Shipley believes in involving children as young as age 5 in financial conversations. That doesn’t mean opening the portfolio and showing the number of zeros. “There are many fun and engaging ways to start to teach and involve kids,” she said. “It’s about games that can engage them in learning about the things that are going to be important to them in their future to prepare them for their role and responsibility.”
Shipley said reaching and engaging the next generation early is key. She pointed to an 18-year-old son of one of her clients who is beginning to learn about responsible investing. “And all this child wants to talk about is dogecoin,” she said. “This is not where I would typically start in terms of financial literacy, but that’s all he cares about. So who cares? My opinion is, let’s engage. It’s a free learning opportunity. I don’t know if the kid is going to get ripped off, but let’s buy one and let the kid learn about the risk, what are the opportunities.” She added that it is all about meeting the person where they are, even if it’s not where you think it’s best to start.
Shipley runs into people waiting too long to begin the wealth transfer conversation with their family, sometimes people in their 80s who are not ready to discuss a transfer because they believe their kids are still too young. This is a problem. “For many, it’s hard to think about the reality that we will die,” she said. “And the worst thing I have dealt with is not having had that conversation before it’s too late.” That’s when conflicts arise among siblings arguing about the fair and equal share of their parent’s wealth, she adds.
Another mistake she sometimes comes across is when wealth creators do not involve their spouse in the wealth conversations. For example, one parent who may be involved in running a business does not talk to the spouse raising the kids about how the business will pass money on to the children.
“I think it’s really, really important for advisors to encourage conversations between both parents, not just the one that’s looking at the investments more closely, because both parents care about what happens to their kids,” she said.