- “Consider, however, estate planning. If there is one area of your life where you really want to hit the bulls-eye, it’s here. Of course, we try to share our dreams, our hopes, and our most important values with those we love while we are alive, but we also have an instinctive desire to provide for our families after we’re gone. We want to leave a legacy that provides meaning, not just money. Plus, we want to know that our lives meant something, that in our passage through this world, we made a difference.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 5-6
- “Psychologists say it is not death we fear so much. It is insignificance. The idea that, at the end of the day, our lives didn’t amount to all that much. That we didn’t’ set ripples in motion in the lives of our families, friends, and neighbors that would carry our accomplishments and our values on for generations.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 6
- “Pulitzer-Prize-winning author Ernest Becker said, “This is mankind’s age-old dilemma; in death what man fears isn’t extinction, but extinction without significance. Man wants to know that somehow his life has counted, that he’s left a trace that has meaning. Its effects must remain alive in eternity in some way.”” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 149
- “As investor Warren Buffet said, “The perfect inheritance is enough money so that they would feel they could do anything, but not so much that they could do nothing.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 171
- “Traditional planning asks ‘Who gets the money that’s leftover after taxes, legal fees, and administrative costs are paid?’ The Heritage Process asks, ‘How can we develop a plan that will pass on the family’s true wealth, its traditions, values, morals, and virtues, using the material wealth of the family as a tool to secure those values for generations to come?’” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 172
- “Traditional planning counts the assets and divides and distributes the ‘spoils’ according to the language of the Will. Heritage planning guides people to discover what they have, and about what they care about, to understand how their legacy will affect inheritors, to define the legacy they want to leave, and to determine how they can leave a meaningful legacy and implement their vision statement.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 172
- “People who create traditional estate plans focus on how much money each inheritor should receive. Those who craft their plans on a foundation of values reflect on what money has meant to them, and what meaning they want to have for their children.” Beating the Midas Curse, by Perry L. Cochell and Rodney C. Zeeb, Page 172
- “Legacy is a powerful tool that plays out in family giving. Where Mom and Dad have been driving the philanthropic activities, they look to their children when it comes to how that legacy will be continued. In the end, we all want to believe that our lives have mattered, and we will leave behind a footprint. And why not leave our legacy in the hands of those who knew and loved us the most – our family?” NCFP, “The Value of Family in Philanthropy
- “The choice to involve one’s family in philanthropy is grounded in legacy.” NCFP, “The Value of Family in Philanthropy
- “Those motivated by legacy seek to influence the future. Donors may want to be remembered for more than financial success. Their philanthropy is their public commitment to making a better world. Other legacy donors want to create a family culture of generosity and public service. They seek to pass down values as well as resources to the next generation. Having their family involved in philanthropy is deeply meaningful to them.” “YOURPHILANTHROPYROADMAP” ROCKEFELLER PHILANTHROPY ADVISORS
- Life Transition Options: a. “Keep on doing what I already do well, but change the environment.b. Change the work, but stay in the same environment. c. Turn an avocation into a new career.d. Double-track (or even triple-track) in parallel careers (not hobbies).e. Keep on doing what I am doing even past retirement age.” Peter Drucker, Halftime.
- “According to Age Wave research, there are four key pillars of legacy: 1. Values and life lessons 2. Instructions and wishes to be fulfilled 3. Personal possessions of emotional value 4. Financial assets or real estate” IDENTITY AND THE ADULT LIFECYCLE IN LEGACY PLANNING. Assignment 7 of the CAP Designation.Phil Cubeta, CLU®, ChFC®, MSFS, CAP®Sallie B. and William B. Wallace Chair in PhilanthropyThe American College for Financial Services
- “You live as long as anyone speaks your name.” – American Indian saying
- “Baby Boomer Yearnings: 1. Values, not Valuables: uncomfortable discussing inheritance out of context; wish to discuss family traditions &history, sharing stories, values, hopes. 2. Legacy Gap: talking about inheritance but not in a meaningful or productive way.3. Ideal Legacy Advisor: The top qualities both generations look for in a legacy advisor: honesty, trustworthiness, compassion, a good listener, and strong communicator.”- 2,267 boomers and their elders surveyed, Allianz, 2005, with Ken Dychtwald
- “Monica McGoldrick writes about the priority of family stories in her book, You Can Go Home Again: Reconnecting with your family.’We are born not just into our family, but into our family’s stories, which both nourish and sometimes cripple us. And when we die, the stories of our lives become part of our family’s web of meaning. Family stories tend to be told to remind members of the family’s cherished beliefs. We sing of the heroes and even the villains whose daring the family admires. Taping or writing down the stories of older family members can bring a richness to our search for perspective on family that cannot be achieved in any other way.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 2-3
- “Family philanthropy is a powerful teaching tool that provides a safe environment in which your children can learn about money management and working as part of a team. Moreover, many families want to leave a legacy of meaning in addition to their financial wealth. Philanthropy can function as an important vehicle for articulation core values, providing a meaningful family legacy, and giving your children (and grandchildren) a competency experience. A strategic philanthropy program for family members enhances their human, intellectual, and social capital.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 9
- “In every culture that I’ve encountered-in China, Latin America, and Europe, for example-I run into the same proverb. In China, rice paddy to rice paddy; in Ireland, clogs to clogs. It appears that financial wealth is destined to disappear in three or four generations. The proverb means that the first generation makes the money, the second generation preserves it, the third generation spends it, and the fourth generation must re-create it. I prefer the rice paddy idiom; for example, imagine a poor couple in China wearing torn clothing. They pull rice every day and make a financial fortune. They don’t leave their home or change their way of life. The second generation moves to the city joins the opera board and become significant members of society. The third generation, having no experience of work, spends the money, and the fourth generation goes back to working in the rice paddy.” Wealth in Families Third Edition (Charles W. Collier) Page 35-36
- “I had been raised with resiliency and the ability to regroup. Whenever I suffered a setback, I put my life in perspective: I wasn’t a starving peasant in Darfur. I didn’t have cancer. Instead, I lived in the free, democratic, and prosperous United States in the most technologically advanced time in history. There is, therefore, no excuse but to keep trying to make a difference in the world.” The Agent: My 40-Year Career Making Deals and Changing the Game (Steinberg, Leigh; Arkush, Michael)–page 140