Next Generation Mentoring for Families

Next generation mentoring helps teens and young adults in affluent families build the skills money cannot supply: work ethic, a first real job, daily routines, sound decisions and a sense of purpose. At Blackburn, each young person works with one dedicated mentor, by video anywhere in the United States or in person in Los Angeles, while the family’s advisers keep handling the financial, legal and tax side.

What next generation mentoring covers

The work is practical and personal. Depending on the young person, a mentor might focus on:

Work and effort: getting and keeping a job they earned, showing up on time, taking feedback from a boss who is not a relative.
Routines: sleep, schedule and follow-through, especially when nothing external forces structure.
Decision making: thinking through choices about school, work, where to live and who to trust. See how to make decisions.
Purpose: finding work or service that matters to them. Our guide on finding direction when you do not need to work goes deeper.
Everyday money habits: budgeting, tracking spending and living within an allowance, at a practical level only.
Family relationships: communicating with parents, handling expectations and, for some, preparing to join the family business.

Who it is for, and who it is not for

It suits high school students, college students and young adults through their twenties who are capable but drifting, or who are doing fine and want to be ready for more responsibility. It also suits families who want an outside adult in the young person’s corner, someone who is not a parent, a sibling or one of the family’s advisers.

It is not therapy, tutoring or financial education. If a young person is struggling with their mental health, a licensed professional is the right first step, and mentoring can work alongside that care. In a crisis, call or text 988.

How it differs from financial education from an adviser

Many advisers and family offices offer financial literacy sessions and next gen events. Those are valuable. Mentoring sits beside them, not in place of them:

Advisers teach how money, trusts and investments work and manage the family’s wealth. Our mentors are not financial, legal, tax or estate advisers.
Group programs build knowledge and peer connections over a few days. Mentoring builds habits over months, one week at a time.
Therapists address emotional and clinical concerns. Mentors focus on goals and follow-through.
Tutors and admissions consultants handle academics and applications. Mentors help with the routines that make school go well.

Advisers can read more on our page for wealth advisors and family offices.

What it looks like week to week

One dedicated mentor. The same person every week, who gets to know the client’s goals, schedule and habits.
Goals broken into weekly steps. Big aims become small, specific actions with a day and time attached.
Sessions weekly or several times a week, 30 or 60 minutes, by video anywhere in the United States or in person in Los Angeles.
Text and phone contact between sessions, so a plan made on Monday is still alive on Thursday.
A weekly plan (billed week to week) or a monthly plan. We do not publish prices; rates are reviewed on the free intro call.

A mentor helps set two or three goals, turns them into small weekly steps, and checks in by text or phone so the steps actually happen. How mentoring works explains the full process.

How to start

Take a short assessment. Tell us about the student or yourself and the goals. It takes about five minutes.
Have a free intro call. Our team reviews it personally and sets up a short call.
Meet the mentor. We match each person with a mentor whose experience and style fit.
Start the plan. 30 or 60 minute video sessions on a weekly or monthly plan, scheduled in your local time.

How parents and advisers stay informed

For high school students, a parent or guardian is always involved: they join the intro call, agree the goals and receive regular progress updates. For college students and young adults, updates to parents or advisers happen with the young person’s permission, and the young person helps decide what is shared. Our family mentoring page explains how parents fit in, and parent progress updates shows what an update usually covers.

Discretion and confidentiality

We do not discuss families, their circumstances or their advisers with anyone outside the agreed circle. Mentors do not need to know figures, holdings or estate details to do their work, and they do not ask. Mentoring is not a legally privileged relationship the way therapy or legal counsel can be, so we keep the work focused on goals and habits, and we are clear up front about who receives updates.

Questions to ask any provider

Will my child have one consistent mentor, or a rotating team?
How often do they meet, and what happens between sessions?
Who receives updates, and who decides?
Do they stay out of financial, legal and clinical advice?
How do they handle discretion with family matters?
How do they measure whether it is working?

Common questions

What ages does next generation mentoring suit?

It works for high school students, college students and young adults through their twenties and beyond. For high school students, a parent or guardian is always involved.

Is next generation mentoring confidential?

We treat family matters with discretion and share updates only with the people agreed up front. Mentors do not need financial or estate details to do their work.

Will the mentor talk about the family’s money?

Only at the level of everyday habits like budgeting and spending. Investments, trusts, taxes and inheritance stay with the family’s advisers.

Can our family office coordinate with the mentor?

Yes, with the young person’s permission, or for a high school student, the family’s. Updates cover goals and follow-through, never investment matters.

Get started

Want an outside mentor in your son or daughter’s corner? Call (888) 305 5422, email contact@blackburnmentoring.com or start with a short assessment. A member of our team reviews every assessment personally and sets up a free intro call.

Mentoring for the Next Generation of Affluent Families