Home / Podcasts / Why Your Relationship with Your Advisor Matters: A Young Inheritor Turned Legacy Coach Offers Reflections from Life and Work With Kristen Heaney

Why Your Relationship with Your Advisor Matters: A Young Inheritor Turned Legacy Coach Offers Reflections from Life and Work With Kristen Heaney

Apr 13, 2021

Kristen Heaney helps successful families connect across generations at the intersection of values, purpose, and financial success. In this episode, Kristen shares how her being a young and unprepared inheritor after her father’s early death colored the passion she has for her work as a wealth legacy coach and consultant and her advice to both financial advisors and families of different generations.

In This Episode:

  • [01:09] Meet Kristen and hear how her own experiences inspired her passion.
  • [05:56] How can financial advisors serve the needs of the families that they’re working for more effectively across generations?
  • [09:42] What can families do to expand the relationship with advisors across the generations?
  • [11:47] Resources on how to approach advisors or find out that fits the characteristics of multi-generation families.
  • [14:15] How financial advisors can comfortably discuss dark shadow subjects.
  • [16:22] Kristen’s advice to financial advisors who are going through certain processes for the first time.
  • [20:46] Kristen’s favorite phrase when she is stumped.
  • [24:13] Kristen’s advice for all the listeners.

Key Takeaways:

  • Make sure that the advisor team reflects multiple generations with different needs and goals.
  • Get to know the client and expand to getting to know their family so you’re asking the right questions & taking the right perspective.
  • You don’t need to know everything. The very fact that you lend a listening ear or perhaps offer resources can provide a lot of help.
  • Bringing intentionality with people that you’re interacting with and being in the moment is more important than it has ever been.

Meet Kristen Heaney:

In her work as a Wealth Legacy Coach, Kristen Heaney helps successful families connect across generations at the intersection of values, purpose, and financial success. Her passion for this work is colored by her own experience of being a young and unprepared inheritor after her father’s early death. Kristen’s training includes a Masters in Social Work, a Board Certified Coaching credential, and an advanced certificate in Family Wealth Advising from the Family Firm Institute.

Her debut book, In Three Generations: A Story About Family, Wealth, and Beating the Odd is a heartfelt family parable, offering a great starting point for those considering a more purposeful approach to handling family wealth across generations. Her most recent book, The Super Special, Altogether Ordinary Day is a beautifully illustrated children’s book that highlights the power of small moments spent together with the ones you love. She has been a featured thought leader for the Purposeful Planning Institute, Aspiriant’s MoneyTale$ and I’m a Millionnaire! So Now What? podcasts, as well as legal, financial, and philanthropic firms across the United States and Canada, discussing topics such as rising generation preparation, effective family meetings, wealthism, entitlement, and financial parenting. Kristen was born and raised in the Metro Detroit area, and currently lives with her husband and two sons in South Florida.


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