As I noted last time, James Hughes says that a family’s wealth is contained, first and foremost, in its human and intellectual capital. Certainly sounds high-minded. But what difference might that make in practice? And how do you account for such wealth or capital? Read the rest of this entry »

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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 »

I sent a letter this morning to our attorney and our CPA with copies to all the members of our immediate family . . . plus G_____, our legacy planner.

B____ & L____ (with G____ “looking on”):

Outline of this email:

• Background: Legacy Planning
• Meeting Purpose
• Proposed Meeting Agenda

Read the rest of this entry »

I listed my values (as brought up through this legacy planning process). Looking back and thinking about our discussion at the Family Meeting, I realize that simply talking about these things is a significant, positive, useful step as we attempt to draw together as a family toward some kind of shared vision for the future.

It’s tough, too, however, to engage in these kinds of discussions! Read the rest of this entry »

I quoted our “final” (actually, preliminary, first-draft-final) “Family Vision” statement as hammered out with the kids. I thought it might be interesting to look back on the “Family Vision” statement Sarita and I came up with on our own (with a lot of help, primarily from T_____) back on March 12th. Read the rest of this entry »

Having come to (what seemed to me to be) an astonishing consensus about “who we are” and “what we value” as a family, Greg and Terry asked us to draft what we thought a vision statement for our family might look like.

Each of us took maybe 10 minutes to draft our own versions. Then we wrote them up on large sheets of paper and hung them around the room. . . . And then set about to come to a consensus statement.

What an amazing process!

Our final statement (for Saturday, March 31, 2007! –It is subject, of course, to revision):

We, the Holzmann family, understand that what we have been given allows us to personally and corporately influence others worldwide. Therefore, we seek to change our world–with God’s help and for His glory–by training and equipping others to most effectively fulfill their God-given purposes.

We aspire to family harmony, consensual decion-making, and living life with integrity, prayer, and purposeful action.

Wow! I’m looking forward to future meetings. We have agreed to meet again the week after Justin returns from college in mid- to late May. We want to discuss the family “business”: where are we financially? What resources do we have as a family . . . to impact the world . . . and to help each other?

Sarita and I had a meeting today–all day, 8 am till about 4:30 pm, with a working lunch in between!–with G____, our legacy planner, and T____, a man who, it turns out, is a fourth-generation heir of a very large family fortune. T____ turned my mind a bit–or, actually, a lot–concerning the idea of “giving everything away” as much as possible (rather than possibly passing a [financial] legacy along to our kids).

In essence, he argued for the idea that money in a future generation’s hands can be used for good. And we should encourage them to use it for good.

Perhaps the most inspiring comment had to do with enabling our kids to do significant work whether or not they were paid decent wages to do it. Thus, as he said, Read the rest of this entry »