Carol Weisman makes some really useful suggestions for a family meeting. (See Raising Charitable Children, Chapter 3.) She says in her family they start out each annual meeting by passing a list of the charities to which they’ve donated in the past. The list not only shows the names of all the charities, but also expresses why the family donated to them. Weisman says that’s a good way to get people brainstorming about where the current year’s donations might be directed. Read the rest of this entry »

How do you help your family members write personal resumés that will help your family account for all of its “human and intellectual capital”? Here’s one model.

[If you haven't read my preceding post about Family wealth, unique abilities, and personal resumés, I think you'll want to read it. It explains the basic idea of the "human and intellectual capital" resumé that "includes everything the particular family member believes her or his best friend might know."]

Read the rest of this entry »

James Hughes’ Family Wealth is exceptionally practical. With Hughes’ book, I felt all the recommendations Williams and Preisser made took on real, actionable qualities. I sensed I knew what our family needed to do and how we could move forward positively for (literally) generations into the future.

In sum: the way a family can move forward positively for generations is to establish a family government. Read the rest of this entry »

Yesterday I shared a list of the top characteristics of families who successfully transferred their wealth from one generation to the next.

Perhaps the most important summary characteristic: all family members–including spouses–are involved in the legacy planning process. In addition, the family has developed what Williams and Preisser call a Family Wealth Mission Statement (what I believe Link calls a Family Wealth Letter of Intent: although Link seems to encourage more privacy or–depending on how you look at it–secrecy on the part of the parents; less openness à la Williams and Preisser).

Williams and Preisser, however, list some additional characteristics of families who are well-prepared for successful wealth transfer. Read the rest of this entry »

I read two books while on vacation the last couple of weeks: Preparing Heirs: Five Steps to a Successful Transition of Family Wealth and Values by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser, and Family Wealth: How Family Members and Their Advisers Preserve Human, Intellectual, and Financial Assets for Generations, by James E. Hughes, Jr.

Preparing Heirs goes into depth about the research behind a number one of our advisors mentioned to us: in a study of 3,250 families with significant financial assets, 70% of them failed to transfer their assets successfully to the next generation. What does that mean? They either lost all their money, or they found that the money destroyed family relationships. It blew the family apart in the inheriting generation.

When I read Preparing Heirs, I thought it provided some good insights, especially into the causes of failure. Read the rest of this entry »