Last month’s blog (take a quick read if you have not yet) was about how it is possible to start developing a stewardship culture in the next generation even at very young ages. I shared three videos and offered a number of food-for-thought questions to answer after viewing them. Here are the videos: 1 – The Farmhand (link to Facebook) 2 – The Warehouse Helper (link to TikTok) 3 – The Young Chef (link to Facebook) I would like to respond now to the questions I posed to the reader in Read more »
Children and wealth
Stewardship: How Young to Start?
I work with wealthy families, some very wealthy families, and even some uber-wealthy families, and the truth is that they want what poor, working class, and all families want: happy, healthy, and productive kids. One of the growing areas of my practice is coaching wealthy couples before they have kids and parents of very young children—babies and toddlers. I call my work with them the Purposeful Legacy Family Project . While I’ve always included teens and young adults in coaching and family retreats, I’m Read more »
Fairness, Once Again
“Once Again” is in the title here because I’ve already written several blog posts about fairness in the context of family; this is one of the repeating topics arising with the enterprising families I work with. It is understandable that families often ask me for the best way to be fair in their situation. It makes complete sense that they ask this. If there was a rule book or definitive guide, I’d share it freely. Of course, there is no Read more »
Mom’s Death Gift
First of all, my mom is still alive. She is wise, has a wicked sense of humor, and is always willing to talk about topics most people find challenging. All of this is a gift, in and of itself. Let my explain, then, why I am referring to this lesson as: Mom’s Death Gift. Death is a typically challenging topic of conversation. I see people avoiding death (thinking about it, planning for it, discussing it with others, even believing it Read more »
Next Gen Pushback
“Pushing back” is one of the ways members of the next generation assert their independence and differentiate themselves from parents and other, older family members, and even the family system as a whole. Pushing back can be subtle, such as frequent polite disagreement, or it can be glaring, such as disregarding specific, important requests from parents. A natural part of growing up, resisting the control and authority of parents and other senior family members and caretakers is common in one Read more »
Warren Buffett and Raising Kids
My friend and colleague, Marvin Blum, is an estate planning attorney in Texas. He is a really good guy and has a wonderful and creative blog – The Family Legacy Planning Series . Marvin’s May 9th, 2023, post inspired the idea for this one. Warren Buffett is famous for saying “I want to leave my children enough so that they can do anything, but not so much that they can do nothing.” You may have heard this quote. At a Berkshire Hathaway Annual Meeting Marvin had the “ chutzpah ” Read more »
Talking to Young Kids About Family Wealth
You can talk to kids about family wealth without talking about money. You can talk about money without mentioning numbers. These principles are the essence of the philosophy I use when coaching parents of young children in financially wealthy families. I use the term “financial wealth” to refer to wealth based on money. There are other aspects of wealth – health, community, family relationships, social support — and it is important to recognize all kinds of wealth in Read more »
Family DYSFUNCTION
What is it about family dysfunction? The large majority of my job is facilitating, educating and coaching families who share ownership of businesses and legacy wealth to help them communicate well, manage conflict, create high-functioning, family-ownership teams and develop governance for decision making, sharing information and inclusion of subsequent generations. I also specialize in working with couples–pre-children or with very young children on how to set the stage for responsible, productive and values-based lives in the context of family financial Read more »
Money Tales – Next Generation
My son Jeremy recently did an interview for the Money Tale$ podcast with my friends and colleagues Sandi Bragar and Cammie Doder of Aspiriant . He had fun doing it and I could not be prouder. Here’s the backstory. Last July I was interviewed for the Money Tale$ podcast and had a great experience. At the end of my interview, they asked if I knew anyone who might be a good guest. I thought of my older son, Jeremy, and he went for it. Sandi and Cammie’s mission is to take the taboo out of talking about money, and Read more »
Christmas in August???
Friends, Clients and Colleagues, The Christmas season (and season for holidays of many traditions like Kwanzaa, Diwali, my own Hanukah, and others) is upon us and I have made a donation in honor of all of you to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). I appreciate you as part of my life in some way. Rather than cards or pies or other gifts (which are all really cool and appreciated by me when I receive them) I decided to write to you here and Read more »