For generations, families have worked to build businesses, accumulate investments, purchase property, and create opportunities they hope will extend well beyond their own lifetimes. Yet history offers an important lesson: successfully transferring wealth involves much more than transferring assets.
You’ve probably heard the old expression, “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations” – the idea that one generation creates wealth, the next maintains it, and the third loses it. While the statistics often attached to that saying have been questioned, the underlying challenge is very real. Research and wealth-planning experts consistently point to communication, education, and preparation as important factors in helping families sustain wealth across generations.
And surprisingly, many families still aren’t having those conversations. Fidelity’s 2025 Family & Finance Study found that while 97% of families recognize the importance of estate-planning conversations, nearly half have yet to have these critical discussions. The takeaway from these findings is that a financial legacy shouldn’t begin the day an inheritance arrives.
Preparing the Next Generation
For many parents and grandparents, talking about family wealth can feel uncomfortable. You may worry that knowing too much will affect your children’s ambition, create expectations, or simply introduce conversations you’re not ready to have. But preparing your children doesn’t necessarily mean telling them every account balance tomorrow. Instead, consider beginning with the bigger picture:
- What does your family’s wealth represent to you?
- What values helped you build it?
- What do you hope it allows future generations to accomplish?
- Who are the advisors, attorneys, CPAs, and other professionals helping your family?
- How are your investments, trusts, estate plan, and charitable intentions structured?
- What financial knowledge might your children need before they eventually assume greater responsibility?
Fidelity recommends establishing an open dialogue around family values and involving financial professionals who can help create a framework for these conversations. UBS’s 2026 Next Generation research similarly describes successful inheritance not as a single financial event, but as a gradual assumption of responsibility.
Bring Your Family to the Table
One practical step is surprisingly simple: schedule a family meeting with your financial advisor. Your children don’t need to become investment experts in one afternoon. The goal is to begin building familiarity and relationships before they’re needed.
Introduce them to your advisor. Explain why you made certain decisions. Give them an opportunity to ask questions. Discuss your family’s goals and values. Over time, those conversations can evolve as your children mature and your family’s circumstances change.
At JL Bainbridge, relationships have always been at the heart of how we serve our clients. For more than four decades, we’ve had the privilege of working with individuals and families through different stages of their financial lives and, in many cases, across generations. We believe transparency and education are an important part of that responsibility. We want your children and grandchildren to know who we are, feel comfortable asking us questions, and understand the financial legacy they may one day help steward.
And just as you are planning for the next generation of your family, we are planning for the next generation of ours. JL Bainbridge has built a strong team of leaders and advisors committed to carrying the firm forward and continuing the personal relationships and long-term approach our clients have come to expect. Your wealth may span generations, and your financial relationships should be built with the future in mind, too.
If you haven’t brought your family into the conversation yet, let’s start. Contact your JL Bainbridge team to schedule a family meeting and begin preparing the people you love for the legacy you’ve worked so hard to build.
Sources
- Fidelity Investments, 2025 Family & Finance Study
- Fidelity Wealth Management, Preparing Your Children for Their Inheritance
- UBS, Next Generation Report 2026
Disclosure
Any views and opinions expressed in this article are those of JL Bainbridge & Co., Inc. and are subject to change and reflect our judgment as of the publication date. This content is for general educational purposes only and should not be considered personalized investment advice. Specific recommendations and investment advice are only provided to clients pursuant to a written advisory agreement.
JL Bainbridge will not share your account or personal information with family members without your authorization. Likewise, family members attending a meeting do not become clients of JL Bainbridge unless they enter into their own advisory agreement.
JL Bainbridge is a registered investment adviser. Registration with the SEC does not imply any level of skill or training. JL Bainbridge is not a broker-dealer and does not offer tax or legal advice. Please consult your tax or legal professional for assistance regarding your individual situation. For more information about our firm and our investment adviser representatives, please review our ADV part 2A Disclosure Brochure, Privacy Notice, and Relationship Summary (Form CRS) at www.jlbainbridge.com or reference the SEC website for more information on the firm and its advisers at: https://adviserinfo.sec.gov/firm/summary/108058.
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