Many families struggle with the ‘why’ of their wealth. Defining a philanthropic strategy is a great way for a family to articulate a purpose for their wealth. However, only 20% of families have a formal process for doing so. At the start of COVID, there was concern that financial pressure on families would lead to a reduction in philanthropy. But in a recent survey, 43% of respondents said that the pandemic had not altered the…
Successful entrepreneurs are often control freaks. But they can’t control whether their children can take over the business or the assets and keep them growing. Entrepreneurs may be visionaries, but sometimes it takes an external advisor to identify choices that they might otherwise overlook. Transferring full control of an operating asset to children isn’t the only option. Neither is continuing the way things have always been done just for the sake of it. The drive…
Advisors don’t spend enough time thinking about their own succession and exit planning. Like most people, many are too involved in the day-to-day work. But like family businesses, exit planning for advisors is not just a financial transaction, but is also the chance to leave a legacy. The wealth management industry is ‘old’ – the average age of financial advisers today is about 55, with 20% of them 65 or older. Why? Because most of…
[repost; still relevant today] The pandemic is not over, but after a year, we know a lot more, and there are reasons for hope. There are feelings of ambiguous loss, of knowing we can’t go back (and perhaps not wanting to), but missing who we were and what we had “before”. As 2020 draws to a close, we may be catching up with family, in some cases after being separated for a long time. It…
A successful wealth transition means the family stays intact and they maintain control of the assets. Ideally, you’d like both. Some families can only achieve one, and some end up with neither. People often setup their estate plan so that it will avoid tax and preserve wealth, but they’re really not paying attention to the impact of their plan on the next generation. The biggest risk to their assets is not the market or the business or…
There are several good reasons why family enterprises should care about making active efforts toward gender equity. If they want family members to be involved, their talent pool is limited, so why waste 50% of their potential? A more diverse leadership team will reap the same benefits that have been noted in the non-family business world. Finally, family cooperation, collaboration and harmony are important to families, so excluding women from paths to leadership can lead…
If you couldn’t bear to watch Megan Markle bare her soul to Oprah (or if you couldn’t look away from it, and from the endless commentary that followed), here are two practical things you can actually take from the latest episode of this saga: 1. There are serious challenges to growing up in a wealthy family with a public profile. The weight of expectations is heavy, and finding identity and meaning can be difficult. Marrying…
Q: We have three non-family board members in their 70s on our family board. How should we handle moving them on? A: The composition of the family board is a careful balance between family members & independent voices, and maintaining regular turnover is very important. Often, families will establish a board with some family members, the family lawyer & accountant, and perhaps some other trusted advisors. But without due attention to the board composition, the group can…
Different places around the world continue to deal with the challenges of COVID in different ways. Whether they are experiencing a second wave, or varying degrees of opening up, many of the challenges and opportunities are still present. The issues that have arisen through the pandemic are primal, and place the fragility of life in sharp relief. Our instinctive responses also also primal: fight/flight/freeze, and we can remain locked in such states for a prolonged…
Studying failure is far better than studying success because it’s easier to avoid doing the wrong things than mimic the good that others are doing. Here are some of the ways things can go awry: Families and businesses don’t grow at the same rate. From the third (and sometimes second) generation onwards, the family often grows faster than the business. What happens if many family members look to the business for employment or supplementary income?…
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![Opinion: Intergenerational strife: Why can’t we all just get along?
For better or for worse, every generation affects every other generation in some way. We are meant to not only coexist but also learn from one another. In order to maximize our learning, we have to discard the belief that age equals wisdom and accept that it merely equals experience.
Full article [copy, paste] https://usustatesman.com/opinion-intergenerational-strife-why-cant-we-all-just-get-along/
Actionable Generational Wealth Succession
For more in-depth, thought-provoking discussion points and further commentary on family and business conflict resolution, access my Familosophy newsletter archives: www.transitionbook.co/member-area/
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