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Sidney Reso, president of Exxon Company International, was kidnapped from the driveway of his home and ultimately murdered in 1992. Edward Lampert, one of the nation’s wealthiest investors, was kidnapped in the parking garage of his offices in 2003 and was released after promising $5 million to his kidnappers. These are only a few examples, but events such as these have led to an increased use of executive protection services by wealthy families in order to better protect and safeguard themselves, their loved ones, and their property.

The low interest rate environment presents a number of opportunities to advantageously move assets between family members, including the currently popular practice of intra-family lending. It may seem as if lending within the family can be a casual affair, but those who explore the option should be sure they are taking the right steps to truly create a “win-win” scenarioDo it by the bookInvestigate creative loan optionsMake the most of existing trusts

“The cobbler’s children have no shoes,” refers to the phenomena where people who are successful at doing something spend so much time on their own professions that they neglect to take care of business close to home. In the folktale, the cobbler’s children had holes in their shoes because he was so busy repairing the shoes of other people that he neglected his own children, writes Robert Jordan, Jr., CEO of Video Family Biographies.

Families experience significant and sometimes difficult changes over the years as elders pass on and new family members grow into leadership roles. What worked for a two-generation family with five members may not work when the family reaches the fourth generation and now involves multiple households with varying wealth structures.

Family businesses are an essential source of prosperity and stability to both our global economy and our society. The characteristics and practices of large, long-lived family businesses serve not only as a model for other family businesses but also for all companies that aspire to maintain an entrepreneurial spirit, innovate and maintain growth. The global survey presented in this report focuses on seven success factors for family businesses, including succession, women in leadership, governance, communication and more.

There are no easy answers when it comes to prenuptial agreements, but understanding the fundamentals will help ensure that the agreement is ultimately fair to all parties, achieves the family’s objectives, and will withstand any future challenge. This article provides tips, advice and a number of options when it comes to setting up a prenuptial agreement.

Some believe you must sacrifice family relationships for success in a family business. But in fact, focus on the family doesn’t drain business success — it enhances it.

It is easy to understand why the American underclass has almost insurmountable obstacles to living the American Dream. What may not be so obvious is how difficult it may be for the wealth inheritor to live the American Dream.