Family Values - Part 2

Family Business South Dakota Style

April 17, 2021Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

On April 29th, I’ll be presenting at the Prairie Family Business Association’s 29th Annual Conference . I presented in 2015 and love the state of South Dakota and wish I could be there in person this year. The conference is a hybrid and I’ll be virtual. The good news is, wherever you may be located, you can join this great conference with excellent content and more than 400 attendees. I’ll be speaking about raising children in the context of a family business (FB) – a topic I’m Read more »

Teens Role in Family Spending Decisions?

January 13, 2021Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

I was captivated by a recent Wall Street Journal article entitled, “Should Parents Involve Their Teenagers in Big Spending Decisions?” The article featured two financial advisors with opposing views on this question. I thought I’d weigh in. Lazetta Rainey Braxton, co-CEO at 2050 Wealth Partners in New York, basically says that “if done right, it can be empowering and educational,” while Michelle Perry Higgins, a financial planner and principal at California Financial Advisors in San Ramon, Calif., says teenagers shouldn’t have a say in these decisions. Ms. Rainey Braxton is basically taking the tack Read more »

Deepening New Client Conversations

September 23, 2020Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

I was recently speaking to a friend and colleague about the conversations he has with new clients. He is one of a new wave of wealth managers (and other professionals) who are as interested in getting to know the full picture of their client’s lives as they are about investment and planning strategies. He asked for my thoughts on deepening client conversations. Opening up conversations about money, business, family and legacy with a new client or even a prospect can Read more »

Ethical Wills – Share Your Love and Wisdom!

August 13, 2020Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting

Several years ago, I wrote about ethical wills. While they sound “legal”, they are not legal documents at all. An ethical will is a letter to children, grandchildren, really any loved ones, written to express wisdom, values, life lessons. It is a way to transfer non-financial/non-material wealth. Best shared when the writer is still alive, there can be invaluable interaction between the writer and recipients. I found the process of writing my own (shared in the blog several years ago) Read more »

Article with Merrill Center for Family Wealth

May 27, 2020Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

I consulted with a grandfather who achieved a high level of financial success (and also had a lot of emotional intelligence and love for his family) and with his daughter and her husband who have a two and a half year-old. The grandfather attended a workshop I gave about raising children in a family business/wealth context and thought his daughter and son-in-law would benefit from some ideas and coaching. The daughter said early on in the conversation more or less, Read more »

Kids and the Coronavirus Pandemic

April 18, 2020Family Business Consulting

Young children are so capable of understanding complex ideas and feelings if you communicate and interact on their level. Parents who haven’t taken the time or effort to properly introduce their children to the realities of the family business inadvertently sow the seeds for later problems. Many of the tragic situations I run into in the world of family businesses could have been managed and even prevented with some thoughtful parenting. One of my favorite speaking, writing, and coaching topics Read more »

Coronavirus and Family Business

March 25, 2020Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

My family business clients all have various amounts of what every family has: closeness and harmony, as well as distance and conflict, to name a few elements. And, they share various levels of involvement in a business – leadership, management, ownership, or simply working there to see if that is what they want for the coming decades. Being tightly connected to family can put a smile on your face, or a pit in your stomach – and sometimes both. I Read more »

Rock ‘N Roll & Family Business (Neil Peart)

January 19, 2020Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

If you’ve read any of these posts over the years, you know I like to connect rock music and family business one way or another. Earlier this month elite rock drummer Neil Peart, of Rush fame, died. I’ve been a Rush fan since 1980 and have been mesmerized by the speed and complexity of Peart’s drumming and the deep, meaningful lyrics for which he was mainly responsible. Often known as “nerd rock” or “cerebral rock,” Rush quoted Shakespeare and Ayn Read more »

Thanksgiving in August???

November 26, 2019Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Friends and Colleagues, The Thanksgiving/holiday season is upon us and I have made a donation in honor of all of you to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (TASK). Rather than cards or pies or gifts (which are all really cool) I decided to write to you here and send money to TASK to make an impact on the issue of hunger – an area important to me. I’ve been volunteering monthly for over 10 years at TASK and am always moved by how the Read more »

Jeff Interviewed by Jane Scaccetti

October 24, 2019Family Business Consulting, Family Wealth Consulting, Wealth Psychology Consulting

Jeff was interviewed by Jane Scaccetti of Drucker and Scaccetti – “The Tax Warriors .” Really more of a conversation between friends, sprinkled with great questions from attendees, they discussed wealth transfers within families. Please have a listen . Among the most significant insights for attendees was how early this process can begin and how little focus on “money” is necessary to set a solid foundation. As far as starting early, an example was given of how NOT to talk to a four-year-old about a family business (and how TO do Read more »

123 4