How Advisors Can Take Action Today To Reduce Their Legacy Client Loss Rate

The financial services industry is standing at the edge of one of the most dramatic shifts it has ever faced. The Great Wealth Transfer, the ongoing transition of more than 80 trillion dollars from aging Baby Boomers to their heirs, is not just a headline or a demographic trend. It is a tidal wave of change that will redefine the client / advisor relationship for decades to come.

For financial advisors, this moment represents both an extraordinary opportunity and an existential threat. The numbers alone should force anyone in this profession to take notice. Studies consistently show that the average advisor loses 70 to 90 percent of their clients when wealth passes from one generation to the next. In other words, for every ten households you serve today, you may retain only 1 to 3 once the assets pass to their children.

This is not a failure of technical competence. The problem lies elsewhere. It is about relationships, trust, and familiarity. Most adult children of your existing clients have little to no relationship with you. When their parents pass away, they often see no reason to remain with a stranger when they could search the internet, turn to robo-advisors, or follow the recommendation of a peer who insists their advisor is more “in tune” with their generation’s values. The default outcome is abandonment, and unless you actively disrupt that pattern, it will continue.

But there is good news embedded in this reality. Because if the loss of legacy clients is not about financial competence but about human connection, then it is within your power to change it. You can begin today to build bridges with the next generation, to establish yourself not only as their parents’ advisor but as their own trusted source of financial knowledge, guidance, and empowerment. And if you start early enough, you may discover that you are not merely protecting assets you already manage but opening the door to a broader practice that grows with families rather than shrinks when one generation departs.

Heavy Turnover During Inheritance / Generational Transition

One of the most alarming statistics about the Great Wealth Transfer is just how few heirs remain with their parents’ advisors. UBS research has found that approximately 90% of heirs who inherit substantial wealth switch advisors once they are in control of the assets. ThinkAdvisor adds a further chilling perspective, reporting that 81% of inheritors say they plan to fire their parents’ advisor within one to two years of receiving their inheritance. These numbers illustrate that attrition is not a marginal risk. It is the dominant pattern.

Imagine applying those numbers to your own book of business. If you manage a hundred households today, only a small fraction will still be with you once the wealth moves to the next generation unless you take decisive action to change the odds. That means the real question is not whether you will lose clients at inheritance, but how many, and whether you have built enough relationships across generations to hold on to a meaningful share.

Engagement (Or Lack Thereof) With Heirs

The gap between potential and reality is not subtle, it is glaring. Research shows that 76% of advisory firms only engage heirs at the point of wealth transfer, not before. That tracks with 75% of parents saying their financial advisor has never made an effort to connect with their children. That means that in three out of four families, the advisor is effectively invisible to the very people who will soon be making the decisions.

It is not surprising, then, that so many heirs choose to walk away. If their only interaction with you is at the worst possible moment, after losing a parent and suddenly managing a flood of wealth, they will understandably prefer to reset the relationship on their own terms. If instead you have already been part of their journey, even in small ways, you transform from a stranger into a stabilizing force.

This is where educational engagement and proactive inclusion can make all the difference. By giving children of clients access to guided literacy experiences, scenario-planning tools, and even occasional invitations to family meetings, you signal that their perspective matters. That signal has to come long before the moment of inheritance, because trust is not built in a single meeting. It is built over time, through consistent, authentic presence.

A Digital Bridge To The Next Generation

Engaging the children of your clients does not mean running dry seminars or sending them thick binders of reports they will never read. It means consistently positioning yourself as an ally in their financial lives long before they inherit a cent. Many younger clients prefer self-guided exploration. They want to learn on their own, test ideas, and use digital tools that feel natural. This is precisely where platforms like PlanTechHub become critical.

PlanTechHub was built on the recognition that today’s clients, especially Millennials and Gen Z, want to play, test, and explore. They want scenario planning that helps them visualize outcomes in real time. For the children of your current clients, this is the perfect gateway. It allows them to begin engaging with financial planning in a safe, private environment that still connects back to you as the advisor. They can experiment with saving, investing, borrowing, and lifestyle choices, and when questions arise, as they inevitably will, you are the professional already tied to their experience.

