I was born in 1966 to a mom who would have been a hippie or academic if she did not get married at 18 and start having kids so early. My mom was passionate about her fight against oppression in all forms and impressed upon my sisters and me the importance of social equity for all regardless of race. The institution of slavery and its antithesis embodied in the Civil Rights movement, made it easy for a young kid like Read more »
Family Business Minute Blog
Parenting as Governance
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 »
NY Times Quote
I’m thankful to Paul Sullivan of the NY Times for taking interest in my work and interviewing me for his December 29th Wealth Matters column, “Keeping the Family Tree Alive.” I’ve been fortunate in my career to have worked with a wide range of interesting families from very poor and even homeless, to extremely wealthy. One of my favorite questions for wealthy families struggling with a particular challenge is, “How would this be different if you were poor?” That question goes to the heart of big decisions by removing money Read more »
Happy Holidays – Make an Impact!
Friends and Colleagues – Happy Holidays and Wishing You a Great New Year!!! A donation has been made to the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen (T.A.S.K.) in lieu of cards or gifts to our friends and colleagues. I’m coming up on my 10th year of volunteering at T.A.S.K. and it continues to be inspiring and energizing. The Patrons struggle to get by in a city bereft of opportunity and overwhelmed by violence, drugs, and desperation. Consistently, I am impressed by the strong ties that bind Read more »
Money Ain’t Everything
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
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
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 »
NY City Family Enterprise Center (NYCFEC)
I’m excited to share a new family business educational program in the greater New York City area: New York City Family Enterprise Center ( NYCFEC ). This fall, NYCFEC will open its doors with the 2017 Family Business Day on Friday, September 15th. This will be followed by five, half-day, in-depth NYCFEC Elective courses and I’ll be starting off at the “very beginning” by presenting: Raising Family Business Children (0-14 years of age) . I’m a firm believer that it is never too early to develop your family with intention. If you are part of a family enterprise in Read more »
Wealthism
Last week I was in Colorado presenting at the Annual Rendezvous of the Purposeful Planning Institute . This is a great organization where a wide variety of professionals meet to develop and share best practices for enlightened planning around the broadest definition of wealth (way more than money). My colleague and friend Kristen Heaney and I developed a breakout session about wealthism. Joanie Bronfman originally coined the term “wealthism” in her 1987 doctoral dissertation at Brandeis University; Merriam-Webster defines an “ism” as, “an oppressive and especially discriminatory attitude or Read more »
A Candy Heir, the NHL and Next-Gen Passion
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 »