What is Family Legacy Planning?

Holistic wealth management at its finest combines facets of financial, tax, and estate planning, where all relevant parties work collaboratively to efficiently and effectively accomplish the life and legacy goals of shared clients.

Communication is a key part of all successful long-term relationships. Therefore, it should come as no surprise that communication across professional partnerships is prudent and paramount. This same principal applies to families.

Though the vast majority of our clients have made the necessary arrangements for their assets to pass smoothly to the intended beneficiaries, we often hear that they have not communicated those wishes with the next generation. These conversations can be challenging to navigate as most people feel uncomfortable talking about money; BUT they do not have to be…

Most of us agree that people and relationships are far more valuable assets than money. If we reframe the conversation to start with people, values, and vision, the financial component becomes far less daunting to address and instead, simply becomes one of a variety of tools and resources we utilize to protect the people we care about and the principals we wish to perpetuate.

Family legacy planning considers how a family is communicating, how you are educating beneficiaries on investment and wealth concepts, and how you are preparing family members for future roles and responsibilities.

Creating or perpetuating a successful family legacy enables you to pass wealth, knowledge, and/or other resources across multiple generations to leave a lasting impact on your family and/or society. Once again, communication among family members is critical to efficacy.

How do you know if you can benefit from family legacy planning? Consider the following scenarios:

• You have carefully prepared your legal documents and organized your accounts, but you worry that your spouse or partner will struggle to manage if you predecease them.
• You have tried to educate your children about investing but are worried they may not have absorbed the information or are not prepared to manage their inheritance.
• You believe you have thought through all aspects of your planning but would like to double-check your approach.
• You want to communicate your plans to beneficiaries but are not sure how to approach it without revealing the amount of your wealth.
• You have appointed your child to play an official role (executor or power of attorney) but have not explained how to fulfill the responsibilities of that role to the designated person.
• You are committed to charitable giving and would like your children and grandchildren to continue this legacy but are not sure how to make that plan happen.

If you can relate to any of the above scenarios, you should explore family legacy planning.

Here at Weiss Wealth Strategies (WWS), we have a deep team of knowledgeable individuals that offers resources and services to support your comprehensive planning and proactively strategize for any of the above scenarios.

Our process:

• We start with a consult call to better understand your current family situation, planning you have done, and any questions or concerns. Ideally for couples, we prefer to have both spouses involved.
• We then have a “purpose and preparedness” discussion. We lead spouses, partners or individuals through a preparation conversation depicting their future vision based on values, brainstorming answers to common questions about wealth transfer, and identifying any gaps in logistical preparation. We want family members to be prepared in an emergency.
• The next step is investor education. Beneficiaries need to understand foundational investment and wealth management principles so they can make sound financial decisions. We provide a variety of education formats and topics include budgeting, investing, having a smart “money mindset”, estate planning, and more.
• Once the heads of household have determined their vision and plan for the future, it can be helpful to have a family meeting to discuss high-level parameters of the plan and hear each other’s perspectives. This meeting is an effective way to introduce the conversation around wealth transfer, family values, and next steps for family preparation. Regular family meetings (i.e., annually or every two years) provide a natural mechanism for this ongoing communication and planning, and we often help facilitate that.

Our goal at WWS is to help families create a solid decision-making infrastructure so meetings endure over time and become a natural part of a family’s culture. Engage our team today and let us help you create the legacy you wish to leave for your family, tomorrow and beyond.

-Gary Weiss, January 2025