A family dinner table can sometimes feel more like a corporate boardroom, with a pair of CEOs and their future CEOs all coming together around the Thanksgiving feast. When we invest ourselves in our clients and engage in their lives, there may even be a seat reserved for the family's trusted financial advisor at the table.
Having a seat at the family table is an important step in client relationships – maybe not for Thanksgiving dinner, but for the important family discussions that are often made around the very same table.
In an earlier column we talked about the need for financial advisors to be equally vested in the two family CEOs – the chief executive officer and the chief emotional officer. The chief executive officer handles the finances while the chief emotional officer helps the family meet its emotional needs.
If we look one more step into the future, we see children taking the family CEO roles from their parents, thus making the next generation an integral part of the financial planning process.
Seniors have a natural desire to want their adult children involved in decision-making, but it is important to note that the generation gap between parent and child can present a challenge.
