their lives. Furthermore, value-based planning through the lens of versatility means that advisers must be intentional about respecting and implementing clients’ core values, beliefs, and principles. Knowing clients beyond compliance requirements is imperative. Equally as important, total well-being encompasses ensuring that clients are well-informed as well as secure in their financial decision-making and well-being. In turn, this ensures that their mental, emotional, and physical state is positive, at least from a financial perspective. Ultimately, this younger demographic, which will make up a large percentage of future inheritors, desires financial professionals who care about them as a whole person instead of viewing them as a portfolio or financial plan revenue generator.
Putting LCH into practice looks different for each client. For younger investors who are in the early years of their careers, this may look like focusing on financial costs and their long-term effects on building and maintaining wealth. However, if they are a young inheritor, the conversation may also include balancing wealth preservation and time to enjoy their newfound wealth. Clients in the mid-career phase who are in their highest-earning years may need their adviser to focus on achieving their goals like buying their first or second homes or starting a business. This stage may require running many scenarios or “what-ifs” to determine the best planning and investment strategies to reach these goals securely. For clients who are pre-retirement, it may be exploring income replacement opportunities within their portfolios, reducing costs, or finding a profitable hobby to keep them busy and maintain an income stream while enjoying retirement. Keeping a client’s principles in mind while guiding them through these different stages can create meaningful, long-lasting relationships, enabling advisers to retain business as clients share their positive experiences with others, which increases business growth potential.
Wealth Transfer Preparation and Altruism Theory
Upon completion of the aforementioned LCH theory phases, the transfer of wealth is the final stage for one client and the beginning for another. Altruism theory explains the motivations driving these intergenerational transfers, as individuals feel a responsibility to enhance their beneficiaries’ welfare. This transition phase has gained prominence through the identification of an ongoing era called the “Great Wealth Transfer.” This phenomenon defines the $100 trillion in wealth transfers expected between 2021 to 2048 (Horton 2024). Baby boomers, with the largest net worth of any generation, hold 51.6 percent of all U.S. wealth, compared to the millennial generation, which only possesses 10 percent (Board of Governors of the Federal Reserve System 2025). However, as the baby boomers transfer wealth to younger generations, the resulting Great Wealth Transfer signifies a shift in the demographics of asset holders, as new demographics (race, gender, education, sexual orientation, etc.) own significant wealth for the first time.
As this shift occurs, practitioners must be prepared with holistic approaches to diverse client needs. Becker’s 1991 altruism theory states that parents, especially those who are financially well-off, want to help their children, particularly if they are in need. Studies of altruistic motives suggest that parents give financial support, including inheritances, to their children out of love and a sense of duty (Becker 1992). For instance, children who receive financial support are positively associated with inheritance expectations due to downward transfer patterns in bequests (Kim et al. 2013). Furthermore Kim et al. (2013), found this may correlate to the parental assumption that children need the same financial assistance after the parental death or based on the parents’ altruistic motivation. Additionally, gender and family dynamics further influence these expectations as daughters, for example, might be associated with expressive bequests tied to emotional closeness, while sons may have higher expectations for financial transfers based on traditional notions of filial obligation (Nauke 2010). Practitioners can assist clients and families in preparation for their wealth transfer by offering multigenerational transparency about financial expectations and plans.
Such transparency can take the form of the adviser or planner speaking to each involved party individually, ensuring that financial professionals understand client and beneficiary expectations and concerns. Then, when all parties are ready, planners or advisers will need to facilitate family meetings and collaborate with additional professionals when needed. Finally, practitioners should maintain proper documentation of this process, and once the wealth transfer process has been legalized through trusts or other vehicles of the family’s choosing, they need to maintain copies of those documents. This will ensure that advisers are aware of all parties’ expectations and meet their needs accordingly.
An Adviser’s Solution for Real Life
Financial planners now have the ability to incorporate these findings into their practice. During the next conversation a planner has with a member of Gen X or Z, they may wish to discuss the topic of inheritance, as these generations are prone to have greater expectations for receiving a bequest. As these novice clients connect with advisers, the importance of practitioners’ position in helping guide clients’ financial futures is paramount. Brian Bollenbacher from Waterstreet Financial addresses the Great Wealth Transfer through relationship development: “We stress intergenerational relationships with clients. Part of our process is encouraging an open dialogue with family members about finances, with our team as intermediaries. This develops deeper levels of trust and natural relationship building with the future holders of substantial wealth. There is a lack of communication between generations about inheritance plans, which poses an opportunity to establish a new, open relationship dynamic.”
Bollenbacher’s approach exemplifies systematic transparency implementation. His firm’s process includes three distinct phases: conducting individual family member interviews to understand private concerns and expectations; facilitating family meetings with structured agendas covering financial values, inheritance timelines, and next-generation financial education; and maintaining ongoing multigenerational relationship management that treats the family unit, not just individual clients, as the relationship focus. As structured family meetings with documented outcomes help bridge perception gaps, this systematic approach addresses the communication discrepancies that plague the industry.
Implications
The evidence is clear: clients value transparency, trust, and personalized communication above traditional metrics like performance. As such, the Great Wealth Transfer presents both challenges and opportunities for financial planners who are willing to embrace transparency as a competitive advantage. Regarding challenges, oftentimes, it is uncomfortable to discuss money especially within a family. There are a plethora of dynamics and beliefs at play that may impede on the level of transparency practitioners can implement while maintaining client confidentiality. Illustratively, practitioners should educate clients on what they may share with grandchildren as they are not yet clients or do not share the same accounts as their grandparents.
Moreover, inheritance can have a positive or negative impact on beneficiaries, resulting in a variety of emotional effects as a gain for one family member may seem like a loss for another (Izuhara & Köppe 2019). Therefore, it is important for advisers to be aware of existing and potential family tensions as the goal is to reduce or alleviate them rather than exacerbate them. Furthermore, the limited resources at smaller firms may make navigating these rigorous and formidable complexities a daunting task. However, focusing on core practitioner skills of trust-building and active listening is essential to understanding, navigating, and addressing these challenges.
Practitioners who are willing to adapt throughout these ever-changing times will understand that transparency is a business strategy that creates deeper relationships, higher client satisfaction, and sustainable competitive advantages. As demographics shift and client expectations continue to evolve, transparency becomes the bridge between traditional financial planning approaches and the collaborative, personalized service model that next-generation clients demand.
Conclusion
The Great Wealth Transfer goes beyond an economic shift; it is a transformation of client expectations, values, and communication preferences that demands immediate adaptation from financial planners. LCH provides the theoretical framework for understanding these evolving needs, while Becker’s altruism theory explains the underlying family dynamics that drive wealth transfer decisions. However, theory should be paired with practical implementation to be effective. Successful planners must implement systematic changes, prioritizing transparent communication, active listening, personalized financial plans, and nurturing relationships through consistent follow-up and meaningful personal contact. This transformation requires improving individual client relationships and prioritizing multigenerational family engagement. This can be accomplished by facilitating individual and family meetings that honor diverse values, while maintaining comprehensive documentation that captures the evolving expectations and goals of individuals and families. Practitioners who fail to adapt risk not only losing current clients but forfeiting the opportunity to serve the next generation. In contrast, planners who embrace the aforementioned values and concepts will position themselves to capture and retain wealth across generations, building sustainable practices that thrive in the new demographic landscape.
References
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