In almost twenty years of working for us they have acted with honesty and integrity as one of our trusted advisers. We are always treated as important and nothing is too much trouble
Why Legacy Plan?
Knowing you have done the best you can for your family is a landmark achievement..
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Steve Jobs died a billionaire at 56 of Pancreatic Cancer and here are some of his last words:"I reached the pinnacle of success in the business world. In others’ eyes my life is an epitome of success...
War Doesn’t Wait For The Afternoon
The largest transfer of wealth in human history is underway and it’s astonishing how few are addressing the issues in any meaningful way
There’s no shortage of press coverage of affluent families whose legacy has ended up in family disputes, or in litigation among family members
Done properly, it is possible to pass on wealth in ways that breed family harmony and unity and allow families to thrive for generations..
Over more than 30 years we’ve learned that generating wealth requires one set of skills and transferring it requires another
As you’re reading this we’ll assume you’ve already mastered the wealth creation skills
Now you need to lead, be a role model, educate and prepare your family for how to handle your wealth in ways that carry forward the core values that you and your family hold dear to ensure family unity across future generations
What is wealth?
Most people think of wealth as assets but it’s more than that, it includes family resources too
There are two distinct and interdependent aspects. There’s financial assets, and there’s family unity and harmony
Traditional focus is just on the transfer of financial assets but without preparing the beneficiaries to receive the assets, manage the wealth and secure family unity, the task is only partly complete..
Start With ‘Who Is Family?’
The greatest threat to successful wealth transfer is that of a poorly prepared family prior to transference
As leader(s) of your family, your legacy depends on your ability and inclination to learn the tools of successful families who have done this before
Check out this story of Eric, and see if it resonates with you:
‘Eric grew up in 1960’s England, in a broken family, back in the time when divorce was frowned on. At school he was ridiculed for being a ‘bastard’, so he became one
Numbers were his thing. He was a fearless risk taker, with boundless energy, naked ambition and unrivalled determination. Exactly the ingredients required for success
He risked everything for a dream that nobody but him saw
Once married, Eric committed to providing for his children all the things he never had. His wife, Marion, shared his ambition, until she didn’t
He was blind to the impact that putting work and business before family would have on Marion and their children, Laura and Hugo
While he was generating wealth for his family , it never crossed his mind that he could destroy it
He ‘should’ve stayed connected with his family’ and ‘created family values’ and ‘prepared his children’, but he didn’t
Eric ended up with entitled children, who had a distant relationship with their father, except when they needed something
The more complicated his business became, the more time he needed to spend in it, and on it. They fought, he lost. Family life suffered, a new life discovered his wife, and her new partner is now a very wealthy woman
On a positive note, Eric’s testicle retrieval operation went well..!
His life was over, but it hadn’t ended. He realised he’d enabled his wife, and her wife, and his kids, to have everything they ever wanted, just not with him
Still bitter when he died, Eric left his half of his lifetime’s work to charity
His family are still contesting his Will..’
Successful transfers of wealth rely on proactive, long-range strategy, tax and structure planning with input from across the professions..
Mum and Dad need to ask:
As family leaders, how confident are you that the wealth you have worked all your life to create, will be a force for good in your family, maintaining family harmony and unity, and not its demise.?
Kids need to ask:
When you inherit all that money from your parents, how sure are you that you have the skills necessary skills to ensure that Mum and Dad’s legacy will survive your generation, and the next.?
The future of your wealth is on our minds
Generating wealth requires one set of skills, transferring it requires another set completely
In our experience, many family members learn of their role when the lawyer reads the Will, after the head of the family has died. Almost all are totally unprepared and spend years learning the job, and without a mentor
Family and friends try to help but lack the competences required to manage new wealth, and may have their own motivations, so end up making the situation worse
Knowing what you don’t know is more useful than being brilliant. Most people spend their lives wrestling with the consequences of poor decisions..
You can put lipstick on a pig and call him Monique, but he’s still a pig
Given two thirds of the world’s wealth is ‘new money’ it’s unlikely Mum and Dad have been through this process before, so they likely can’t provide meaningful input, however well-intentioned
Remember, when mum and dad die, all their skills die too. Their brilliance, their cleverness, their indispensability, all die when they do
All too often, beneficiaries lose their wealth through foolish expenditure, bad investments, lack of attention, incompetence, family feuding, divorce, litigation
Kids are in a lonely place if they’re unprepared, but at least they can afford a lot of sand in which to put their heads!
Sustainable planning for discerning clients
The more challenging the planning, the less any individual, perspective or system can hope to grasp it, much less solve it
We’ve created a team of fully qualified professionals who are thoroughly dedicated and possess a vast range of skills, insight and imagination
Collaboration is particularly relevant in the complex world of legacy planning, not just at outset, but as rules, regulations and legislation change and, most importantly, when you die..
Let’s fix the future
To achieve family unity requires well-crafted processes and tools. Start by deciding who is family (is it just bloodline, or blended family, in the UK or beyond, etc?) then involve them in your planning
To succeed you’ll need honest communication and collaboration as any lack of transparency likely will lead to resentment..
I’m reviewing the situation. I think I’d better think it out again
– Fagan, from ‘Oliver’
Illegitimi nil carborundum
When you’ve worked your entire life to build your legacy it makes total sense to take the necessary steps to ensure it will last for generations
Wealthy Brits have been doing this since the Crusades (c1275 AD) and it works. We work with them, we know how it’s done, and we should be working for you, too..
What our clients say
In almost twenty years of working for us they have acted with honesty and integrity as one of our trusted advisers. We are always treated as important and nothing is too much trouble
John Reilly, Managing Director
John Reilly (Civil Engineering) Ltd
- 5
Clients we work with
Here’s what you need to do
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Invest 60 minutes that could save 40% Inheritance Tax – you do the maths.!