Household-First Model Urged for Family Offices

Family Wealth Report published a thought leadership piece by Jeff Coyle, founder and CEO of Libretto, an advice platform for RIAs and family offices. Coyle argues that family offices should be built 'household-first,' starting with each household's financial structure rather than aggregated capital, then building upward into a coordinated system.

According to Coyle, enterprise-level family office models that centralize investments and distributions can leave household-level decisions about spending, liquidity, and risk underdeveloped. Complexity, he contends, should be organized around actual household finances to support clear decision-making.

The piece signals a growing emphasis within the family office world on treating individual family members as distinct financial households with their own balance sheets, spending needs, and risk profiles. For RIAs and family offices, adopting a household-first lens could reshape how planning, distribution, and governance frameworks are designed, potentially improving alignment between enterprise strategy and family member realities.