The Family Financial Meeting: A Step-by-Step Guide

Disclaimer: This content is for educational purposes only and does not constitute financial, legal, or investment advice. Please consult with qualified professionals before making financial decisions.

Ultra-wealthy families often hold formal family meetings with detailed agendas and professional facilitators. While that level of formality isn’t necessary, regular family financial meetings are one of the most valuable family office concepts you can adopt, regardless of your wealth level.

These meetings work for any family willing to invest the time. Whether you’re managing a household budget of $50,000 or $500,000 annually, they create dedicated space for important financial conversations, align family members around shared goals, and strengthen your family’s relationship with money.

Why Family Financial Meetings Matter

Regular family financial meetings provide several key benefits. They ensure everyone understands family financial goals and priorities while creating natural opportunities to build financial literacy. They reduce mystery around family finances and give family members appropriate voice in decisions that affect them. Most importantly, they provide a structured environment for discussing potentially sensitive topics and create accountability for progress toward financial goals.

Types of Family Financial Meetings

Different types of meetings serve different purposes:

Annual Financial Summit (2-3 hours): Your most comprehensive meeting covering big-picture topics like annual financial performance, progress toward major goals, and significant decisions for the coming year.

Quarterly Check-ins (30-60 minutes): Shorter meetings that maintain momentum between annual summits, reviewing recent developments, short-term goal progress, and any emerging issues.

Special Purpose Meetings: Focused sessions for specific decisions like major purchases, education funding, or inheritance planning.

Next Generation Meetings: Age-appropriate financial education and gradual introduction to family finances.

Who Should Participate?

Both partners should participate in all financial meetings, even if one typically handles day-to-day finances. For children, include young children (under 12) in brief, age-appropriate portions, gradually increase participation for teens (12-17), and include independent adult children in annual meetings and those affecting shared assets.

Setting Up Your First Meeting

Choose the Right Setting

Select a time when everyone can be fully present, avoid scheduling around stressful events, and ensure privacy for sensitive discussions. Plan for 1-2 hours for your first meeting.

Create Your Agenda

For your first meeting, use this basic structure:

1. Meeting purpose and ground rules (10 minutes): Explain the why and establish respectful communication expectations
2. Family financial overview (20 minutes): Share appropriate high-level information about your family’s finances
3. Values and goals discussion (30 minutes): Discuss what money means to your family and identify shared priorities
4. Specific financial topic (20 minutes): Choose one relevant topic for deeper discussion
5. Next steps (10 minutes): Summarize decisions and schedule your next meeting

Establish Ground Rules

Create a safe, productive environment with basic principles: everyone’s perspective is valid, maintain confidentiality, focus on understanding rather than criticizing, ensure balanced participation, and emphasize future-focused solutions.

Making Meetings Age-Appropriate

Young Children (Ages 4-11): Brief segments (15-20 minutes) with concrete, visual elements. Use physical props like savings jars and connect concepts to their interests.

Adolescents (Ages 12-17): Gradually increase participation with more detailed information and real input on family decisions. Give specific responsibilities and connect concepts to their emerging interests.

Young Adults (18+): Full participation with detailed information and increasing decision-making involvement. Assign meaningful roles and provide mentorship on personal financial decisions.

Common Challenges and Solutions

“Money discussions always lead to arguments”: Start with less contentious topics and establish clear ground rules about respectful communication.

“One family member dominates”: Use structured formats where everyone gets equal time and implement round-robin sharing.

“Some aren’t interested”: Connect discussions to goals they care about and assign specific roles matching their strengths.

“We never follow through”: End meetings with clear action items and assigned responsibilities, then review progress at the next meeting.

Your Implementation Plan

Month 1: Schedule your first 60-90 minute meeting focused on positive, forward-looking topics.

Month 2: Establish a regular schedule (quarterly works well initially) and create a basic agenda template.

Month 3: Add educational components and increase children’s involvement as appropriate.

Ongoing: Schedule quarterly reviews, gradually increase complexity, and adjust format based on family feedback.

Conclusion

Regular family financial meetings transform how your family relates to money. They create shared understanding, aligned goals, and financial transparency that benefits everyone involved. While wealthy families might conduct meetings with more formality, the core benefits are available to any family willing to set aside time for thoughtful financial discussion.

In our next post, we’ll explore digital security for your family-another key practice that protects your financial information and online presence.