INTERGENERATIONAL GUIDANCE AS A SERVICE
By Ian Byrne CFP, Evolution Financial
If you have been skillful and lucky enough to amass a very good level of wealth (and let’s be honest, sometimes it does take an amount of luck or simply good timing to help our hard won endeavors), well done, as you’ve successfully completed the first half of the hard yards in the journey of life.
The second half is keeping it; not just for your lifetime, but your family’s.
In working with many very successful families, it strikes me that money and assets are easy to pass on, and most believe Wills & Estate Planning covers off all you need to do or consider - but that is only a fraction of the true wealth you currently possess.
Imagine the immense, immeasurable value of passing on in real terms the knowledge and ability to navigate life’s challenges as successfully as you have, without half the pain?
The majority of times, brave souls like you who amass the family wealth are driven, vital, dynamic people who love the game, but because of exactly these qualities, they generally don’t fully appreciate the frailty of their own mortal coil, (whether health, mental faculties or life itself passes), and far too often run out of time to pass on many of their valuable lived experiences & life lessons.
When highly successful people engage my services, aside from any immediate strategic or investment assistance, I also look at probing some of these aspects so that we can help build a truly lasting legacy.
If you are wealthy (and by this I mean a multi-millionaire excluding the family home, contents and toys), particularly if you’re either in the prime of your life or perhaps already facing some health issues, I’d challenge you to begin mapping out & distilling the crucial lessons or attributes that have helped you succeed, so that your progeny can further build on your solid foundations.
What knowledge do you have that the next generation may not know, but should? How would you begin to tabulate this information?
Without sounding trite, the below is a great list and simple starting point to begin the process:
1. What have been the 3 biggest business or career lessons over your life?
a. Do you believe these still hold true, or if you were to start again today, what would you change?
2. What have been the 3 biggest money & money management lessons over your life?
a. What are the pitfalls that must be avoided at all costs?
3. What have been the 3 biggest wealth & investing lessons over your life
a. Once you’ve secured a portion of wealth, what has been your next action and which has been the most successful for you?
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4. What have been the 3 biggest personal lessons over your life?
a. Relationships, experiences, mistakes – all can impact wealth. What has left a lasting influence that is valuable enough to pass on as vital knowledge?
5. What have been the 3 biggest health lessons over your life?
a. Wealth without health can be meaningless. If you’re in great shape, what is your mantra or if you’re not, what would you do differently in retrospect?
6. What have been the 3 biggest family lessons of your life?
a. Perhaps the hardest question. Whether it be about your growing up/formative years, or your own family, write honestly and respectfully as everyone believes they’re the ‘good’ protagonist in their own story. What would you do differently as a family or an individual that the next generation should know – or if there is nothing you’d change, what has been the most successful aspects you’ve implemented?
7. What have been the family values you’d like to see instilled down to your children and grand-children as part of your legacy?
a. Are there specific ‘truths’ or views or philanthropic issues that you believe are infinitely important and need to be highlighted to make your legacy enduring?
You’re a successful, intelligent person. Starting this process shouldn’t be anywhere near as hard as other adversity or projects you’ve undertaken and conquered.
Perhaps though, it may be just as or more important than any of them.
7 questions, 7 days in a week. Address one a day in as much detail as you wish.
Grab pen & paper or open your digital device – if time is an issue, download a voice recorder & transcription app and simply talk on your daily drive into the office, or over your coffee or during your morning walk.
You may be humble and think no-one in your family or life is interested in your words or your story, and that may be true right now, but what a reference and blueprint for success to have available for the rest of their lives, or their children’s lives.
Sometimes it is the simplest things that can have the biggest impact.
* The above is general information only and not personal advice. For further information or a confidential discussion, please contact the author directly.