Managing significant wealth, whether it is generations-old or recently created, can be a full-time job. It requires a level of knowledge and expertise beyond the reach of most individual financial advisors, which is why wealthy people often choose to join or launch a family office.

The primary goal of a family office is to preserve and grow a family’s wealth through investments while also providing a range of other services such as trust and estate planning, tax strategies, insurance, philanthropy, and personal development for younger family members. But setting up and running a family office is not an inexpensive undertaking. Expenses typically run 1% to 2% of the value of the family’s wealth, meaning that for a family with assets totaling $100 million, running a family office generally costs between $1 million and $2 million annually.

But even if you have that amount of wealth, you still need to choose a type of family office. Do you need basic administrative help such as bill payments, consolidated reporting, and managing cash flow? Or do you need more sophisticated professional help managing investments of multiple households, succession planning, and preparing younger family members to inherit wealth? The types of family offices generally fall into one of four categories, although in practice each family office is likely to be as unique as the family behind it.

Read the full article about family office structures by Andy Busser at Forbes.