Long before smartphones and location sharing, a simple question became one of television's most memorable public service announcements:“It's 10 p.m. Do you know where your children are?”
From local news broadcasts beginning in the 1960s to celebrity appearances by Grace Jones, Andy Warhol and Cyndi Lauper in later versions, the question became part of pop culture.
The message to parents was unmistakable:
Know where your children are. Know what they're doing.
Fast-forward to 2026, and there's a new twist on a familiar message for financial advisors: Know who your clients' children are. Know what matters to them.
Knowing the Parents Doesn't Mean Knowing the Kids.
You may have advised a client for decades. You know their wealth, their goals and their estate plan. But have you met their children?
Natixis's 2026 Wealth Transfer Report found that advisors globally report retaining assets only half the time when next-generation heirs inherit.1
The number may be familiar. The risk is no less real. You’ve spent decades helping their parents build wealth. But when that wealth moves, their children may see you as little more than a name on a statement.
How do you build a relationship with someone who doesn’t yet have wealth to manage?
The Inheritance Isn’t Here. The Opportunity is.
What if the next generation's first experience making decisions about family wealth had nothing to do with investing?
Donor-advised fund (DAF) technology has evolved and can now enable parents to invite their children and grandchildren to participate in the family giving. Younger family members can champion causes, recommend grants, and see their decisions put into action, revealing priorities their parents, grandparents, and advisors might not otherwise discover.
They don't need an inheritance or an investment portfolio to participate in the family's wealth decisions. And you don't need to wait for either to earn their trust.
Your Client Chose You. Their Children Haven't.
Citi's 2026/27 Global Family Office Report found that 47% of surveyed family offices involve the next generation in meetings with advisors, but only 32% report involving them in philanthropic initiatives.2
There’s a difference between watching decisions being made and having a say in them.
These early interactions give advisors an opportunity to earn the next generation's trust while helping their parents build and steward family wealth. When the time comes to choose who manages that wealth, the relationship doesn't have to start from scratch.
Remember that old public service announcement?
It's 2026.
Do you know your clients' children yet? Do they know you?
Important Disclosures & Definitions
1 Natixis Investment Managers. 2026 Wealth Transfer Report: Existential Crisis - Three Factors That Will Determine Who Survives and Thrives in the Great Wealth Transfer, p. 2 (PDF p. 3). Based on advisors' self-reported experience retaining inherited assets.
2 Citi Wealth. 2026/27 Global Family Office Report, p. 125, “Next Generation Engagement and Education.”
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