In lieu of holiday cards this year Blum & Savlov, Family Business Consulting has made a donation to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (T.A.S.K.) Today was one of my volunteer days at T.A.S.K. and, as always, I leave feeling so fulfilled and rejuvenated. And it is not simply, as one might assume, a sense of appreciation based in the contrast between the comforts of my life and the deep challenges almost all the patrons of T.A.S.K. face. It is because Read more »
Wealth Psychology Consulting
The Power of Family Stories
My family had what you might call a non-traditional Thanksgiving this year. My wife and sons and I joined my parents and went to Aunt Lee’s home. She is 92 and recently broke her pelvis and was in significant pain. Plans unfolded at the last minute and she was unable to cook, so we ordered in some delicious Chinese food. Not a scrap of turkey to be found but we were all happy Aunt Lee was working hard on her Read more »
Equal or Fair: Part III
A recurring and extremely useful conversation I facilitate with the financially fortunate families I work with centers on the concepts of “equal” and “fair.” Earlier blogs addressed the interplay of these concepts in July 2011 and September 2011 and I share a more personal experience about them in this column. Recently, I had a conversation with my mom that exemplifies the need for families to discuss these ideas and the positive outcomes possible. I share the conversation with permission of my mom, dad and Read more »
Interdisciplinary Collaboration
My work with families sharing businesses and other forms of wealth across generations requires collaboration and learning across disciplines. No single profession has all that these families need to thrive across time, and every professional truly committed to serving these families looks beyond his or her own profession to learn more and be able to contribute as much as possible. The Family Firm Institute and Purposeful Planning Institute are organizations in which I am actively involved. Both are committed to bringing together professionals serving enterprising families to Read more »
Best of Intentions
Most parents have the best of intentions when it comes to their kids – yet some of the things parents do with a good heart backfire. I’ve seen well-intentioned parents buy new and expensive cars for their kids upon getting a driver’s license. They do it out of love, generosity, or sometimes a desire for the child to have things the parent never had or had to work very hard to obtain. Sometimes this works out well and sometimes it Read more »
Strawberry Fields
I recently came across a NY Times article about musicians fighting over who gets to play (and collect tips) at Strawberry Fields, the memorial to John Lennon in Central Park. The situation strongly reminded me of challenges my family clients face. It is so essential for families who share assets across generations to take the time to decide HOW they will share the rights and responsibilities that come with ownership, management and leadership. And, they still need to manage being a family in Read more »
Family Business Founder Blindness
Entrepreneurs tend to be motivated, intense, creative, assertive and self-assured. Very self-assured, in fact – particularly when they have been successful growing a company (or several) and achieving the financial rewards that come with it. They tend to trust their guts which makes some sense since their guts have often steered them the right way- at least in business. That is the rub. The skills and intuition related to starting and growing a business are frequently not the same as Read more »
Children of the 1%
I realize there may not be widespread empathy for the challenges and issues facing children of wealthy families, and especially children of the so-called 1% – those in the upper 1% of household wealth. However, I would like to give voice to an issue wealthy parents should be thinking about and finding ways to speak to their kids about: the strong bias against children of the wealthy. This does not necessarily mean only the ultra-high net worth or even high Read more »
The NFL, Values & Wealth
Chris Borland is considered “the most dangerous man in football” according to an ESPN article from last year. A San Francisco 49ers linebacker and former All-American at Wisconsin, Chris walked away from all of it at twenty-four years old. Why? He put his family and his health before money, fame and even the sport he loved and still loves. Fear of the cumulative effects of head trauma (his best guess is that he’s suffered thirty concussions) led him to assess what is Read more »
Family Business Learning Opportunity
I am writing to offer enterprising families a great opportunity for learning and development. The Family Firm Institute (“FFI”) is a professional association for educators, researchers, consultants and allied professionals serving family businesses and wealthy families. In a nutshell, families sharing ownership, management and leadership of shared assets across generations. FFI has study groups around the country and I am part of an active and vibrant group which alternates meeting between Philly and Princeton. Recently we decided to try something new and we invited a Read more »