Generational Wealth

Family Wealth and Inheritance

What is Family Wealth?

Family wealth includes more than money. It also includes your family story and values. It will be difficult for children to appreciate, preserve, and add to the family wealth if they do not feel a connection to it. The first step is for you, yourself, to wrap your arms around the importance of what you want to pass to your heirs and to define the role money plays in your life. For most of us, money is not the goal. Rather, security, quality time spent with family and friends, and/or helping others may be the end goal and money is a tool to help us achieve these things. Family members being able to share their lives in a positive way among many generations is what family wealth is all about.

You received an inheritance, now what?

Receiving an inhertiance is often frought with a lot of emotion: sadness over loosing a loved one, excitement over what to do with newfound wealth, and concern over using it wisely.

At Atlas, we have the experience to help you navigate through these tricky waters and purpose the money in ways that help you to meet your financial goals.

First Steps

1. Gather all relevant documents
2. Determine the structure of the inheritance (personal account, retirement account, or trust)
3. Make sure you understand your rights and obligations
4. Understand financial considerations such as taxes and estate planning

You Must Prepare for the Transfer of Wealth

Working hard, building up a nest egg to pass along to your children and grandchildren is a wonderful accomplishment. But, just as you prepared to go to work every day to build this nest egg you must prepare yourself and your family to preserve and grow it.

The first step is to tell your family story. Kids are never too young to hear how Grandpa and Grandma immigrated to the US and then worked every day to get ahead or how a relative used the GI bill to become the first in the family to go to college. Tell your children the family story and make them feel like they are part of it. Explain to them that the story is not over, their chapter is yet to be written.
As your children grow up, determine what events or activities are important to you for everyone to participate in and then make this happen. It can be as simple as a monthly dinner or as complicated as getting everyone together for a family vacation. If you create the tradition when they are young it has a better chance of carrying forward to their children.
- Pay for this out of the family wealth. This is generational wealth transfer! If you never take your children and their children together on a vacation, it is unlikely they will do this on a regular basis if you leave them money in your will. Some people go so far as to establish legacy travel funds to ensure the tradition continues.
Prepare your adult children for their beneficiary roles. If you have several children and plan to divvy up responsibilities such as financial power of attorney and health care proxy, talk to them about it! Explain what the responsibilities entail and make sure they are comfortable with them. They will feel more empowered to fulfill their responsibilities if they know the choice was thoughtful and intentionally made. And, if they do not think that the role suits them, they can explain and you can reconsider.
Read this great booklet to learn more about 10 Conversations All Families Can Have

Put It In Writing

Work with an attorney to create an estate structure that meets your needs and works for the next generation. You know your beneficiaries best. Identify their strengths and align those strengths with your long-term family goals. Next, tell a trusted person where the estate documents are and who has access to them.

Understand your Financial Health

Before spending a sizeable percent of the interitance or paying an attorney to establish trusts, you need to make sure you have a very clear understanding of your own financial health and what this money can do for you. With Atlas's expertice in financial planning using Money Guide Pro we can help you see what your financial future looks like before and after a financial event.

Keep your Adult Children Actively Involved

Develop your plan and talk to your adult children. Host family meetings and share the family history. Discuss what is important to you and how your kids can actively be a part of growing your family wealth!