Strategic Inheritance

Prenuptial Agreements

admin — Fri, 21 Nov 2008 00:17:34 +0000

Yesterday, as I read some more in Charles W. Collier’s Wealth in Families, I came across a section where he was interviewing Dr. Lee Hausner, a Los Angeles-based clinical psychologist and author of Children of Paradise: Successful Parenting for Prosperous Families. Collier quoted Hausner as saying, I believe in a prenuptial agreement because healthy relationships should [...]

Four asset classes for the growth of true wealth

admin — Sat, 15 Nov 2008 11:40:26 +0000

Charles W. Collier, in Wealth in Families, expands on the theme urged by James E. Hughes, Jr. to which I’ve alluded in the past–the idea that, as Collier quotes Hughes (perhaps from a personal interview; I have been unable to find these exact words in either of Hughes’ books themselves): “A family’s duty is to [...]

Who are the progeny for whom you must provide?

admin — Thu, 13 Nov 2008 16:06:12 +0000

David Wills, president of The National Christian Foundation, commented, “The average age at which a woman becomes a widow in the United States today is 57 years old.” If there is any truth to that assertion (and the U.S. Census Bureau says it is (see Table 5, p. 11, on the referenced document); the age [...]

Good estate planning is often NOT good tax planning!

admin — Wed, 12 Nov 2008 17:57:54 +0000

Too often the estate planning process short-circuits because the testators have never asked themselves, “WHY do I own what I do?” and, “WHAT should I do with it?” Having never understood their motives but only the mechanisms, they never put their estate plan into effect. They pay the attorney for perfectly good documents, but because they [...]

Caring for an elderly relative who lives alone . . .

admin — Mon, 10 Nov 2008 14:46:49 +0000

I know Sarita’s mom has has been deeply concerned that she might suffer some kind of physical ailment–perhaps fall down the stairs, have a heart attack, who knows what–and no one would find her for days. As a result, Sarita and her sister make it a point, between them, to call Mom twice a day–one in [...]

How generous are Americans, anyway?

admin — Fri, 07 Nov 2008 21:18:32 +0000

Every now and then I read self-congratulatory articles about how generous Americans are. This one from World magazine is relatively typical: Americans are the most generous people on the planet, and they mostly don’t toot their own horns about it. A new study by the Hudson Institute’s Center for Global Prosperity says that Americans account for 45 [...]

200-Year Plan - How to construct a plan - 2

admin — Thu, 06 Nov 2008 21:16:07 +0000

[Continued discussion of Vision Forum Ministries' program titled The 200 Year Plan: A Practicum on Multi-Generational Faithfulness.] I find it difficult to think even five years ahead. So how can I begin thinking 200 years into the future of my family? One secret: just begin! Start writing! As you will recall, in my last foundational post [...]

Joe the Plumber, Max the Plumber . . . and a Legacy

admin — Mon, 03 Nov 2008 23:44:38 +0000

Of course, we’re all familiar with “Joe the Plumber,” the icon of the McCain presidential campaign for the last few weeks. Dr. Stanley Fish, a professor of law at Florida International University, Miami, and dean emeritus of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences at the University of Illinois at Chicago, wrote a moving tribute [...]

200-Year Plan - How to construct a plan - 1a

admin — Thu, 30 Oct 2008 18:40:31 +0000

[Continued discussion of Vision Forum Ministries' program titled The 200 Year Plan: A Practicum on Multi-Generational Faithfulness.] Start talking about a 200-year plan, and you may find yourself faced with some major opposition! Here’s the story of my first opposition. ***** I received a call yesterday from our eldest daughter. I had loaned the Vision Forum 200-Year [...]

200-Year Plan - How to construct a plan - 1

admin — Wed, 29 Oct 2008 15:07:44 +0000

[Continued discussion of Vision Forum Ministries' program titled The 200 Year Plan: A Practicum on Multi-Generational Faithfulness.] Sadly, the Vision Forum CD set I purchased provides a sanitized (indeed, in my opinion, overly-sanitized–to the point of being useless) PDF view of the spreadsheet Mr. Botkin showed his audience as he discussed how he built his family’s [...]