This year saw the multi-family office Threshold Group launch its Community Square forum, a peer-to-peer network which includes specialists on “wealth education issues,” with an event in Chicago. It was really a next step for the firm, which was already running a P2P parenting network on a smaller scale. And while there is nothing groundbreaking about the idea of a peer-to-peer network, at the heart of this one is recognition of an aspect of wealth that is still fairly taboo: that it can bring isolation.

“I think that in our world people think that their value is only measured in financial terms. People can look about their children. We were able to connect unrelated to wealth and money…we were able to connect in a way that just looking at our profiles online we would never have connected,” says Wendy, who is nevertheless active on social media platforms. Essentially, a “profile” lacks the depth necessary for authentic connection. What social media has enabled, though, is for the couple to keep in contact with other like-minded people and follow up on ideas hatched during the event. And the fact they are doing so is testament to what they got out of it.

“I think we’re onto something,” says Bauer.