Banking Future Clients: How Financial Planning Software and Financial Literacy Secure Prospects

The financial services industry is at a pivotal moment. Advisors are facing a generational shift as wealth moves from baby boomers to their children, while also trying to connect with younger professionals who may not yet be in a position to need full-service planning. I think the challenge is how can advisors stay engaged with individuals who aren’t quite ready for professional advice but could become valuable long-term clients?

The answer lies in a new concept: Banking Future Clients.

This concept combines financial planning software with a structured financial literacy journey. Instead of losing potential clients who aren’t ready today, advisors can place them in a digital experience that provides real value, builds trust, and ensures the advisor stays top-of-mind when the timing becomes right.

The Birth of Banking Future Clients

This past year, we launched StartingOutPlan (SOP), our first direct-to-consumer site and the first of many platforms we will develop with this purpose in mind. SOP was designed specifically to test and showcase the concept of Banking Future Clients. Its purpose is straightforward: to help advisors maintain relationships with individuals who may not be ready to pay for full-service financial planning but still want access to tools, education, and a sense of control over their financial journey.

Banking Clients means giving them a free, branded digital experience that does the following:

• Delivers Value: Even without professional advice, the platform provides meaningful insights, tools, and education to help users better understand their financial situation.
  
  
• Keeps the Advisor Visible: Every interaction reminds the client that the service is provided by an advisor, complete with the advisor’s branding.
  
  
• Facilitates Engagement: A built-in button or link allows the user to easily request professional advice when they are ready, turning digital engagement into real-world conversations.

This approach effectively banks future clients by creating a bridge between today’s circumstances and tomorrow’s opportunities.

The Two Primary Groups for Banking Future Clients

1. Legacy Clients

One of the biggest challenges advisors face is the generational wealth transfer. Studies have shown that somewhere between 70% to 80% of children do not continue working with their parents’ advisors after inheriting wealth. This is not because of dissatisfaction with the advisor’s skills, it’s because no relationship was established when the opportunity to do so was there.

With Banking Future Clients, advisors can change this outcome. By inviting the children of clients into platforms like StartingOutPlan, advisors provide value before those children have significant assets. They learn, they explore, and they begin associating financial literacy and planning with the advisor’s brand. When the time comes to manage inherited or accumulated wealth, that advisor is the natural choice.

2. Young Professionals

Traditionally, advisors have had little incentive to work with young professionals who don’t yet have investable assets. But ignoring this group is shortsighted. Today’s 28-year-old engineer or entrepreneur may be tomorrow’s million-dollar client.

Banking these young professionals means offering them free access to a branded digital experience that is designed to meet their needs today. It acknowledges their ambition, gives them tools to start making smarter financial decisions, and sets the stage for future professional engagement.

How StartingOutPlan Delivers This Experience

StartingOutPlan (SOP) was designed with younger users in mind. Its branding, tone, and user interface speak to a modern audience that is eager to learn but may be skeptical of traditional financial advice models.

Key features include:

1. The Clients Account is owned by the Client: SOP accounts, as well as all Direct to Consumer sites are owned by the users themselves.  Advisor participation is granted per their sponsorship. 
2. A Full Suite of PlanTechHub Modules: SOP contains the same core planning tools as our flagship advisor software, allowing users to model scenarios, test ideas, and explore financial outcomes.
3. Financial Literacy Journeys: The platform includes educational modules that help users build a foundation of knowledge, turning abstract financial concepts into practical insights.
4. Advisor Branding: Every page and every module reminds the user that this is a service provided by their advisor—not a faceless app. It positions the advisor as the source of their empowerment.
5. Direct Engagement Opportunities: When users feel ready for deeper, professional advice, they can connect back to the advisor seamlessly.
6. Advice Delivery: Advisors can use their PlanTechHub Accounts to build and deliver scenarios directly to the clients Direct to Consumer Accounts.

Expanding Beyond SOP: MyDIYplan.com

While SOP is targeted toward younger audiences, we’ve also developed MyDIYplan, which serves a different market segment. This site is designed for more established families and individuals who may not be young professionals anymore but still want to engage in a do-it-yourself approach before working with an advisor. MyDIYplan.com is easier to use, removing the complexity that younger, tech-savvy users may embrace but that older users might find overwhelming. Like SOP, the site keeps the advisor front and center, always offering the option to escalate from DIY exploration to professional planning.

Together, SOP and MyDIYplan illustrate how Banking Future Clients can be customized for different demographics while maintaining the same core principle, which is to give prospects valuable digital experiences today to secure them as clients tomorrow.

The Strategic Value of Banking Future Clients

Advisors who embrace this approach gain several long-term advantages:

1. Client Retention Across Generations: By building relationships with legacy clients early, advisors increase the odds that assets stay with the firm across generations.
   
   
2. Future Revenue Pipeline: Young professionals banked today represent tomorrow’s profitable clients.
   
   
3. Differentiation in the Marketplace: Advisors who offer branded, educational digital tools stand out from competitors relying on outdated engagement methods.
   
   
4. Scalability: Because platforms like SOP and myDIYplan.com are digital, advisors can engage large numbers of prospects with minimal time investment, making it possible to scale relationships without overwhelming workload.

Why This Matters Now

The timing could not be more critical. Younger generations are digital-first. They expect online tools, free resources, and opportunities to learn on their own terms. If advisors do not meet these expectations, tech companies and robo-advisors will fill the gap.

Advisors cannot afford to ignore the force of generational wealth transfer. An estimated $84 trillion will pass between generations over the next two decades. Advisors who fail to bank future clients risk losing their share of that wealth.

Banking Future Clients is the solution. It positions advisors not only as trusted professionals but also as innovators who understand the digital expectations of today’s audiences.

The future of financial advising is not only about serving today’s profitable clients. It’s about ensuring tomorrow’s clients are already engaged, educated, and loyal before they even reach the point of needing full-service planning.

Banking Future Clients transforms the advisor’s role from transactional to relational, from short-term focused to long-term strategic. By combining financial planning software with financial literacy journeys, advisors can provide free, valuable experiences that keep their brand alive in the minds of prospects until the timing is right.

I think this is very clear. If you don’t bank your future clients, someone else will.

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