Let's start with questions.

In getting together with a client, recently, we spoke to him about estate planning issues, especially as they relate to his investment account. He was quite happy with the progress, until we told him it would all soon be lost. There was shock in his expression, so we immediately explained the rationale was not based on the shakiness of his investments, but rather that the money would soon go to his three children, none of whom had the slightest idea of how the money should be handled and were all living a rather free spending lifestyle. He understood quickly that his children and perhaps the grandchildren needed some “coaching” that they were not getting in school or in their careers.

This story points out the importance of learning the right “context” for the wealth that is being built by our investing clients. There are at least 3 phases. There is the earning and building phase for wealth, the management and budgeting of expenses to retain the estate, and finally, the passing along of money and responsibility to the next generation and other beneficiaries. We generally come into the picture after wealth has been accumulated, and typically before the passing of the estate is at hand. In the middle is when much of the planning and preparation needs to take place. This is often a missing link in the process and one that we are well equipped to provide for our clients.

The elements include providing sources (books, tapes, games, articles) that can be used at an age/appropriate time to enhance the understanding, vocabulary, and application of investment concepts and tools. Face-to-face discussions and/or lectures can help build the confidence of participants and open many new opportunities for both building of wealth and stewardship of what has been passed along from earlier generations. The next 2 decades will witness the most significant transfer of wealth between generations in history. There will be many mistakes and opportunities between changing goals and objectives, changing income and estate tax laws, and managing the personal relationships and expectations in nuclear families and extended clans. Making sense of the increasingly complicated and fast changing climate of investing can bring a calm and deliberate direction to the often haphazard situations we encounter in many situations;

1. Budgeting
2. Investment Diversification/understanding correlations of investments
3. Tax benefits of different investment strategies and classes of investments
4. Savings strategies
5. Non-traditional asset classes
6. Estate planning
7. Taking account of insurance