NY Times Quote – Client Interview

January 17, 2019Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting
NY Times Quote – Client Interview

In the November 16, 2018 “Wealth Matters” column in the NY Times, Paul Sullivan wrote about his interview with me and one of my family clients. My thanks to Paul and a special thanks to the Buckwald family – David, Jennifer, Jack & Morgan for their openness (and for their hospitality to the Times photographer who became stranded at their home overnight in a snowstorm while David was stranded elsewhere and could not make it home until the next morning!) Read more »

The Conversation

November 16, 2018Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting
The Conversation

I recently received a referral from an attorney I’ve known for years. The referral was for a married couple who were both children of immigrants who valued education and had earned PhD degrees in science. They started a company that became wildly successful in terms of financial success and respect from colleagues and investors. The couple sold it for a large sum and when they decided to start another company, investors swooned and supplied cash. The couple had been having Read more »

Sharp Knives & Fire

October 26, 2018Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting
Sharp Knives & Fire

My friend and colleague Pierre duPont, Partner at HPM Partners in New York City, recently wrote a great piece entitled, “Raising Children Into Wealth – Hungry, Productive and Compassionate.” I hope you will read it. One of his points really resonated with me and brought to mind the work I do coaching parents with significant wealth and working with them and their kids together: “…show your children that life is not about the things in it but about the people in it and the individual moments lived and shared. Money can sometimes enhance those, but Read more »

Wealth, Privilege & Leadership

September 12, 2018Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting
Wealth, Privilege & Leadership

Last month, Sam Walker, writing in The Wall Street Journal , took on the issue of privilege in the context of Brett Kavanaugh’s testimony on Capitol Hill. I am not going to offer my opinions here about Kavanaugh and the hearings; Walker did not either. What Walker did address is the issue of how growing up in an affluent and “rarefied upbringing” might affect perceptions of leaders and how well they actually lead, especially when leading diverse teams. Walker makes an interesting point about the unfair advantages children Read more »

Parenting as Governance

February 27, 2018Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Governance can be intimidating to business families and legacy wealth families who may not have operating businesses any longer but share and manage complex assets. This is especially true if they have not educated themselves about good governance and committed themselves to it. Governance is crucial for achieving both long term business/financial success and family harmony. Simply put, governance is coming together and getting clear about how decisions will be made, who will be involved with making decisions and in Read more »

Money Ain’t Everything

November 26, 2017Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Research shows higher childhood socioeconomic status (SES) tends to be associated with positive physical health later in life. There is even some research that many believe demonstrates that high SES (i.e., significant wealth and high social class) can take the place of warm parent-child bonds.  If correct, this means that even without close, healthy parent-child relationships, a high SES will lead to positive health later in life. However, research done last year by Matthew A. Andersson at Baylor University , shows that poor-quality parent-child relationships during childhood can negate the positive Read more »

Start Younger Than You Think

October 20, 2017Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Many years ago (and unfortunately still to some degree today) heirs had to wait for someone to die before finding out what they would inherit, with whom they would own a business or other assets, and what role they would be expected to play.  This often happened with little teaching and development to lay a healthy foundation for this intense experience and how to manage the technical, emotional and relational effects. Also, often lacking are conversations with the inheritor(s) to Read more »

Children, Wealth, & Peers

September 25, 2017Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

My colleague Barbara Spector, Editor-In-Chief at Family Business Magazine , recently interviewed me about children from financially successful families and situations they face with their peers around the family business and, in particular, money. Click here to read the article, “Help Your Kids Parry Classmates’ Comments About Wealth.” I’ve been interested for some time in wealth and identity and how “wealthism” –  bias against the wealthy – can be internalized by family members in a family wealth context giving them a sense of embarrassment and shame. Many wealthy people choose to be highly secretive about their wealth Read more »

A Candy Heir, the NHL and Next-Gen Passion

June 8, 2017Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Two common scenarios I see frequently in my work with successful, enterprising families are members of the rising generation strong-armed into the family business when they are not all that interested, and by contrast, those allowed into the business when they do not contribute or allowed in at higher levels than where they can contribute productively. What’s often missed is early conversation within the family about the interests and passions of the rising generation, well before any decision is being Read more »

Trusts Take Over the World

March 28, 2017Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

OK, “take over the world” may be a bit much. However, trusts are a very popular vehicle used more and more in estate planning for business families and legacy wealth families. And the downsides are often not discussed. On the benefits side of the equation when transferring assets through trusts are reducing estate and gift tax liabilities, creditor/lawsuit protection (future divorce is often cited), and determining when heirs get their inheritance, how much they get and for what purposes it Read more »