The top two questions that keep wealth creators and wealth holders up at night are:

How and when do I talk to my children about our family wealth?

How do I prepare my children for the opportunities and responsibilities of family wealth; especially so they don’t become entitled or trustafarians?

Legacy Capitals has written articles and published BOOKS addressing these topics, however, this time I want to share with you a few examples of the messages, strategies, and approaches our clients have shared with us during our engagements with them.  Our hope is that their “solutions” will help your family or the client-families you serve, to flourish across the generations.

Note: Family details have been changed to ensure anonymity.

FAMILY MEETING ENGAGEMENT

Backdrop: Blended family. Total of five children in their 20s and 30s. Patriarch was raised in a financially successful family, however the wealth was lost. The Patriarch has since created a significant amount of wealth and continues to grow the wealth.

After a full-day multigenerational family meeting, I asked the parents to close the meeting how ever they would like, and among other guiding and loving words, the Patriarch shared the following with their children:  When my family lost all its wealth, I originally was devastated, but now it is has been the biggest blessing. The result of working hard and achieving has given me a sense of accomplishment and confidence – which could never come from sucking on a trust – and then having the resources to bless others with it…NOTHING can beat this feeling.

LEADING GENERATION PROGRAM FOR PARENTS

Backdrop: Parents and three tween/teenage children. The parents were raised “middle-class,” and now they have created and continue to create significant wealth.

During this program we help parents establish a proactive action plan for how to communicate about their family wealth without talking about the numbers and how to prepare their children for the opportunities and responsibilities of wealth.  Regarding the latter, here is what they said is their strategy:  We function as the CEOs of their lives until they reach young adulthood and then we plan to transition to being on the Advisory Boards of their lives.  The three principles that guide our CEO roles are: 1. Help them set up their lives so that they can earn enough money to support their lifestyles. 2. Help them to foster positive and rewarding relationships, and 3. Focus on physical health and an overall healthy lifestyle. 

FAMILY QUARTERLY PROGRAM

Backdrop: Divorced parents. Patriarch engaged us because he felt it was time to be more transparent with his adult children…they were in their 30s. The matriarch did not participate in this engagement. The Patriarch was a significant wealth creator and the fourth generation of a successful family.

During our quarterly meetings we covered topics such as raising the Financial IQ of family members, family philanthropy, and how the Patriarch could move toward transparency without fully revealing the details of the family wealth. Regarding the latter topic, we had a number of one-on-one prep calls with the Patriarch and had him complete our Communicating Your Living Legacy tool.  He then presented to his children all the asset buckets in the family’s  financial landscape (e.g., real estate, investments, company ownership, DAF, etc.), the purpose of each asset bucket, the Advisors associated with each asset bucket, and his hopes & expectations for each asset bucket when he was no longer on this side of heaven – yet without ever speaking to the actual financial values of any of the asset buckets. 

If you would like to discuss these sample engagements further or would like to engage Legacy Capitals to serve your family or a family you serve,  please contact us by clicking on this link CONTACT US and send us a private message, or call us at 609.917.0161.