Position Yourself for the Generational Wealth Transfer
I must sound like a broken record, and now, I am dating myself …. “broken record?”…Who says that anymore? But I think this is so important to you and your practice that I am going to say/write about this yet again……Positioning yourself and your advisory business for your clients’ and others’ inevitable generational wealth transfer is paramount to your long-term success.
On July 2, 2019, Erin Fossett wrote an article that was sponsored by Thrivent Mutual Funds and published on September 25th on WealthManagement.com (www.WealthManagement.com) entitled 7 steps to building long-term value into your investment practice. The article was introduced on WealthManagement.com and links to the article Tapping the Family Tree: Are You Ready for the Great American Wealth Transfer?
The WealthManagement.com article introduces the Great Wealth Transfer by stating that:
The 7-step guidance that Erin Fossett wrote about is sound, but it does NOT address one of the fundamental issues that I keep emphasizing and repeating. Namely, risk management (mortality risk, longevity risk, and morbidity risk) MUST be part of the generational wealth transfer conversation and incorporated into the guidance provided to your clients for the following reasons:
- It addresses your fiduciary obligation to your clients. Legal-dictionary.com defines a fiduciary as “an individual in who another has placed the utmost trust and confidence to manage and protect property or money. The relationship wherein one person has an obligation to act for another’s benefit”.
- It not only preserves and protects the wealth of the client, but it does the same for the ultimate beneficiaries of the client’s estate – their children, grandchildren, and others, such as charities, to whom you also owe a fiduciary duty.
- It helps you build a relationship with the next generation – a reason that is also emphasized in the article.
- Finally, all three reasons above lead to the protection of the value of your business as risk-based products either preserve the value of your book or replenish assets that have been spent down as part of a client’s retirement planning or end-of-life needs.
AIG (now Corebridge Financial) released this video which features Jack Reutermann, Jr., CLU, CFP. Mr. Reutermann is the Founder and CEO of Research Financial Strategies in Rockville, MD, and is a 40+ year veteran in wealth management and a Registered Investment Advisor. In this video, Mr. Reutermann discusses why he incorporates risk management into his client advisory practice and why you should consider doing this as well.
While this video addresses a niche that AIG (now Corebridge Financial) serves in the marketplace with their GUL product, it is by no means the only product that could be considered.
