6 Strategies to Protect Ultra-High-Net-Worth Family Wealth

Generally, you are considered high-net-worth if you have more than $1 million in highly liquid assets, such as cash, stocks, and other investments that can be converted into cash relatively easily. The exact number can vary depending on the bank or financial institution, but $1 million is the usual benchmark.

Banks and wealth management firms often have tiers. There are sub-high-net-worth individuals with liquid assets ranging from $100,000 to $1 million. Then there are very high-net-worth individuals, with $1 million to $5 million. And finally, there is the top tier, which is the ultra-high-net-worth group. If you have $30 million or more, you fall into the last category.

If that is you, the stakes are higher. Managing that kind of wealth is more about protection than growth. It is more about estate planning, tax efficiency, business succession, philanthropy, and other considerations than market returns.

With the right ultra-high-net-worth investment strategies, you can protect your family’s legacy. Now you have several options at your disposal. Let’s discuss 6 of them in this article.

Below are 6 ultra-high-net-worth investment strategies that could protect your family wealth:

1. Keep your assets in one place and avoid having too many different accounts

If you are like many other ultra-high-net-worth individuals, you probably have assets spread out across multiple banks, brokerages, and investment accounts. Having money in different places could reduce risk. But in reality, scattering your assets can often do more harm than good. It can create confusion, lead to duplicated efforts, and make it much harder to see the entirety of your financial life.

If you have multiple accounts across different institutions, how often do you really check them all?

Are you confident you know where every investment stands?

And more importantly, if you do not have a complete handle on your portfolio, how will your family know what to do with it if something happens to you?

You can avoid such scenarios by consolidating your assets with one trusted financial advisor or firm. This can save you money, sure. However, it does a lot more as well. Managing multiple accounts can lead to paying multiple sets of fees, sometimes at higher rates. When you keep your assets in one place, you can usually qualify for lower fees, better rates, and even access to exclusive services designed for high-net-worth clients.

Secondly, it reduces the chances of overlap. When you have multiple financial advisors managing separate investment accounts, you might end up with duplicate assets without realizing it. This way, your investment portfolio may appear more diversified than it actually is. So, while you may see a dozen different assets, they may all be similar, with returns and risks that are more or less the same.
Instead, consider keeping a single account and a single financial advisor with a comprehensive view of your portfolio, allowing them to build a truly balanced and efficient strategy. This ensures that every penny you invest is thoughtfully invested.

Keeping all your assets in one place also simplifies your financial life. Fewer accounts, fewer statements, fewer tax documents, and fewer logins to remember. This also translates to fewer chances for errors to creep in. Your retirement planning becomes much more effective when your advisor can view all your assets and create a single, optimized income plan for your future.

The ripple effects can also be seen in estate planning. It creates a smaller paper trail for your executor and heirs to manage. They will have one point of contact, which can make the process so much faster, smoother, and far less stressful.

2. Make tax-friendly donations

Did you know that in 2024 alone, Americans gave an incredible $592.5 billion to charity?

You can do the same and do it strategically to maximize tax benefits. If you own appreciated assets like stocks, bonds, mutual funds, or even real estate, donating them directly to a charity can help you preserve your wealth. You can avoid paying capital gains taxes on the appreciation, which can be as high as 20%, and still deduct the full fair-market value of what you give.

A donor-advised fund, or DAF, can also be a powerful and tax-friendly strategy for ultra-high-net-worth families. This is like a charitable investment account that you set up with a public charity. You get an immediate tax deduction when you contribute to the DAF, even if you do not send money to individual charities until later. So, if you want the tax deduction now but still want time to decide where to give, you can just store your money in a DAF. Plus, any money in the DAF can be invested and grows tax-free.

DAFs also make life easier by providing a single, consolidated record of all your donations. And compared to a private foundation, there is far less paperwork and more generous tax deduction limits.

You can also help out people with their medical bills. While not exactly charity, this can still be very tax-friendly. You are allowed to pay for someone else’s healthcare expenses without triggering federal gift taxes, provided you pay the provider directly. This can be a great way to help a family member, friend, your employees, or even a stranger in need while saving taxes and adhering to the prevailing tax rules.

3. Focus on estate planning and do not leave it for the last minute

Estate planning is something you should take up sooner rather than later. As of 2025, you could owe up to 40% of your estate value as federal estate tax, and depending on where you live, you may even be liable to pay state estate taxes. So, nearly half of your hard-earned money could go to taxes instead of your heirs.

