3 Strategies To Ensure You Don't Get Lost In The Great Wealth Transfer

2. Don't be afraid to be confident.

Trustee, trustee, irrevocable, revocable... Planning a trust can seem complicated. This process usually requires coordination between several professional consultants and a large number of documents, some of which require distribution and approval by many stakeholders.

While trust planning may seem complicated, it is important to remember that it is an integral part of transferring significant wealth, especially for high net worth clients. Be it tax benefits or protection from creditors, trusts are a good solution to facilitate the transfer of wealth between generations.

Even the money your clients have can be put into a trust fund for the beneficiaries at will. So don't bury your head in the sand when a client is ready to explain to you how their trust works.

With an understanding of trust planning, you can be a valuable asset in helping ensure the smooth running of your clients' real estate plans. For example, let's say your client wants to have an investment account to avoid probate, but the account is not in their revocable live fund. This can lead to asset validation following the client's death and potentially cause loved ones to spend unnecessary time and money in the process. You can help prevent this by knowing what assets to place in a trust and notifying clients accordingly.

3. Get to know other advisors for your clients.

Your financial advice is invaluable to your clients, but they may have other needs beyond your experience. Your client may have a team of professionals they turn to for this need, including auditors, insurance brokers, and yes, even a real estate attorney or two.

As part of estate planning, attorneys sometimes meet with representatives named in plans to sign documents or ask questions about their role. This allows them to build relationships with your customers from generation to generation. The same may be true for CPAs and their insurance brokers in terms of whom your clients regularly turn to for family financial advice.

You can create the same lasting relationship with your clients by becoming an important part of their advisory team. Getting to know other advisors is a good start. Together, you can join forces to ensure your customers have a comprehensive and reliable plan for all their financial, property and family needs.

With significant wealth transfers on the horizon, placing yourself as an important part of your clients' family plans can help ensure that your services are not neglected as their assets are passed on to the next generation.

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Alison Lauren Lee , Esq. , director of content, strategic development, and investment fund at FreeWill.

(Photo: Selensergen/Adobe Stock)

I lost a lot of money in day trading until I learned how to handle money properly.