The wealth transfer is real. Over the next two decades, an estimated $84 trillion will pass from boomers to their heirs — the largest intergenerational wealth shift in history. Firms that cannot credibly serve clients in their 30s and 40s today will watch that wealth walk across the street to firms that can.
But the playbook that built most RIA practices — referrals from existing clients, country club relationships, branch-office visibility — does not reach this demographic. High-earning millennials and Gen Z professionals behave differently. They research for months before their first meeting. They distrust opaque fee structures. They are just as likely to evaluate you by your podcast presence as by your AUM.
Here's what's actually working for RIAs winning in this segment.
Lead with specialization, not comprehensiveness
Millennial and Gen Z prospects filter advisors by specificity. "Comprehensive financial planning for families and individuals" means nothing to a 34-year-old Meta engineer with $900K in unvested RSUs. "I help tech employees optimize RSU vesting and tax strategy" means a lot.
The firms winning this cohort are visibly specialized — by profession (tech, physicians, attorneys, founders), by situation (equity comp, business owners, pre-IPO employees), or by values (ESG, B-Corp-aligned, inclusive advisory). Specialization is the filter that converts your website from "just another RIA" to "obviously the right fit."
If you can't articulate what makes your practice uniquely suited to a specific kind of client in one sentence, neither can your prospects. That's the first fix.
“"The firms winning next-gen clients don't pitch what they do. They describe exactly who they do it for — and everyone else self-selects out."”
Jack Boudreau, CEO & Co-Founder, HabitsRethink what "minimum" means
Most RIAs inherited a minimum (often $1M or $2M in investable assets) from the firms their founders trained at. That number was calibrated to a different era. Today's 32-year-old tech employee may have $400K in assets and $800K of vesting equity over the next four years — a client who looks sub-minimum on day one and enterprise by year three.
The firms capturing this cohort have evolved their pricing. Some offer flat-fee planning for pre-minimum clients and move them to AUM at the threshold. Others drop traditional minimums entirely in favor of subscription or retainer models that price by complexity, not account balance. The strategy: win the relationship before the assets arrive.
This isn't charity. It's positioning. The firm that helped a client through their first liquidity event is the firm that manages the wealth that results.
Build visibility where they actually look
Millennial and Gen Z prospects don't find advisors through the Yellow Pages or a referral from dad's golf buddy. They find them through Google searches for specific problems ("how to handle RSU taxes"), LinkedIn content, podcasts, and increasingly through marketplaces that match on specialty rather than proximity.
Top-performing next-gen-focused RIAs invest consistently in one or two of these channels. Not everywhere — that's how firms burn out. But deeply enough in the channels where their target clients actually search. For most, that means long-form SEO content aimed at specific problems, plus either LinkedIn or a podcast.
Modernize the operations, not just the marketing
Next-gen clients have sharp opinions about operations. They expect a modern client portal, self-service document uploads, video meetings as the default, e-signature for everything, and proactive communication without having to ask. A firm still asking for wet signatures on printed statements is signaling "we are not for you" — whether or not you intend to.
The back-office investments worth prioritizing: a modern planning tool (eMoney or RightCapital), integrated e-signature, secure document upload, scheduling automation, and a CRM that doesn't embarrass you when clients see it. These investments also compound in efficiency; they let you serve more clients per advisor without losing quality.
Use matching platforms to lower the cost of acquisition
Cold outbound and general search advertising remain the two most expensive ways to acquire a next-gen client. Referrals from your existing book work but move slowly, because your current clients don't have younger clients in their circles.
Purpose-built matching platforms like Habits solve the sourcing problem directly — delivering pre-qualified leads in your specialty, with real intent, at a dramatically lower cost per acquisition than SEM or outbound. Firms using matching as a core acquisition channel are typically booking their next 10-15 meetings from prospects they never would have reached otherwise.
The bigger picture
The RIAs winning next-gen clients aren't doing anything revolutionary. They're making modest, deliberate changes: sharpening their specialization, evolving their minimums, investing in the channels where these clients look, and using matching to short-circuit the sourcing problem. None of it is expensive. All of it compounds.
The firms that make these moves in 2026 are the firms that will be managing the wealth transfer in 2035.
See how Habits matches you with high-earning millennial and Gen Z prospects in your specialty at usehabits.com/habits-for-advisors.