For the last 10 years, I’ve been on a journey. The destination isn’t a place. It’s an idea. The destination is the “heart” side of estate planning – building a lasting family legacy. Those who have been reading this blog have heard this from me before. But today, I offer you a different way to hear this message. By clicking on this LINK, you can listen to it in my voice. In this podcast, Christi Van Rite interviews me about my journey into the “heart” side of estate planning. In 36 minutes, we hit the highlights. [The voice you’re hearing is mine, though it was hoarse as I was recovering from vocal cord surgery. I’m better now. Some say my raspy voice sounded sexy. That’s a laugh, but I’ll embrace that version.]
This journey got started as I observed too many inheritances going bad. Hearing speeches about family legacy from Tom Rogerson (dubbed the “bow-tie guy” by my wife Laurie) propelled me to dive in deeper. Then my brother Irwin died from pancreatic cancer at age 65 and it was a wake-up call. Estate planning isn’t just a stack of documents. It impacts real lives. There’s an urgency to do it, or else your family is caught unprepared.
The interview is part of a Family Office Podcast series from White River Consultants. In their work, Christi and her co-workers support the family office team and align advisors to help them achieve the family’s goals. But the message of this podcast speaks to everyone, not just family offices. Moreover, legacy planning applies to every family regardless the level of net worth. I’ve never met a family of any size of wealth that didn’t care about helping their family stay connected and thrive from generation to generation.
In the interview, I share some of my research into families and stories from my personal experiences. Stories are always the best teachers. I look to successful families for tips. For example, author Mitzi Perdue (of Sheraton Hotels and Perdue Farms poultry heritage) warns that families who don’t see each other become disconnected. She touts the importance of family travel and family retreats. If not, families start to see each other only at funerals. Perdue’s admonition: “Don’t let a funeral director plan your next family reunion.”
I stress the value of taking an estate on a “test drive” while you’re still alive and have the chance to fix some holes. I reiterate the need to leave your family a “Red File” roadmap, covering important information they need to know that’s nowhere in the estate planning documents. My podcast reveals the most neglected area of estate planning – succession planning. We need to pass down not just the valuables, but more critically, the values. Create a family governance system that fits the family. Most of all, we need to prepare G-2 and G-3 for the “inheritance football” that G-1 is hurling their way. A FAST Trust can help you do that. So can family philanthropy.
Hear me talk about these tips and others, thanks to Christi Van Rite selecting me for this podcast. Come along with me on this exciting journey to improve the odds of keeping the family wealth intact. And as my mentor Jay Hughes teaches in his book on Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family, “and by the word ‘it,’ I don’t mean money.” He is referring to not only financial capital, but also four other capitals: human, social, intellectual, and spiritual. A grandmother he quotes shares my sentiments: “We’ve always been rich, and sometimes we’ve had money.” The Blum Firm welcomes the opportunity to help your family be “rich” like that.
Marvin E. Blum
In this podcast with Christi Van Rite, Marvin Blum shares his journey into the “heart” side of estate planning and offers tips on legacy planning.