Wealth Transfer
01Feb 2010
There is an increasing emphasis on the inter-relatedness between the process of making money (whether through active business activities or through investments) and also having a positive impact on one’s community (either at the local, national or global level). The focus, along with developing opportunities, applies to individuals and families, small businesses, corporations, and family foundations. Let me share with
09Jan 2010
Unfortunately, when the issue of “character” is in the news today, the focus is usually on character failures — lack of integrity, marital unfaithfulness, greed and dishonesty. So to be able to talk about a man of good character is a privilege. When thinking about the title of this entry, I was indecisive about whether it should be “To a
28Dec 2009
In my role as a family coach for wealthy families, one of the common issues that arises is the parents’ desire to be “fair” with their children and grandchildren. (I put “fair” in quotation marks because it really is an unusual term that is defined differently by many people and is almost totally based on perception.) For whatever reason, and
17Dec 2009
A “new tradition” is sort of an oxymoron. By definition, (“a long-established, inherited way of thinking or acting”), a tradition is some action that you have been doing for a while. But I believe it is both possible and helpful to intentionally create new traditions for your family. We need to recognize that families go through a variety of life
15Nov 2009
I started reading a good book this week — A Game Plan for Life: The Power of Mentoring by John Wooden and Don Yaeger. It was recommended to me by a good friend, and I always try to pass on worthwhile reading to others. The first part of the book covers the seven mentors that influenced Coach Wooden (for those
19Oct 2009
This past weekend I had the privilege of helping facilitate a board meeting for a family foundation. One of the goals of the meeting was to begin to more fully integrate the next generation (currently twentysomethings) into the foundation’s activities and financial giving over the coming years. Part of the process included looking at philanthropy through the lens of daily
09Jul 2009
I am not an economist (thankfully). But economists, meteorologists (those who try to predict the weather), and psychologists are somewhat in the same situation — our ‘sciences’ are not very “hard” — that is, they often are not solidly grounded in data and they lack power to predict. For example, last night there was no prediction at all of any
29May 2009
This past week we had the privilege of attending a family union with my wife’s family in Chicago. There were almost 40 of us, ranging in age from 3 to 74, including my wife’s parents, six of the seven adult siblings (and spouses), and 23 of the 25 grandchildren (and two spouses). Although it was a cool and sometimes rainy
03Mar 2009
Often, when talking to senior generation members within a family, we discuss how to transfer one’s values to the next generations. Sometimes we are talking with parents in their 30’s, 40’s and early 50’s who are still raising their children and teenagers at home. Other times we are talking to 50-60 year olds with young adult children out of the
18Feb 2009
This week I have had the privilege of participating in a summit meeting of advisors who work with some of the most successful individuals and families in our country (and even the world). Approximately twenty-five professionals from a variety of disciplines gathered to learn from one another and discuss how they can best work together to serve their clients. Clients