Why The ‘Family CFO’ Will Define the Future of Community Banking
By Billie Connally, Vice President of Partnerships at Paige
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I spent 25 years inside community banks. I have sat across the desk from customers opening their first checking accounts, helped families navigate lending decisions, and have spent years witnessing firsthand how a good banker can become part of someone’s financial life in a way that no app or algorithm can replicate.
There is a role inside millions of American families that does not appear on any org chart, does not come with a title, and does not pay. It is the person tracking accounts across two generations, making decisions for parents who can no longer make them alone, and somehow still running their own household.
The research world calls them the sandwich generation. I call them the “family CFO”. And they are quietly becoming the most important customer in banking.
Need to Know:
- 63 million Americans are now family caregivers, up nearly 50 percent since 2015, and 29 percent are family CFOs balancing care for children and aging parents at the same time.
- Community banks already have the trust and the relationships to serve this customer. What is emerging now are the tools and strategies to match.
- Financial institutions that step into this moment with planning tools and proactive support can build multigenerational loyalty.
Key insight: The family CFO represents one of the most meaningful opportunities community banking has seen in a long time. They are the bridge to the next generation, the ones deciding where their parents’ assets will land and where their own children are likely to bank for decades.
Serving them is more than retaining one customer. It is about earning three generations at once.
A Generation Carrying Two Financial Lives
The role of the family CFO is not new, but the weight behind it has never been heavier. According to the 2025 AARP and National Alliance for Caregiving report, 63 million Americans are now family caregivers, a nearly 50 percent increase since 2015. Nearly a third of them are balancing care for both children and aging adults.
The financial pressure is mounting alongside the demographic shift. A 2025 Finance of America survey found that 69 percent of these caregivers report financial exhaustion from managing their parents’ needs, up from 64 percent just three years earlier. While only a quarter of adults overall say they have had to choose between their career and caring for their parents, that figure more than doubles among those who identify as “sandwiched”.
A nationwide BioLife survey fills in the day-to-day picture. Three quarters of family CFOs also work full-time. Nearly 4 in 10 live paycheck to paycheck. More than one in four have taken on debt from caregiving expenses alone. On top of all of it, caregiving consumes an average of 24 hours a week, the equivalent of three extra workdays.
Key takeaway: These numbers provide a portrait of a customer that every community bank already serves. The family CFO is in their peak earning years. They hold mortgages, retirement accounts, and savings plans. The relationships are already there, but the future of how they play out is evolving.
An Untapped Extension of Relationship Banking
Community banking’s greatest strength has always been the depth of its customer relationships. That same strength is what positions this industry to serve the family CFO better than anyone else. Over the last few years, the desire for guidance from customers has only grown.
The Finance of America survey found that only 39 percent of sandwich generation caregivers had discussed their parents’ financial needs with them in the past year. But 60 percent said that having those conversations would make them feel less overwhelmed, and 84 percent said it would help their family focus on what matters most.
“For more than 70 years, our purpose has been helping local families in Hawaii build security that lasts across generations. When we give families a way to get organized and prepare for what is ahead, we are not adding a product. We are deepening a relationship our customers have trusted for decades,” said Rob Nelson, President of Finance Factors.
A recent Nationwide Advisor Authority study reinforces this idea from a different angle. Less than a quarter of Gen X and Baby Boomer investors have discussed with their next of kin how to manage their finances if they become unable to do so. Meanwhile, 60 percent of millennials with financial professionals said they would welcome their advisor facilitating those conversations among family members.
Key takeaway: The appetite is real, especially among the generation that will be on the receiving end of every decision being made today. The financial institutions that recognize this shift will be the ones who turn today’s relationships into tomorrow’s loyalty.
The Playbook Is Simpler Than You Think
This is the part where most articles tell you a transformation is required. Serving the family CFO does not call for a new tech stack, a new compliance framework, or a new department. It requires a willingness to recognize a customer who is already there and to make a few strategic moves.
Some of the most impactful steps are surprisingly straightforward:
- Help families get organized. Offer customers a way to store and structure their important documents in one place, with the ability to share access with the people who will need it.
- Create space for the conversation. Most families know they need to plan, but no one knows how to start. Banks can be the trusted third party that opens the door.
- Meet customers early. The best moment to support a family is years before a transition, not in the days after one.
- Build for the next generation, not just the current one. Every interaction with the family CFO is also an introduction to the adult children who will inherit the relationship.
“Community banks have spent generations earning the trust of the families they serve. The opportunity in front of us now is to extend that trust into the moments that have always been hardest for families to navigate on their own. This idea was a key driver in our decision to invest in Paige as a solution to the legacy planning gap. We see this as the next chapter of relationship banking, not a departure from it,” said Steve Smith, Vice Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer of 22nd State Banking Company.
The broader opportunity is for community banks to bring the family CFO into the core of their relationship strategy, the same way they have always approached lending, saving, and planning. It is a natural extension of what relationship banking is supposed to be.
A Decision, Not a Trend
The shift is happening with or without the industry’s participation. The family CFO population continues to grow as Americans live longer and have children later.
Cornerstone Advisors research shows that more than $2 trillion has already moved out of community banks and credit unions, with 65 percent of those lost deposits coming from Gen X and Baby Boomer customers.
The financial institutions that figure this out early will not just retain deposits. They will earn the trust of the next generation, built years before any wealth changes hands.
I spent my career inside community banks because I believe in what they could do for families. The family CFO will define the next chapter of this industry. They are already in your branches, on your call logs, in your customer lists. The question is whether you build for them or wait until someone else does.
