There are now roughly 8,030 single-family offices around the world — up about 31% from an estimated 6,130 in 2019, and on pace to reach 10,720 by 2030, according to Deloitte Private’s Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024. The phrase “family office” has gone mainstream, and somewhere along the way it became shorthand for having arrived.
But here is the part that rarely makes the headline: for many financially successful families, building a family office is not the right move — and the question that matters is not “Can I have one?” It’s “Do I need to build one, or can I access the same coordination another way?”
If you have wondered where the line actually sits, here is a clear-eyed look.
What is a family office, exactly?
A single-family office (SFO) is a private entity built to serve one family. It brings investment management, tax and estate coordination, philanthropy, recordkeeping, and governance together, staffed by a dedicated team that works only for that family.
A multi-family office (MFO) delivers a similar breadth of service, but a shared team of professionals spreads the cost across several families rather than one.
Both exist to solve the same problem: as wealth grows, its complexity outpaces what any single advisor, accountant, or attorney can coordinate in isolation. The difference is who builds and pays for the infrastructure.
How much does a family office cost to run?
This is where the romance meets the spreadsheet. According to a 2026 analysis published by the national registered investment adviser Creative Planning, Single-Family Office: Structure, Costs and Setup, the cost of running a single-family office typically starts at around $1 million per year, covering operational, administrative, staffing, facility, and technology expenses.
A useful way to think about it: a family office carries largely fixed costs — the team, the systems, the overhead exist whether the office is managing $80 million or $800 million. That is why the cost ratio tends to weigh far more heavily on smaller asset bases, and why the structure becomes more efficient as assets grow.
(These figures reflect one firm’s published benchmarks. Actual costs vary widely with the family’s complexity, the services included, geography, and staffing model, and are not universal.)
So how much money do you really need?
In the same analysis, Creative Planning offers a widely cited rule of thumb: a single-family office is generally feasible for families with at least $100 million in net worth, and tends to become more cost-effective at around $250 million and above.
Below roughly $100 million, the arithmetic gets unforgiving. Spending on the order of $1 million to run an office against a modest asset base can represent a meaningful annual drag before a single dollar is invested — a hurdle few portfolios clear consistently. As that firm notes, these thresholds are guidelines, not rules; the right answer depends on how complex your wealth is, which services you actually need, and how the office is staffed.
This is precisely why the multi-family office model — and other shared or coordinated arrangements — exist. By spreading a professional team across several families and charging a fee rather than asking each family to fund a full operation alone, these models can deliver much of the same coordination well below the point at which a standalone office makes financial sense.
Single-family office vs. multi-family office vs. a coordinated approach
Think of it as a spectrum rather than a binary:
- Single-family office — Maximum control, privacy, and customization. Best suited to families at or above roughly $100M (more comfortably $250M+), per Creative Planning’s published guidance. You build and fund the entire operation.
- Multi-family office — Much of the same breadth — investments, tax and estate coordination, philanthropy, governance — delivered by a team you don’t employ directly, with costs shared across families.
- A single fiduciary firm coordinating the whole picture — For families who want one accountable relationship pulling the strands together, without the cost or staffing burden of a standalone office.
It is worth remembering why this coordination matters in the first place. Deloitte found that only about one in ten family offices today represent fourth-generation-or-older families — a sobering echo of the so-called “third-generation curse” (Deloitte Private, Defining the Family Office Landscape, 2024). Structure alone does not preserve wealth. Disciplined investment management, integrated planning, and clear governance do far more of the work.
Do you need a family office — or family-office-level coordination?
For some families, a dedicated single-family office is the right answer, and it is worth the cost. For many more, the real goal is simpler than the label suggests: one coordinated team, with a fiduciary at the center of the investment relationship.
That is the gap Moran Wealth Management’s family office services are designed to address. Moran Wealth Management® is an SEC-registered investment adviser and serves as a fiduciary on the investment advisory relationship. From that foundation, we help coordinate the wider picture — working alongside your own attorney and CPA on estate planning and strategic tax planning, and helping structure charitable giving — without requiring you to build and staff a private office of your own. We do not provide legal or tax services directly; those are delivered by the outside professionals we fully coordinate with. The result is the breadth of a family office, organized through a single private wealth management relationship.
A short checklist before you decide
Before you build an office — or engage a firm to coordinate like one — ask:
- What is actually complex about my wealth? Operating businesses, real estate, concentrated stock, cross-border holdings, and trusts each raise the bar.
- What do I want coordinated, and by whom? Investments, taxes, estate, and philanthropy rarely sit with one provider today.
- What is the all-in cost — and what is it as a percentage of my assets? If coordination costs a large share of your wealth, scrutinize the structure.
- Do I want to be an employer? A single-family office is a small business you own and manage. Many families discover they wanted the outcome, not the operation.
- Who is the fiduciary, and for what? Confirm who is obligated to act in your interest — and on which parts of the relationship.
The bottom line
The number people most often search for is “$100 million,” and as a threshold for a standalone single-family office, that widely cited benchmark holds up. But it answers the wrong question for most families. The better question is whether your wealth is being coordinated the way a family office would coordinate it, with a fiduciary at the center of your investment relationship.
If you would like to think that through, the advisors at Moran Wealth Management would welcome the conversation. Request a consultation to explore what family-office-level coordination could look like for your family.
Frequently Asked Questions
How much money do you need to justify a family office? According to Creative Planning’s 2026 analysis Single-Family Office: Structure, Costs and Setup, a single-family office is generally feasible at around $100 million in net worth and more cost-effective at roughly $250 million or more, because operating costs typically start near $1 million a year. These are guidelines, not rules — the right structure depends on the family’s complexity, the services needed, and staffing.
How much does it cost to run a single-family office each year? Creative Planning’s published guidance puts the typical starting cost at around $1 million per year, covering staffing, operations, facilities, and technology. Because those costs are largely fixed, they represent a heavier percentage burden on smaller asset bases.
What is the difference between a single-family office and a multi-family office? A single-family office serves one family with a dedicated, privately funded team. A multi-family office serves several families through a shared team, spreading the cost of staff, technology, and infrastructure and typically charging a fee for the service.
Do I need a family office or a wealth manager? Many families want the coordination a family office provides without the cost and staffing of building one. An SEC-registered investment adviser that serves as a fiduciary on the investment relationship and coordinates with your attorney and CPA can provide family-office-level organization through a single accountable relationship. Investment advice is provided as a fiduciary; legal and tax services are provided by third-party professionals.