Personal Legacy Advisors, LLC

Serving affluent clients in deeper ways

susan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 18:02:41 +0000

A good article just out from Financial Planning News outlines the opportunity that the financial crisis offers for financial advisors to broaden and personalize their relationships with their affluent clients. Many advisors report that The Wealth of Your Life guidebook on creating an ethical will is a helpful prop for easing into conversations with clients about legacy, values, purpose and intergenerational relationships. The article begins “…as we slowly begin to see the light at the end of this very dark and stormy tunnel, everything looks different. The wealthiest clients don’t want the same things. They’re more frightened — and much more aware — than they were before. And there may even be wealthy prospects walking in off the street that are disappointed by their previous advisors.

The question is: Do you know what these clients want now? Do you know what they’re afraid of? Do you know why those wealthy prospects were disappointed by their former advisors? Do you know what they want to see you do differently?

If your answer is “I’m not sure” to most of these questions, there’s good reason: The affluent mind has changed. What worked before doesn’t anymore. High net worth individuals are looking at details they never bothered to notice before. They’re looking for a connection they didn’t think they could ever have with their advisor. They are the new affluent mind.” Read the entire article

Dr. Dale Atkins highlights Ethical Will guide by Susan Turnbull

susan — Mon, 08 Mar 2010 01:32:37 +0000

Today Show commentator and author of Sanity Savors: Tips for Women to Lead a Balanced Life, highlighted ethical wills in her March web column and recommended The Wealth of Your Life as a useful guide.

Another kind of Oscar list: Positive psychology movie awards

susan — Sun, 07 Mar 2010 23:57:43 +0000

In his workshops for therapists and coaches, Ryan Niemiec, Psy.D., likes to use movie clips to illustrate character strengths. In honor of the Oscars, he has put together a list of his top 10 for 2009. Some are well known, others more obscure, but they all look great. Read his descriptions.

How to talk to your parents about their estate plan

susan — Thu, 04 Mar 2010 21:45:09 +0000

Hurt feelings and misunderstandings last forever if children are surprised by decisions their parents made for their estate plan and never explained before death. There are some good examples in this article in yesterday’s New York Times about the benefits, and challenges, of intergenerational conversations covering topics like uneven distribution of assets or a decision to make a large charitable bequest. For those that find conversation difficult, or would want to reinforce a conversation with a written explanation, an ethical will is an excellent tool to use to ensure complete understanding of intent.

Card from Mom to her soldier son

susan — Wed, 03 Mar 2010 17:21:37 +0000

A great story came across my desk this morning, about the impact of a mother’s words on her son in the field. Home, he pulls out the card she sent him, now stained with mud. “It was tough,” he tells her. “I felt myself slipping into depression. At night when I couldn’t sleep and wondered how I would go on, I would reach into that pocket of my combat jacket and pull out your card, unfold it and read your message. Those words of pride and encouragement were what would lift me out of my funk….unfortunately, we often were sleeping in mud along the delta and that is where I picked up all that reddish brown mud.”

The story was shared by attorney John Warnick, a passionate advocate of incorporating personal, emotional language into the body of trust documents. Warnick comments on the story: “So in this touching story of a mother’s thoughtfulness and words of encouragement, we learn to never underestimate the power of a card or note. “ That’s exactly why people create an ethical will.

No such thing as a nuetral question

susan — Tue, 02 Mar 2010 17:41:36 +0000

Appreciative Inquiry (AI) is a branch of positive psychology that focuses on creating the framework for conversations that pull people forward into insightful, positive terrain. Ed Jacobson is a very known in AI circles and I feel very fortunate to be part of a group that will be meeting with him once a month for the next 6 months. AI’s applicability to the practice of creating ethical wills and other personal legacy document is obvious – and lovely. One of the principles of AI is that the questions one poses to oneself or to others are not neutral. The way a question is framed starts a process that has the power to start what is either a positive or negative cycle. Consider the difference: “What are we going to do about this terrible problem?” vs. “What is the best outcome we can envision?”

Enlist children and grandchildren to encourage the older generation to create an ethical will

susan — Mon, 01 Mar 2010 18:03:55 +0000

One of the most common mental obstacles that people face when they consider writing an ethical will is the voice in their heads that says, “I wouldn’t want to presume that anyone is interested in what I might have to say. It might seem like I am bragging or drawing too much attention to myself. And I certainly don’t want to come across as having all the answers or as trying to be controlling.”

This is a prevalent attitude, especially in the so-called “Greatest Generation” who bless them, were taught to be modest. But ask their children if they’d like something from their parents that reflected their life experiences and you can bet that most of those children would say, “Yes!” Advisors who have relationships with more than one generation of a family are in great position of being able to bring up the idea of a legacy document and plant a seed that has a good chance of taking root when natural modesty is countered with proof of genuine interest from younger generations.

What are the missing conversations?

susan — Fri, 26 Feb 2010 17:24:49 +0000

This excellent question was posed to me today by an executive in philanthropic services. It was how he framed the opportunity that advisors have to discuss with their clients the gaps in communication that might exist within their families, or with their successors or trustees. It was reminder again of the critical role of the advisor to point out where thorough communication and full understanding of intent can make a tremendous positive difference during and after life. Tools to do that: the ethical will, expression of donor intent, letters of wishes for trustees.

Frank Purdue’s Ethical Will highlighted

susan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 21:31:15 +0000

Biography on CNBC is airing a show about Perdue Farms founder Frank Purdue today at 2 pm EST. One of the primary ways they are promoting this segment is by displaying the ethical will he wrote for his grandchildren. Read it here.

The mythic lessons of sports

susan — Mon, 15 Feb 2010 16:36:27 +0000

Canadian gold medalist in moguls Alexandre Bilodeau is all over the news today. Its not only because he won Canada’s first home turf gold medal in history, but because everyone loves the story about the relationship between Alex and his older brother Frederick, disabled with cerebral palsy. Every TV channel shows footage of Frederick standing at the bottom of the mogul hill shouting and pumping his arms in jubilation, a young man who was never expected to walk and whose determination Alex says fueled his own. There was a great article in the Vancouver Sun today reflects on why sport matters: because it offers mythic lessons in the great themes of life.