Bring generations together to help families plan for a secure financial future.

The Great Wealth Transfer is underway, but according to a recent Advisor Authority survey, powered by the Nationwide Retirement Institute^®, different generations have different expectations for how to manage these assets.

As a financial professional, understanding these differences can help you assist clients across generations ensure that family wealth is transferred according to plan, while you build new relationships with younger clients for the future.

Younger investors are more open to guidance for family financial planning.

Some clients—particularly those from older generations—value privacy when it comes to family financial planning. Approach these discussions with care and understanding.

Would you want your financial advisor to facilitate conversations with you and your family member about financial planning? (%Yes, I would welcome this.)

(Among investors with financial professionals)

Bar chart showing 60% Millennials (age 30-45); 32% Gen Xers (age 46-61); 16% Boomers and older (age 62+)

Nearly half of Boomers and older (46%) say they prefer to keep these conversations private, compared to just 10% of Millennials.

Mother and adult daughter sitting on a couch facing each other and smiling.

Why encourage financial planning discussions across generations.

Clients may have good reasons for keeping their financial plans to themselves, but they may not realize that staying silent could cause more harm than good.

More than half of investors (53%) say they’ve had conversations with family members in the past 12 months about planning for financial security in retirement.

Percentage who think it's not necessary to have these conversations:

27%

Boomers

14%

Gen X

12%

Millennials

Gen Z (age 18-29)

Couple in their 70s talking with their financial professional and looking over documents.

Grow your practice by broadening your services across family generations.

Financial professionals are expanding the services they offer to serve clients across different generations. Helping families plan for smooth and efficient transfers of wealth can lead to opportunities for new relationships from existing clients.

When asked how they are adapting their practice to serve across generations, especially for investors younger than 45, 25% of financial professionals who work with these younger clients are offering more holistic services, rather than an investment-only approach.

Make financial planning a family affair.

When you help family members across generations talk openly about financial planning, your older clients can feel confident that their wealth will be transferred according to their wishes and younger clients can start to plan for their future financial security.

Turn to Nationwide for resources and solutions that you can use to cover a wide range of needs in financial planning consultations with clients across generations.

Learn how Nationwide can help you plan family conversations.

Methodology

The Harris Poll, on behalf of Nationwide, conducted an online survey in the U. S. among 528 advisors and financial professionals and 2,012 investors ages 18+ with investable assets (IA) of $10K+, January 15-February 6, 2026. Among the investors, there were 1,041 with a financial professional, 179 Gen Z (age 18-29), 605 Millennials (age 30-45), 482 Gen X (age 46-61), and 746 Baby Boomers and older (age 62+).

For complete survey methodology, including weighting variables and subgroup sample sizes, please contact VASASK@nationwide.com.

Disclosure

For financial professional use only.

This material is not a recommendation to buy or sell a financial product or to adopt an investment strategy. Investors should discuss their specific situation with their financial professional.