Sudden wealth is not something that happens only to the young founders of a social network. It can happen to elderly couples who have spent their lives building a business. It can happen to a chief executive receiving multi-million dollar dividends or vested options, a middle class young man newly married into a family of wealth, a newly divorced w...
One of the greatest concerns among wealthy parents is that the family’s great fortune might inadvertently lead to misfortune for their children. Raising responsible children in affluence is a life-long task requiring patience and persistence. Like learning to read, financial literacy is a process that is best started in early childhood. Teachable m...
This case study looks at four family members aged 16-23 encouraged by their father to engage more deeply in the family's philanthopy. The report outlines the process the family members went through and lists seven key success factors.
The windfall of inherited wealth often comes with feelings of guilt and elation, isolation and confusion. No wonder; when the financial gain is due to the loss of a loved one’s life, it feels crass to be excited about the opportunities an inheritance affords. Learning to be comfortable with inherited wealth is a process, a process of moving through...
There is the age old stigma that wealth can bring or buy happiness. But, we hear it time and time again: money doesn’t buy happiness. The lack thereof may create unhappiness, but the presence of wealth does not necessarily have the opposite effect. Wealth does not create happiness nor does it provide the meaning of life. It may provide opport...
Taking time to tell family stories, and finding interesting ways to record them for subsequent generations, can serve as a foundation for family members to bond and identify with each other. Stories can engender in family members an appreciation for their own unique “differentness” of identity from those outside of the family. This shared sense of ...
While it is true that having money can create great opportunities, it can make some people feel awkward and harbor deep feelings of regret and shame. Those feelings can dramatically influence wealth management decisions, affecting both the inheritors and wealth creators. When issues surrounding wealth as a burden go unrecognized, they can be magnif...
Communication is found to be the most important factor for cohesion in families and sustainability of family wealth. As one of the key tenets to happy, healthy, and thriving families, it is essential for family members to dedicate the effort necessary to become better communicators. Practicing effective communications—including being open and ...
Case management, a new concept in the addiction and behavioral health field, can significantly increase the likelihood of sustained recovery for individuals who suffer from chronic diseases such as alcoholism, drug dependence, depression and other addictive and behavioral disorders.
Supportive and knowledgeable family members can be very influential in supporting a loved one’s recovery from addiction. With the help of a trusted addiction counselor, families can become “positive enablers” by developing a long-term recovery management plan, looking for effective treatment and identifying sources of leverage for...
Creating an authentic life is a challenge in and of itself. Add family to the mix and this challenge becomes more complex and difficult. Whether you are the parent or the adult child in your family, you play a role in creating an environment of authenticity. Creating such an environment early is critical to achieving open and honest communication l...
For family members working in the business, the area of compensation overlaps with contentious considerations of fairness, equality, performance-management and long term engagement. This artcle itemises how families have approached this issue, and advocates some pathways to avoid disharmony.
When families feud, nobody wins. What causes reasonable human beings to defy the advice of trusted advisors and lose sight of the costs of family fighting, not only in terms of money but vital family relationships and peace of mind?
Few problems are as vexing and seemingly impossible to resolve for families, advisors and trustees as the active alcoholic or addict, particularly those who continue to use after treatment. While low recovery rates for treatment and subsequent relapse may be understandable in the aggregate, on the individual level the experience is frustrating and ...
One of the things we’ve learned is that a family contract can be a valuable tool to help families build trust and avoid conflicts. We’ve also found that for a contract to work well, everyone who signs the contract should have a say in how the contract is written. That doesn’t mean you will get everything you want and, as you proba...