It depends less on how much you own and more on how your wealth is built. A useful way to answer the question is to look at how people in a few common situations tend to hold their assets.
Consider a tech founder or operator, a finance executive, a doctor, or a lawyer. Their net worth usually breaks into three kinds of assets:
- Liquid assets, such as cash, that you need for day-to-day life. These typically belong in a revocable trust, so you keep full access to them.
- Marketable securities and stock portfolios that you want to grow over the long term and protect.
- Private business interests, carried interest, or other less liquid investments with high appreciation potential.
Everyone’s mix is different. But the core needs are the same across all of them: a clear contingency plan so your estate avoids probate, an estate structure that preserves as much wealth as possible for your family and heirs, and a way to retain as much wealth as you can for your own lifetime benefit.
Seen that way, the question is less “do I need a trust” and more “which structure fits the assets I have.” Over a long horizon, the benefits of getting that right tend to far outweigh the cost of the service. The complexity is real, but managing it smoothly is our job, so you get the benefits with very little work on your end.