An effective approach to avoid this is by gifting your wealth to your heirs. For 2025, the lifetime gift tax exemption is $13.99 million, or $27.98 million for married couples filing jointly. You can transfer up to that amount over your lifetime without paying federal gift tax. Starting in 2026, this exemption is set to increase to $15 million for individuals and $30 million for couples, making this an even better time to plan ahead.

Even if you have already used up your lifetime exemption, you can still take advantage of annual exclusion gifts. The IRS allows you to give $19,000 as of 2025 to as many individuals as you like, completely free of federal gift tax. This is an incredibly effective way to transfer wealth out of your estate gradually.

If you are hesitant about gifting directly, you can also consider using trusts, such as Irrevocable Life Insurance Trusts (ILITs) or Spousal Lifetime Access Trusts (SLATs). You can also pay for your children’s or grandchildren’s education and healthcare expenses. You can pay tuition directly to an educational institution without it counting against your gift tax exemption. The same applies to medical expenses, as mentioned earlier. This can be a great way to give money to your kids without actually giving it to them.

4. Do not just share your wealth, but also split your income

This can be a good family wealth strategy. Income splitting is exactly what it sounds like. You spread your income across multiple family members so that the total tax bill is lower than if one person had to report all the income. This strategy leverages the fact that the U.S. has a progressive tax system. So, the more you earn, the higher your tax rate. Dividing income among multiple family members who fall into lower tax brackets allows you to save on taxes, potentially.

Let’s say you earn $5 million a year and report it all under your name. A significant portion of that income is taxed at the highest federal tax bracket, currently 37%. But if you can legally shift some of that income to your family members who are in lower brackets, some of this money could get taxed at, say, 12% or 22%. This can save hundreds of thousands of dollars over time.

Of course, this strategy comes with some fine print. The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) expects these arrangements to be legitimate. Therefore, if you are paying your spouse or children a salary, it must be for actual work performed, and the compensation must be reasonable for the job. You cannot simply transfer money into their account without a legitimate reason. You can hire a tax advisor to structure things so that you comply with IRS rules.

Additionally, you must also consider the human element. Income splitting is most effective when there is a strong level of trust and open communication within the family. You are not just sharing money, but also tax responsibility. Hence, everyone needs to understand their role. And the person receiving the income should not misuse the money or the arrangement.

5. Teach the next generation of inheritors

Teaching the next generation of inheritors is one of the most important yet often overlooked responsibilities for ultra-high-net-worth families. Building wealth takes years of hard work and sacrifices. But if the next generation is not prepared to handle that wealth, it can disappear surprisingly quickly. Therefore, preparing them early is essential if you wish to protect your wealth.

You can start by having conversations about money with your kids. Too often, families avoid these discussions. Explain to them how your family earns, spends, saves, and invests. You can also involve them by setting up a family budget for shared expenses and activities. This lets them see how much money is spent by the entire family in a month. If they request something that exceeds the budget, explain that it will have to wait until next month.

You can also consider giving your children a fixed allowance. But do not just hand it out to them with no strings attached. Tie it to chores or responsibilities so they learn the connection between effort and reward. If they spend their allowance quickly, resist the urge to bail them out. Let them feel what it is like to wait until the next cycle. This will likely make them more responsible.

As your children grow older, you can take the next step and introduce them to basic financial concepts, such as profit and loss, debit and credit, and even simple investing. Show them how a small amount of money can grow over time when invested wisely. If you run a family business, consider allowing them to shadow you in meetings.

6. Hire a wealth manager who works with ultra-high-net-worth families

Ultra-high-net-worth families have larger portfolios, investments spread across multiple asset classes, complex tax liabilities, businesses, trusts, and substantial estates to consider. Hiring a wealth manager who specializes in working with ultra-high-net-worth individuals is necessary, to say the least. Take tax planning, for instance. Wealth managers work with tax advisors to create strategies that minimize what you owe.

A wealth manager can help you select investments, pay and save taxes, plan your estate, consider philanthropy, and even assist with succession planning. You may also engage wealth managers to establish family offices that manage day-to-day financial operations. So, hire one at the earliest to avoid being thrown under the bus later.

Why Ultra-High-Net-Worth Families Can’t Afford to Be Complacent

Being an ultra-high-net-worth family is not always as effortless as it might seem. Preserving wealth can be just as challenging as creating it, sometimes even harder. Your job is never really done. Just because you have built a fortune does not mean you can sit back and relax. If you do not plan carefully, your money can disappear faster than you think.

That is why it is so important to prioritize wealth preservation and protection before problems arise. Surround yourself with the right financial advisors, use smart tools to make better decisions, and hire a wealth manager who understands the complexities of ultra-high-net-worth planning. You can use our free advisor match tool and hire a wealth manager who specializes in ultra-high net worth investment strategies.