Having an estate plan is essential when it comes to protecting your assets and ensuring your legacy. In this easy-to-understand introduction, learn the ABCs of estate planning and discover what makes up a will, a living trust, and much more.
A private family trust company (PTC) often serves as an excellent governance framework and corporate structure for a virtual family office (VFO) by providing integrated, holistic oversight of fiduciary, investment, tax, philanthropic, governance, and other activity. Learn more about how and why families choose to form a VFO around their PTC, the co...
Understanding the development of family leaders plays an important role as new generations emerge. In this episode, Richard Joyner discusses the path it takes to become a family leader and how to develop the skills and experiences needed for success.
This Passages guide is part one of a two-part series on divorce and division in family philanthropy, featuring tips for what board and staff members can do to prepare and cope. This first part includes case studies on family foundations that have navigated divorce, questions to consider when developing board policies, and perspectives on ...
This Passages is part two of a two-part series on divorce and division in family philanthropy, featuring tips for what board and staff can do to plan ahead for potential change. The second part includes stories and advice from those who have been through, or advised, families as they divided their philanthropy. Learn more by reading part one, Br...
Talking about wealth is every bit as important as creating a technical wealth plan—if not more so. Preparing a wealth transfer plan without helping your loved ones understand how to manage those assets in their own lives leaves the true process of sharing wealth incomplete and subject to real, but avoidable, risks. In this guide, you’ll find ways t...
Decision making for a family enterprise is complicated and there is typically not an absolute right or wrong answer. Even when a family is on board with a shared vision of what they want to accomplish with their wealth, how do you bring them together to make the decisions needed to get there? Following six recommended steps, a family enterprise can...
Wealth coaching is essentially the study of one’s relationship with money and wealth. We all have a relationship with money, and through money messages that we learned at an early age, this relationship guides the majority of behaviors throughout our lives. Individuals and families who engage wealth coaches can benefit enormously across a bro...
Family governance need not be an oxymoron. A conscious family governance system can help create an efficient and rewarding means of ensuring the family enterprise’s viability for generations to come. Therefore, any family enterprise that seeks to maintain and grow its wealth—financial, human, social, and intellectual—should consider creating a...
The results of the U.S. Family Business Survey findings brought out the importance of being prepared to compete in a far more digital economy. Family businesses have built up trust among loyal employees and their ownership group. So how to turn values like loyalty and hard work into a multi-generational success story? There are four moves ahea...
For insights on integrated wealth planning, this issue of The Advisor presents a view from the top with Joe Kahn, The New York Times Managing Editor, the impact of globalization 2.0, and the U.S. presidential election 2016 and the candidates’ tax platforms. Also in this issue are the best practices in providing age-appropriate transparency wh...
Most of the time when families gather, the focus is purely social—reconnecting, reminiscing, and “rest and relaxation” as a group. Occasionally, family members may also gather for limited financial management tasks, such as settling a loved one’s estate, or planning for how to manage shared assets such as land or a family va...
Over the past decade, matriarchs and patriarchs of successful families have been shifting their focus from their children to a broader group of individuals, such as grandchildren, siblings, and nieces. Often, they choose to create family banks, which are typically trusts that are funded to help individuals pursue entrepreneurial opportunities, vent...
Families blessed with significant financial resources can make an amazing and long-lasting impact on the world. But that wealth can also lead to disagreements, grudges, and hurt feelings. Trying to hide from the conflict does not make it go away. The best thing a family can do is create a culture of open, honest conversation about the impact their ...
National Center for Family Philanthropy recently spoke with Bill Leighty about how he’s helped keep the Leighty Foundation’s memories alive by recording its history. While many foundations use external production companies, Bill created his family’s legacy videos himself—using his own technological know-how, video equip...