J_____, our legacy planner, has been stressing, from the very beginning of our relationship, the need for the professionals on our team — our attorney, our CPA, our investment advisor, and J___ himself — to be on the same page when they speak with Sarita and me.

“You want to include all planning team members in the process from the beginning,” he said. “We need to be able to communicate openly one with another without worrying about being embarrassed or having our egos bruised by having you [John, client] hear any of our questions or comments.”

In order to ensure that end, then, he told us that he would meet with all our advisors prior to telling us anything about the details of the plan he is putting together.

Well, the advisors’ final, pre-presentation meeting was scheduled for this morning. And J_____ just wrote me: Read the rest of this entry »

What information can help an estate planning/legacy planning professional create the best plan for you? A document like this could help!

As I noted a month ago, our legacy planner provided a draft “Family Wealth Letter of Intent” designed to summarize in written form what Sarita and I currently understand God’s plans to be for the remaining time we have on earth, and to serve as a guide to our family and advisors to help them understand our life priorities and the things we want to do for our children and for God’s Kingdom . . . during the remainder of our life on earth . . . and beyond.

I indicated I was not happy with the paper as our planner had drafted it. It wasn’t “us.” Honestly, it overemphasized things we would have emphasized far less (and maybe not mentioned at all); it used words and phrases that we would never use; it failed to express the things that we most highly value; and it said several things that, frankly, were just plain untrue.

So I knew I had to rewrite it. And I finally finished my rewrite today. As I wrote a month ago, so now: I share this with you “primarily because I want you to see the full process we are going through. Sometimes the process is easy; often, I’m afraid, it is–or is going to be–very difficult. Most importantly, I think you need to understand that legacy planning is an iterative process.”

So here is my/our “latest iteration.” Read the rest of this entry »

Want to get a basic idea of what information might prove helpful in setting up a good legacy plan? Check out the following draft Family Wealth Letter of Intent.

Our legacy planner, having spent 17 hours interviewing us in detail on the first and second of this month, sent us the following draft “Family Wealth Letter of Intent” [FWLOI] today based on notes taken during our discussion. Read the rest of this entry »

S____ hasn’t provided me any resource suggestions yet, and I’m restless. So I went to Amazon.com and did some looking on my own. I found a number of highly rated books that look as if they will to speak to what I’m interested in, so I’ve ordered them. (Typical behavior on my part: gather as much information as I can find!)

Titles: Read the rest of this entry »

Yipes! it’s been two months since S___ agreed to help us find a replacement legacy planner for G____.

S____ told us today that he has vetted seven planners and decided that none of them matched our needs. When he finally thought he had found one and brought us together with him for a final interview, frankly, all three of us–Sarita, S____, and I–were shocked at how the planner handled the interview. Read the rest of this entry »

Sarita took careful notes of what occurred at yesterday’s family meeting. I’m not going to walk through all the details. But I think a summary might be helpful. We actually covered a lot of territory. But what has happened in the last 24 hours since the meeting is perhaps the most surprising–shocking–result of all.

Now where will we head? Read the rest of this entry »