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 it).
DON’T: “Someday this will all be yours!” Do you really know your four-year-old will have the interest and aptitude to take over the business one day? This kind of talk sets the stage for entitlement and, often, pain and disappointment because the child does not eventually earn and get the chance to lead or because they are given the chance and are woefully unqualified.
DO: “Look at this great business grandma and grandpa built. They worked really hard to build it, and mom and I worked super hard to try and make it better. If you want to work here one day, that would be great. You will need to work hard, learn all about it and then show us you can make it even better.”
A four-year-old has not even started elementary school and none of this involved “money” per se. As children grow and develop there are appropriate conversations and family exercises along the way, and plenty of time before the senior generation needs to be more money-specific.These early steps set the stage for later money conversations.
Jeff’s Purposeful Legacy Family Project walks families through this process in a fun, enlightening and engaging way.
Here is a blog post by Jane about starting the family conversation about wealth transfer; this post triggered the interview/discussion between Jane and Jeff.