Advisors and families often need to identify and address each generation separately for various purposes.  An accepted convention is to refer to the original wealth-creating generation as Generation 1, usually condensed to G1. Their children would then be G2, grandchildren would be G3, and so forth.  

There is no clear source for identifying where or when the terms G1, G2, etc. were first used. They may have been associated with the development of some of the earliest family offices in Europe and America in the 19th century and early 20th century.

Using common nomenclature helps ensure that advisors treat all clients based on their demographic stage and not through the lens of the wealth-creating parents, who may refer to their 60-year-old adult children as “the kids.” Similarly, “the Rising Generation” has begun to replace “the Next Generation” as less oriented to the first generation as the primary generation of wealth. The aging generation may be referred to as the “Elder Generation” or “Leading Generation” compared to the Rising Generation.