Inheritors Plan to Seek Financial Advice When the Money Arrives: Survey

What You Need to Know

A new survey says that 79% of Americans poised to receive an inheritance expect to work with an advisor.
Sixty-six percent of respondents are likely to work with the same advisor as their elders after inheriting.
Only 40% of women surveyed said they work with an advisor, compared with 55% of men.

Financial professionals, take note: 79% of Americans in a new survey who are poised to receive an inheritance expect to work with an advisor after inheriting, and 54% will be much more likely to seek money-management advice once they have more of it, FreeWill, an online social-good enterprise, reported Tuesday.

Seven in 10 respondents said they prefer to work with a human advisor rather than an automated service.

“We hear a lot of fear from financial advisors that younger generations might move assets away from traditional advisors en masse as they inherit from their parents and grandparents,” FreeWill’s CEO, Jenny Xia Spradling, said in a statement.

“Our research shows that this may not be true, especially when advisors are proactive about preparing for the transition of wealth.”

Xia Spradling said advisors who have close relationships with both their clients and their future heirs should continue to thrive, particularly if they are knowledgeable about growing priorities such as estate planning and how to incorporate giving and purpose into the equation.

OnePoll conducted the survey from Oct. 28 to Nov. 1 among 1,000 U.S. adults ages 25 to 57 whose parents or grandparents have a financial advisor and who expect to receive an inheritance.

Factors Influencing Advisor Choice

Seventy-three percent of participants said they plan to hire a financial advisor as one of their first orders of business after inheriting. Sixty-six percent are likely to work with the same advisor as their elders — 69% said they have already met with their family’s advisor.

As to the priorities and factors that will guide their money-management decision making, 67% said they want to get the highest return on their portfolio, 64% want personalized attention, 45% want to avoid high fees and 43% will look for estate planning.