A client’s child turns 18.
Their financial life may look almost exactly as it did the day before. They may be preparing for college, working a summer job, or still relying on their parents for nearly everything. They probably do not have meaningful assets to manage.
But an important planning threshold has arrived.
Once a child becomes a legal adult, parents should not assume they will retain the same access to medical information or the same ability to act on the child’s behalf. The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services explains that only an individual or the individual’s personal representative has a right to access the person’s medical records. An advance directive can provide instructions for medical care if someone cannot communicate and, depending on the document and applicable state law, can allow that person to name someone to make health care decisions for them.
For families, this creates a real and often overlooked need. For advisors, it creates a natural opportunity to help.
Turn a one-time gesture into a named client benefit
Rather than addressing this need only when a client happens to ask, firms can formalize the experience as a Family Milestones Program.
The experience can include a brief educational meeting, completion of the document, and clear instructions for signing, storing, and sharing it.
The service can be offered as an included benefit of the family’s relationship with the firm.
That distinction matters. A named program is easier to explain, easier to operationalize, and easier for clients to remember. It can appear on the firm’s website, in onboarding materials, during annual reviews, and in client benefit summaries. Instead of simply saying the firm serves the whole family, the advisor can point to a specific way it does so.
The best time to meet the next generation is before there is anything to sell them
Many firms first focus on the next generation when a wealth transfer becomes imminent. By then, the adult children may already have their own financial relationships, preferences, and perceptions of their parents’ advisor.
A Family Milestones Program starts much earlier.
The objective is not to gather assets this quarter. In many cases, there will be no account to open and no immediate revenue opportunity. That is precisely what makes the interaction meaningful. The advisor is showing up at an important moment without attaching a sales pitch to it.
The young adult receives something useful. The client sees the firm investing in someone they love. The advisor earns an introduction based on service rather than solicitation.
Over time, that first conversation can become the foundation for future ones. The same young adult may eventually need help with workplace benefits, a first investment account, marriage, a home purchase, children, business ownership, or an estate plan of their own. There is no guarantee that the relationship will develop that way, but the firm will have earned something more valuable than a cold lead: familiarity, trust, and a history of being helpful.
This is a long-term relationship strategy, and it should be measured like one.
Why the program creates value now
The strategic payoff may take years, but the client value is immediate.
It makes multigenerational planning tangible
Advisors often talk about serving the whole family. This program turns that promise into a specific experience clients can see and use.
It gives clients another reason to value the relationship
Clients do not experience their financial lives as a collection of investment accounts. Helping them prepare a child or grandchild for adulthood demonstrates that the firm is paying attention to the people and transitions surrounding the wealth.
It creates a natural, permission-based introduction
The milestone gives the advisor a legitimate reason to meet the next generation. The conversation begins with the young adult’s needs and choices, not the firm’s services.
It differentiates the firm’s client experience
Plenty of firms say they offer comprehensive planning. Far fewer can name a repeatable benefit designed specifically for the families of their clients.
It gives estate planning an ongoing role
Estate planning should not be treated as a project that happens once and disappears from view. A milestone-based program helps make planning a continuing part of the relationship.
How to launch a Family Milestones Program
The strongest version of this program is simple, consistent, and easy for the advisory team to explain.
Define the benefit
Start with one clear milestone and one clear outcome. For example:
When a client’s child or grandchild turns 18, the firm offers a short planning session and access to an advance health care directive through Wealth.com at no additional cost.
Specify who is eligible, what is included, and whether the benefit extends to children, grandchildren, or both. Review the design and all client-facing language with the firm’s legal and compliance teams.
Give the program a name
“Family Milestones Program” is broad enough to grow with the firm while remaining easy to understand. A formal name helps advisors introduce it consistently and makes it feel like a genuine component of the client experience, not an occasional favor.
Capture the right family information
During onboarding and annual reviews, ask clients whether they would like the firm to recognize upcoming family milestones. Record the names and relevant timing for children and grandchildren in the firm’s CRM, consistent with its privacy and data-handling policies.
The firm does not need to wait for perfect data. It can begin with interested clients and expand participation over time.
Build a simple workflow
Create a CRM reminder 60 to 90 days before the young adult’s 18th birthday. The workflow might include:
- An advisor note to the client explaining the benefit
- An invitation for the young adult to participate
- A short educational meeting centered on the young adult’s choices
- Completion of the appropriate document through Wealth.com
- Instructions for execution, storage, and sharing
- A brief follow-up after the process is complete
The young adult should be treated as the decision-maker throughout the experience. The parent’s role is to make the introduction, not to make choices on the new adult’s behalf.
Make the experience feel like a milestone
The program should feel warmer than an administrative task. Congratulate the young adult. Explain why the document matters in plain language. Give them a concise checklist of what to do with the completed document. If appropriate, follow up with a handwritten note or a small welcome gift from the firm.
The details do not need to be expensive. They need to feel intentional.
Measure relationships, not immediate revenue
Traditional campaign metrics will miss the point. Better early indicators include:
- Eligible family members identified
- Invitations sent
- Young adults who participate
- Documents completed
- Next-generation relationships established
- Client feedback and referrals connected to the program
- Follow-up planning conversations over time
Assets may eventually follow, but they should not be the program’s first test of success.
Client-facing copy firms can use
Advisors can include language like this on a website, client benefit page, or service overview:
Website or service overviewFamily Milestones Program
New planning needs often arrive before financial complexity. When your child or grandchild turns 18, we will help them understand and establish a foundational health care directive through Wealth.com. This benefit is included as part of your family’s relationship with our firm.
An advisor can also introduce it during a review with a simple question:
Annual review conversation“Do you have any children or grandchildren turning 18 in the next year? We offer a Family Milestones Program that helps them put a foundational health care directive in place. It is included as part of our work with your family.”
That question is specific, helpful, and easy for a client to act on.
Start with 18, then build around the family’s life
The 18th birthday is an ideal place to begin because it combines a clear trigger with an immediate planning need. Once the workflow is working well, firms can decide whether the broader program should recognize other transitions, such as a first job, marriage, the birth of a child, a home purchase, or the launch of a business.
Each milestone can prompt a different planning conversation. Together, they can create a client experience that follows the family across generations.
The value of a Family Milestones Program is not that every 18-year-old becomes a profitable client. The value is that the firm helps at a moment that matters, demonstrates what multigenerational service actually looks like, and begins a relationship with no immediate expectation in return.
Clients remember the firms that help them care for the people they love. The next generation will, too.
Document names, legal requirements, age-of-majority rules, and execution formalities vary by state and individual circumstances. Firms should use applicable state-specific workflows and review the program and its communications with legal and compliance professionals.
