Legacy: The Advisor’s New Competitive Edge

This piece is inspired by a recent conversation between Robert Balentine, one of the most respected voices in wealth management, and Alex Kirby, CEO of Total Family, featured on Visionary Advisor. Their discussion explores why legacy work has become the next major frontier for advisors and how guidance around values, connection, and long-term purpose is reshaping what families expect from their most trusted professionals.

Walking Through the Legacy Door

Legacy is not a document, a distribution plan, or a final chapter in a family’s story. Legacy is something families live every day through intentional choices, shared values, and the way they show up for one another. This is the shift Robert Balentine encourages advisors to embrace. For decades, the advisor’s role centered on technical expertise, but today’s families want more. They want clarity, connection, and a sense of purpose that aligns what they own with how they hope to live.

In our conversation, Robert describes this evolution as one of the highest callings in the advisory profession. He explains that advisors have the opportunity to help families create a culture where spouses operate as a unified team, children want to spend time together, and resources are stewarded with intention for future generations and community impact. This clip sets the tone for why legacy work is not an add-on to advisory practice, but a doorway into deeper and more meaningful engagement with the families you serve.

Legacy work begins with recognizing that families are complex and ever-changing. Children raised in the same home can grow into very different adults, and understanding these dynamics is essential for advisors who want to guide families toward unity. Advisors who embrace this relational dimension, not just the technical one, help families build the kind of lived legacy that extends far beyond financial success. Walking through the legacy door means helping families align who they are today with the story they hope to leave behind tomorrow. It is work rooted in purpose and practice.

The Evolution of Wealth Management and the Rise of Legacy Advisory

The shift toward legacy work is not a trend. It is the natural evolution of an industry that has expanded far beyond its technical roots. As Robert Balentine explains, wealth management began with investment selection and benchmark competition. Then came financial planning, estate strategy, tax optimization, and the rise of private capital. Each phase added sophistication, but none addressed the deeper questions families were asking. Today’s clients want more than performance. They want guidance that helps them live well, communicate clearly, and prepare the next generation for success.

In our conversation, Robert frames this moment as a turning point. Families are focused on meaning and long-term alignment, and advisors who lean into legacy work will define the next decade of leadership in this profession. This clip captures why the old value proposition is no longer enough and why advisors must expand their skill set to include purpose-driven conversations, family dynamics, and long-term stewardship.

For advisors, this shift has practical implications. Legacy work requires asking different questions, listening more deeply, and engaging the entire household rather than just the primary wealth creator. It means being willing to facilitate conversations about values, identity, and responsibility, even when those conversations feel unfamiliar. You do not need every answer, nor should you pretend to have them. Modern families value honesty, humility, and resourcefulness. What matters is your willingness to explore questions with them, connect them to the right tools, and guide them through decisions that go far beyond asset allocation.

Advisory work has matured from managing wealth to shaping the way families use it to strengthen their relationships and purpose. Legacy is now the natural doorway into deeper trust, stronger relationships, and long-term relevance. Advisors who step confidently into this role will stand apart in a landscape defined by meaning rather than mechanics.

How Legacy Work Differentiates Advisors and Strengthens Client Relationships

Legacy work is not simply a deeper version of financial planning. It is an expanded expression of the advisor’s role that calls for emotional intelligence, curiosity, and a willingness to enter the parts of a family’s story that numbers alone cannot explain. This is where true differentiation begins. In a world where investment products are commoditized and financial strategies are widely accessible, the advisor who understands a family’s inner dynamics becomes irreplaceable.

Robert Balentine describes this proximity in a way few advisors articulate. He reminds us that the money line runs close to the heart line. Advisors often know far more about a family’s emotional landscape than they realize. They see sibling tensions inside a shared business, the child struggling with addiction, the marriage under strain, and the expectations that create fear or pressure. This insight becomes a powerful resource when guiding families through decisions that shape their long-term legacy.

Advisors who step into this dimension of the work do more than manage assets. They help families communicate honestly, avoid weaponizing wealth, and build trust across generations. They become translators between perspectives, facilitators of grace, and stewards of alignment. This level of engagement strengthens relationships and secures multi generational relevance. Wealth may transition, but trust only transfers when it is actively earned.

The advisors who embrace legacy work position themselves as partners in family wellbeing rather than service providers. They become the steady guide helping families navigate meaning, conflict, responsibility, and purpose. In a competitive industry, this is the type of differentiation no product, platform, or portfolio can replicate.

In Closing

Legacy work is a natural extension of the guidance advisors already provide, and Robert Balentine’s insights highlight why families increasingly expect support that reaches beyond technical planning. If you want to go deeper into this topic, we invite you to explore more of our thinking on family leadership, rising generation engagement, and values based planning. As you reflect on your own practice, consider where you can introduce more meaningful conversations and help families build a lived legacy through clarity, connection, and purpose.

To learn more about how FamilyOS helps advisors bring legacy work to life, visit totalfamily.io/wealth-firms-