Estate Planning in the Age of Millennials

Technology has given us greater control in many areas of our lives, from managing our health to planning vacations on the fly. Yet some industries, including that of financial services, have been slow to utilize digital tools or encourage their clients to do so. This has exacerbated the already significant challenges around estate planning, most notably the generation gap among older principals and their millennial and GenX heirs. The younger generations receive and process information differently; they also prefer to communicate in different ways. If you are still relying on reports from your financial advisor, know this: your children and grandchildren will one day be using such tools to manage your estate, especially if it saves them a phone call to said advisor. Meeting them where they stand now can help them avoid pitfalls, and possibly financial ruin, in…

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Preserving Your Legacy & Your Relationship with Your Children

Ask anyone about their financial goals and they will likely tell you that family security tops the list. It stands to reason, then, that HNW individuals have nothing to worry about. Unfortunately, this is far from true, especially if your definition of “security” includes the bond among your children.  In fact, according to this twenty-year study, seventy percent of estate plans for well-to-do families “fail,” meaning they result in financial losses and the breakdown of relationships among the heirs. Here are some tips to keep your family intact while staying true to your vision, while preserving your legacy. Respect Their Autonomy. For better or worse, you had your chance to raise your children. Conditioning their inheritance upon specific life choices (i.e. that they get married or join the family business) puts them in the terrible position of having to…

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Obstacles to a Balanced Lifestyle & Ways to Overcome Them

Everyone, no matter how organized they are, has to work at maintaining a healthy lifestyle. For those who have attained a certain measure of success, this includes managing the needs of hundreds or even thousands of people in their personal and professional spheres. It feels good to be the go-to person in your business and/or family, but as fashion designer Joseph Abboud said, “You cannot be all things to all people.”  Attempting to take care of everything won’t help others – what it will do is leave you feeling depleted and probably resentful as well.  Here are some common impediments to achieving a balanced lifestyle and tips to overcome them. Tips to a Balanced Lifestyle: You spread yourself too thin. Do your employees come to you at all hours for decisions they should be able to make themselves? Do…

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