***I’m reposting this blog from previous years since it is so meaningful to me this time of year. Please volunteer and donate during the winter holiday season AND keep those in need in mind during times of year when hunger is still rampant and many are not focused on helping. 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 Read more »
Ancestry, the family history and genealogy website, found in 2022 that 53% of Americans could not name all four grandparents. I am personally fortunate as my grandparents were part of my life while I was growing up and I can easily remember all their names. Guess nowadays this is less common and that leaves me sad. What are the ramifications of not knowing the names of all 4 grandparents? It may be more significant than you think. Psychologists Marshall Duke Read more »
I recently spoke to a group of wealth-creating parents with children of various ages. The workshop highlighted the opportunities to develop character, work ethic, a sense of responsibility and a stewardship mindset when kids are under 5 years old. Since many parents in attendance had been unaware of these early opportunities and how to harness them, many were starting later. Of course, beginning to instill these values with pre-teens or teens is still wonderful. When is the best time to Read more »
I’m going to describe three actual situations I experienced in the last month. All three spurred my thinking about the psychology and dynamics of wealth and I’m looking for feedback, reactions, thoughts of all kinds. Please – let it fly! Whatever direction this takes is great. I will follow up in a couple of weeks with some of my own thoughts, but for now I want to see where people take these. Please go to LinkedIn and join the conversation Read more »
This article by Business News Daily quotes one study which found that 68% of ultra-high-net-worth individuals (UHNW = $30 million or more) were self-made. The article refers to a second study by Fidelity Investments which found that 88% of all millionaires are self-made. In these studies, “self-made” means the wealth was not inherited. While this article focuses on how the UHNW wealth creators tend to get and stay rich (and their characteristics), I’m viewing it through a different lens – the lens of bias against inheritors, Read more »
I have been addicted to reading biographies for several years. In previous centuries, letter writing was so pervasive that we can now peer into the lives of interesting characters of the past through their own words and the words of others. I find biographies to be full of life wisdom and am struck by how similar human societies can be over the centuries—for better and for worse. Many of the books I have read recently are filled with lessons for Read more »
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 »
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 »
“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 »
“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 »