The Urgency Of Timing

Wealth transfer is not a distant horizon. It is already underway. The oldest Baby Boomers are well into retirement, and many are passing assets now through gifts, trusts, and inheritances. If you wait until a client dies before trying to meet their children, you are too late. The statistics bear this out: when the default outcome is that 90% of heirs will leave you, the only way to reverse the pattern is to invest in relationships now.

This investment does not cheapen your expertise. On the contrary, offering free educational tools or introductory experiences strengthens your position. Every time you give the next generation a chance to engage on their own terms, you are sending a powerful message: “I care about your financial journey, even before you become a client.” That message is worth far more than a brochure, because it lays the groundwork for loyalty.

The Hidden Savings Of Retaining Legacy Clients

Suppose you manage $100 million in assets across 100 client households. If your average revenue yield is 1%, your firm generates $1 million annually. Now imagine that 70% of those assets are lost when wealth transfers, which is consistent with industry averages. Over the next decade, as clients age and estates settle, you could lose $70 million of those assets. To replace that, you would need to add 70 new million-dollar households or their equivalent. If your client acquisition cost averages $5,000 to $10,000 per new household once you factor in marketing, events, technology, and staff time, the math is sobering. Replacing seventy households would cost between $350,000 and $700,000, not to mention the thousands of advisor hours spent chasing them.

By contrast, if you invested a fraction of that budget into building intergenerational relationships and lowered your legacy client loss rate to, say, 30%, the picture changes dramatically. In that scenario, you would retain $70 million of your current assets and only need to replace $30 million through new prospecting. The savings are clear: you have protected your base, preserved revenue, and freed up both capital and time. That saved effort can then be redirected toward selective growth opportunities, deeper client service, or simply improving your own quality of life as an advisor.

The hidden truth is that client retention is often the most cost-effective form of business development. Every percentage point you shave off your loss rate reduces the expensive treadmill of constant prospecting. Investing now in lowering attrition through meaningful engagement with heirs is not only about protecting relationships, it is about safeguarding the economics of your practice.

Succession And The Shifting Industry

There is another dimension to this conversation that makes the need for action even more urgent. The advisor workforce itself is aging. The average age of a financial advisor is around fifty-one years old, and within the next decade, a large percentage of the profession will be considering retirement. Cerulli has projected that forty percent of industry assets will be in transition as advisors themselves step away.

This means that not only are client assets shifting generationally, but the very people who manage those assets are also facing succession challenges. Without a clear plan for engaging heirs, many advisors risk losing both the relationship and the assets, compounding the vulnerability of their practice. In contrast, those who have built intergenerational trust will not only retain assets but will also make their firms more valuable and attractive when it comes time to transition ownership.

Young advisors are not buying your past success; they are buying your future sustainability. If you have ignored their engagement, your practice will be discounted accordingly. If, however, you can show a track record of intergenerational retention and demonstrate that your heirs are not flight risks but loyal participants in an ongoing relationship, your practice becomes more valuable. You are not only leaving a financial legacy to your family but also passing along a firm that commands respect and premium pricing in the succession marketplace.

The shifting industry landscape makes this point inescapable. Advisors who treat their engagement as optional will find themselves with practices that are harder to transition, harder to value, and harder to sell. Those who act today to connect with the next generation will be rewarded twice; once through ongoing retention and again when a future buyer recognizes the intrinsic value of a practice with durable, multi-generational client relationships.

Building A Legacy Beyond Numbers

The Great Wealth Transfer is not just about money. It is about family continuity, values, and trust. Your clients care deeply about whether their children will be secure, informed, and supported after they are gone. By engaging with their heirs today, you are not just protecting your business. You are fulfilling a profound promise to your clients: that their life’s work and their wealth will be stewarded wisely, and that their children will not have to navigate it alone.

This is how you build a legacy of your own. It is not only about how many assets you manage but about how many families you guide, generation after generation. The statistics are daunting, but they are not destiny. They are a wake-up call to act now, to lean into the future with confidence, and to embrace tools like PlanTechHub that make intergenerational engagement natural, scalable, and effective.

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