How do you change the way you think and feel and behave?

I’m not talking about the “oops!” kind of mind alteration–y’know, the revelatory, slap-your-forehead, “Oh! Of course! How could I have been so stupid!?!” mental shift.

I’m talking about knowing what you need to do–or, even, having a sneaking suspicion that you need to change your way of thinking, but not being able to turn on the light bulb in your brain–i.e., a mind-shift that requires real work. How do you make purposeful, premeditated alterations in your habits of mind, how you view the world, how you think, how you behave?

Legacy planning and estate planning, at its very root, I think, requires this kind of mental change. I mean, if you’re going to do a really good job at writing a plan, it takes more than a couple of hours of casual thinking to work out what you desire to achieve with your wealth; if you have young children: where you want them to go, who you want to take care of them, how you want them to be cared for, etc.; how you want to be cared for if, God forbid, you find yourself incapacitated and requiring long-term care or–forget you finding yourself incapacitated– . . . Suppose your relatives find you incapacitated and incapable of speech or communication: How shall they care for you?

These kinds of questions require some deep and serious thought. And even the most patient attorneys or other professionals–even if you could afford their fees–cannot draw your finessed thoughts out of you in a 2- or even 8-hour interview. And, I dare say, even a week-long retreat dedicated to these matters won’t quite do whatever-it-is you require to come to peace about your true thoughts and beliefs in these matters.

Hey. I’ve been working on my legacy plan–not full-time, but dedicating a few hours a week, on average–for close to three years, now. And, I am embarrassed to admit, my wife and I still haven’t gotten down to business on one of the most important pieces of the plan: the documentation (that would be so helpful to our executors) of where all our key papers are, the list of all our professional advisors, where our safe deposit boxes are and how to gain access, where all of our accounts are–and user names and passwords to gain access, etc., etc. Read the rest of this entry »

As I prepare for the inevitable, I am realizing how important it is to consolidate my records. I haven’t done this. I have plans . . . for what is to happen with my estate when I die. I have all the paperwork in order. Or so my advisors tell me.

But I haven’t prepared the kinds of records that will enable my survivors easily to tie up whatever loose ends my death will create. And that’s where Read the rest of this entry »

I mentioned I was able to participate in a meeting with about a dozen fairly high-end charitable givers. Our host at the meeting told us about a giving strategy that he and his family have begun pursuing in the last few years, a strategy that can “pay back” in tax deductions as much as or even more than whatever you gave.

I thought it was well worth mentioning this strategy just in case you find yourself in a position to make donations of, say, a hundred thousand dollars or more and you’re not yet at the point where you are giving 50% of your AGI (Adjusted Gross Income) to charity.

This strategy could multiply your ability to give. Read the rest of this entry »

A couple of weeks ago I received a phone call from a Generous Giving consultant. I was invited to join a group of 11 men who were going to visit the founder of a $2 billion company to talk about his and our philosophies and practices of giving . . . and of transferring our material wealth, our values, and our philanthropic perspectives to future generations.

As it turned out, we were to meet not only with the founder (a man in his late 60s), but with his sons, and one of his grandsons. The meeting occurred about a week and a half ago over the course of an afternoon and evening and the next morning.

As I’ve tried to work through the implications of what transpired, and as I’ve attempted to explain to others what occurred, I have realized I carried at least two lessons from the experience. This post is about the first–a lesson I’ve learned before, but never applied in quite this way to my charitable giving interests.

The lesson: That we benefit from participating in peer-level mastermind groups–groups of like-minded individuals who are willing to share their insights, experiences, knowledge, etc., in order to help each other attain a definite goal or purpose. In this case, then, to help each other improve our ability to make effective and generous charitable donations.

I was talking with my sister the other day and I mentioned how valuable this particular meeting had been for me “because I was meeting with fairly wealthy people who are already giving at a high level.”

“Why would that make a difference?” she asked.

“Because they are dealing with the kinds of issues Sarita and I are dealing with as we consider our giving,” I said.

“Like what?” she asked.

What follows is more or less what I discussed with her. Read the rest of this entry »

I read an article this morning that reminded me: Most estate- and legacy-planning professionals ignore philanthropic considerations in their basic planning strategies.

Alexis Martin Neely, for example, notes, in an article printed in the latest Bottom Line Personal, that single adult parents (widowed or divorced, in particular) need to make allowances in their estate plans not only for their personal health care, but also “for the guardianship of any minor children and transfers [of] assets to heirs of your choice while minimizing taxes.”

It struck me: This is the standard mantra of traditional estate planning professionals. For them, estate planning is all about minimizing taxes and maximizing flow-through to the next generation. And it has absolutely nothing to do with larger life purposes, the legacies Read the rest of this entry »

Some questions for evaluating “how you’re doing” in your life and “where you’re headed.” Read the rest of this entry »

From a financial or physical wealth perspective, there are three questions every estate plan donor must answer:

1. How many of the resources God has placed in our hands do we need in order to live our lives as we believe we ought?
    
2. How many of the resources God has placed in our hands do our heirs need in order to help them live their lives as we would want them to be able to live?

   And, Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I posted a proposed draft copy of an IPS (Investment Policy Statement) our legacy planners gave me. I said I didn’t feel comfortable signing the document without further input . . . from our investment advisor himself and, perhaps, one or two other similar advisors.

Today I thought I would share some of the things I wrote to our investment advisor about the document. So here’s the cover letter I sent him: Read the rest of this entry »