A 2026 estimate puts Georgia’s top 1% income line at $714,243, a level that many first-generation founders reach without a family playbook. This feature looks at what changes when the first in a family builds real wealth, why heirs need education as well as documents, and what a New Orleans tax attorney recommends.
By Dr. Tamara Patzer
Reaching the top income tier is hard enough. Doing it as the first in your family is harder, because no one before you left instructions. Georgia filers needed an estimated $714,243 of adjusted gross income to reach the top 1% in 20261. Many founders and professionals who pass that mark did it without a parent who had done it before. Attorney Todd M. Villarrubia of New Orleans, author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™, says the real work for those families starts after the money arrives.
What does it take to reach the top 1% in Georgia?
Roughly $714,243, by SmartAsset’s 2026 projection1. Like every state figure in the set, it is a projection from 2022 IRS data and counts filers rather than households1. For scale, the same estimate puts Texas at $817,158, Illinois at $774,921, Florida at $956,449 and California at $987,3251.
It is a high income, though not an unreachable one. A founder who builds a business, a physician who owns a practice or a professional who sells a stake can pass it in a good year.
Why is first-generation wealth different?
Because the habits are missing. A family that has held wealth for generations tends to carry practices without naming them: a family meeting, an adviser who has known three generations, a way of talking about money. A first-generation family has none of that, and the founder is learning on the job while the children watch.
Villarrubia’s book describes the pattern in families that do hold on to what they build. They share the reasons behind the wealth along with the methods. In the book’s words, “Families who successfully sustain wealth across generations share more than just good fortune; they share structure, intention, and open communication.”
That sentence is a useful checklist for a first-generation family. Is there a structure? Is there an intention that everyone could state? Do family members actually talk about it?
How much wealth is going to change hands?
A great deal, and many of the recipients will be heirs who did not build it. Cerulli Associates projects that $124 trillion will pass between generations nationwide through 2048, with $105 trillion going to heirs and $18 trillion to charity2. The Federal Reserve’s newest figures, released October 9, 2026, put median family net worth at $215,900 and mean at $1.24 million3, which hints at how unevenly that wealth is spread.
For a first-generation founder, the question is what happens to the share that falls to the family. The book’s answer is that money passed down without understanding tends to be spent, fought over or lost. In its words: “Heirs learn that family wealth is not free money but capital that must be deployed responsibly.”
What goes wrong when heirs are not prepared?
The book names the risk bluntly. It warns of “Entitlement supplants stewardship; children expect wealth without understanding responsibility.” A child who grew up after the struggle may never have seen it. Without teaching, the family that worked hardest to build may pass the least on.
The reverse can also happen. A founder who is anxious about spoiling the children may say nothing and hide the numbers. That leaves the next generation with a large gap to fill at the moment they are least ready. Villarrubia’s phrase for the principle is short: “Protect the wealth and the wisdom, because if you don’t pass on the wisdom, the wealth won’t last.”
Do legal documents solve the problem?
They are necessary and they are only part of it. A founder whose company is worth more than the IRS’s 2026 basic exclusion amount of $15,000,000 per person has an estate planning question that documents can address4. A will, trusts and entity agreements all have a role, and a licensed attorney is the person to say which.
What a document cannot supply is understanding. The book says so directly: “A bad legacy doesn’t just deplete wealth; it erodes the family’s identity, ultimately leaving them fighting over nothing but rubble.” The sentence is a warning about families that skip the conversation and rely on the paper.
What can a first-generation founder do now?
The steps are small and they start at home:
- Say out loud why the family has what it has, and what it is for.
- Bring children into the conversation in stages, before they inherit anything.
- Name a trusted adviser who knows the whole family, not only the business.
- Write down who decides if the founder cannot.
- Set a date to revisit the plan, since the family and the law both change.
None of these require a fortune, and none of them has to be done in one weekend. Taken together they require a decision to treat the family’s money as something to manage, and to begin before there is a crisis.
The first-generation position also has an advantage. There is no inherited argument to settle and no old arrangement to unwind. A founder can build the habits fresh, with the family watching, and the habits become the family’s first tradition.
What should a first-generation owner do before anything else?
Tell one trusted person where everything is. Many first-generation owners built their wealth without a family model to follow, so nobody else knows the accounts, the entity names or the advisers. A simple sheet of paper with those names, kept in a place a trusted person can reach, does more for the family than a clever strategy that nobody can find. Add the phone numbers of the lawyer and the accountant, and the location of the will. It takes an afternoon, and it can spare a family weeks of confusion if something happens suddenly.
Common questions
Is a $714,243 income the same as being wealthy? No. It is an estimated income line for one year, and wealth is what is left after expenses and debts.
When should children learn about the family’s money? The book argues for early, staged education. A licensed professional and the family can decide the pace.
Do I need a family office? Not necessarily. The book says the right answer depends on the family’s complexity.
Sources
- SmartAsset, Income Needed to Be in the Top 1% in Every State (2026)
- NAPA-Net, Wealth Transfers Expected to Hit $124 Trillion Through 2048 (reporting Cerulli)
- Federal Reserve Board, press release on the 2025 Survey of Consumer Finances
- Internal Revenue Service, What’s New: Estate and Gift Tax
About the author. Dr. Tamara Patzer is a publisher and former newspaper editor. She was on the staff of The Charlotte Sun when it was named a 2005 Pulitzer Prize finalist for its Hurricane Charley coverage.
About the source. Todd M. Villarrubia is an attorney with an LL.M. in Taxation and a Juris Doctorate. He is an Accredited Estate Planner, a Board Certified Expert in Estate Planning and Administration, and a Fiduciary Investment Advisor Representative. He is the author of Entrepreneurial B.E.A.S.T. Mode™. Wealth Planning Law Group, 101 W. Robert E. Lee Blvd., Ste 404, New Orleans, LA 70124. Phone: 504-982-8207; email: todd@lawealthplan.com; website: https://lawealthplan.com/?utm_source=newsanchored&utm_medium=atl-wire&utm_campaign=top-1pct
Attorney advertising. Sponsored feature written on behalf of Todd M. Villarrubia. This article is general information, not legal or tax advice, and reading it does not create an attorney-client relationship. Results vary.
