What makes a legacy plan different from an estate plan is the “why.” It’s not just that you have some assets leftover and you want them set up a certain way. It’s that you want to be purposeful, intentional and deliberate.
You want your grandkids’ grandkids to be able to tell your story with pride.
When our Family Wealth Planners work with clients to draw up their legacy plans, they look at six cornerstone focus areas that help guide the decision making.
Let's look at the first cornerstone, Lasting Values, together.
If your family had a coat of arms, what motto would you put in the banner underneath? What symbols would you choose to put on it? Those choices would say a lot about your family’s core values and principles. Where you put your name and legacy gifts can also indicate those things and be instructive for future generations.
Legacy planning is personal. It’s the “who” and “why” of that distribution plan. The mission statement. The underlying reason for all of it.
You want a certain amount of money to go to your grandkids for their education, for example. You want your house to go to your daughter and her family, because property is a huge engine of generational wealth. You want a substantial endowment for your church, or the college you graduated from, because you want to give back to communities you gained something from.
All of those choices tell a story about what you care about, what's important to you and what you have tried to teach your kids and grandkids to value as well.
You've probably already read about Chamberlin's Wells of Wealth system. We look at Legacy Well as the fourth well that catches whatever is leftover in the other three when you pass away. The Legacy Well is about the story you want to leave behind. What do you want to do for your loved ones when you’re gone? What kind of charities and causes do you want to help with the wealth you leave behind? How do you want future generations of family members to view your life’s work?
In addition to any remaining value from the other three wells, your Legacy Well can include things like life insurance, real estate and other long-term investments and trusts. A Holistic Retirement Planner can help you set up the first three wells to give you peace of mind during your own golden years, and then the Legacy Well to ensure that your loved ones are taken care of and your values and wishes are respected when you’re gone.
The Wells of Wealth give a lot of people a feeling of security for their retirement. It’s easy to visualize and to get a basic understanding of the mechanics, and what we find is that it helps people develop confidence about their plan, no matter how financially literate they feel. People that are more technical with investing can get really into it. They can move the numbers around and we can help them optimize it in each Well.
Ready to start looking at your legacy plan, and how it fits into a holistic plan for your retirement years? We’re here to help. Set up a free, no-obligation, 20-minute strategy session with one of our trained and certified Legacy Guides today, and they’ll answer any questions you have and help you take stock of your wants, worries, needs and goals. You’ll even get a free copy of our new book, “The Wells of Wealth System,” which describes our holistic approach to planning in a more in depth and entertaining way. Schedule your call with Chamberlin Legacy today.