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In a recent feature on the Great Wealth Transfer, USA Today highlighted leafplanner as a leading resource for families preparing for the largest intergenerational shift of assets in history. This recognition underscores a critical reality: without structure, communication, and preparation, even the most substantial fortunes can erode within a single generation.
The Scale of the Great Wealth Transfer
Over the next two decades, Baby Boomers will pass an estimated $124 trillion to heirs and charitable causes. It’s the most significant wealth transfer in modern history, reshaping families, philanthropy, and private markets alike.
But alongside this opportunity lies a well-documented challenge. Research from the Williams Group, referenced by USA Today, reveals that:
- 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation.
- 90% lose it by the third.
The primary drivers are not poor investments or market volatility but human and organizational factors: lack of communication, unclear roles, inaccessible documents, and inadequate preparation of heirs.
Why Traditional Approaches Fall Short
Many families assume their existing advisors, binders, and processes will suffice. Yet today’s wealth is far more complex:
- Multiple jurisdictions and entities spanning trusts, LLCs, and operating companies.
- Blended families and multigenerational decision-makers with differing priorities.
- Digital assets and online access credentials replacing paper files.
- Rapidly changing tax and legal frameworks across states and countries.
Family offices have long served as the solution for ultra-wealthy families, coordinating investments, tax, and administration, but they are costly to establish and maintain, often requiring $30M+ of investable assets to justify. For many families below that threshold, or for those who want a lighter and more tech-enabled model, a new approach is necessary.
Why USA Today Highlighted leafplanner
leafplanner emerged from inside a single-family office. Faced with the same complexity, the founding team built a platform to create order out of chaos:
- A secure digital “owner’s manual” that consolidates structures, advisors, roles, documents, and workflows.
- Customizable access for stakeholders, so the right people see the right information at the right time.
- Exportable, organized outputs so advisors and heirs can act confidently without searching through binders or email chains.
Unlike investment managers or consultants, leafplanner does not manage assets or give financial advice. Instead, it provides the infrastructure, the operating system, that allows families and their advisors to work in sync.
The Benefits to Families and Advisors
By adopting leafplanner, families and their advisory teams gain:
- Clarity — A single, accurate view of the family’s enterprise.
- Continuity — A succession-ready roadmap that preserves institutional knowledge.
- Compliance — Documented structures and responsibilities reducing fiduciary risk.
- Confidence — Heirs and executors can act decisively during periods of transition.
This approach not only reduces the risk of wealth dissipation but also helps families articulate values, set priorities, and foster transparency across generations — the very factors research shows protect wealth over time.
Trust, Privacy, and Security
leafplanner was designed with the security standards of a single-family office, not a mass-market app. Families control their own data and can customize access at every level. The platform complements, rather than replaces, existing advisors, giving accountants, attorneys, and trustees a clearer view of the full picture.
Preparing for the Future
The Great Wealth Transfer is not theoretical; it is underway. Every month, thousands of families face critical moments, a founder’s passing, a liquidity event, a generational handoff. In many cases, heirs are left piecing together accounts, trusts, and responsibilities at the very moment they’re least equipped to do so.
USA Today’s feature of leafplanner validates a growing movement among wealthy families to take a proactive, systems-based approach to succession.
Taking the Next Step
Families that have spent decades building wealth now have an opportunity to safeguard it for the next generation. Whether you oversee a complex estate or are just beginning to organize your structures, leafplanner can serve as the secure foundation for your family’s “owner’s manual.”
Explore our Complexity Diagnostic to identify blind spots and opportunities in your planning.
Or schedule a private walkthrough to see how leafplanner supports your family’s unique needs.
Running a family enterprise, or managing significant wealth, can be great. However, it can also feel complex, stressful, and, at times, overwhelming.
Because if you’re the kind of family that’s managing multiple entities, investments, and advisors, everyone expects you to have all the answers. always.
And that’s okay. Navigating complexity is part of the role.
But what about the questions you don’t have an immediate answer for? For governance, you have your advisors. For investments, your wealth manager. For tech, your team.
This is where leafplanner comes in.
leafplanner is a secure, private platform built for families like yours. It’s designed to give you clarity, control, and continuity across every part of your family enterprise.
See if leafplanner is a fit for your family… Request a demo.
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