Key Takeaways:
A growing number of ultra-wealthy families are paying six figures for retreats that teach their children how to manage sudden wealth without losing motivation or purpose.
R360, a peer-membership group for families worth at least $100 million, charges $150,000 to join and $36,000 annually for retreats where heirs of families worth a collective $7 billion learn to navigate wealth without losing purpose. On a drizzly morning in an Austin Airbnb, a dozen college students and 20-somethings from those families gathered to answer a question posed by wealth coach Michael Cole: "Why do you think it is your parents want you to work?"
"The biggest challenge is, How do you make sure the wealth lasts for 100, 200 years and that your heirs live a happy, purposeful life and are using the wealth in a productive way?" said Charles Garcia, co-founder of R360.
From 2020 through 2025, $2.7 trillion in new wealth was created for the top 0.0001% in the U.S., a group of about 250 people — roughly as much as in the prior 39 years combined, adjusted for inflation, according to Realtime Inequality data. The top 10% saw $34.3 trillion in new wealth over the same period, while the bottom 50% — about 125 million people — saw just $1.9 trillion.
The fear that great wealth will have a corrosive effect on children — infecting them with what some call affluenza — is driving demand for next-gen coaching. Nearly every multifamily office, bank and peer-membership group now offers its own version, from Bank of America's Merrill Center for Family Wealth boot camps at Wharton to BDT & MSD's weeklong summer academy in Chicago. Merrill's three-day program drew 46 participants last fall with a waitlist of more than 120, and attendance is free for families whose net worths rank among the bank's top clients.
The New Wealth Education Industry
R360, founded several years ago by Cole and Garcia, both veterans of the wealth-management industry, counts roughly 200 members, about 85% of whom are first-generation wealth creators. The network has affinity groups for women, for people of faith and for interests like private aviation. At regional chapter meetings in New York, Miami and Dallas, members discuss how to cultivate family culture around "intellectual wealth" and "emotional wealth" alongside financial assets.
Executive coaching firm Novus Global, started by several former pastors more than a decade ago, has expanded into next-gen coaching in response to inquiries from clients including Fortune 500 CEOs and professional athletes. BanyanGlobal, an advisory firm for family businesses and family offices, customizes next-gen training for individual families. "The wealth transfer is easy," said Stephan Roche of BanyanGlobal. "It's much harder to teach: How do you sit at a board table? How do you manage conflict? How do you make great decisions with your cousins?"
What the Kids Learn
The curriculum goes beyond basic finance. At the R360 retreat, sessions covered how to navigate "big shadow syndrome" — the overwhelming fear of failure when parents or grandparents created significant wealth — and how to travel with friends who have far less money. Attendees also learned how to broach prenuptial agreements, with Cole advising members' children to frame them as "property settlements" required by their parents.
One 28-year-old attendee from an automotive family said he came to the retreat for a chance to meet R360 members, noting that hearing advice from fellow entrepreneurs hits differently than hearing it from his father. Another attendee, 26-year-old Connor, said he only realized his family was wealthy when he left his affluent Bay Area community for college, where he met people from all walks of life.
The legacy of the Vanderbilts hangs heavy over wealth advisers, who often note that the Gilded Age fortune all but disappeared over successive generations. For wealthy families whose assets have grown steadily or explosively, managing the money and its impacts on the family occupies significant mental real estate. Not all members are interested in creating dynastic wealth: venture investor Chris Shonk, an R360 member, said he and his wife plan to give their money away, adding that some fellow members "think I'm crazy."
This article is for informational purposes only and does not constitute investment advice.
