True Wealth Archives - Page 4 of 6

The Curse and Blessing of Family Wealth

January 1, 2018 by Avi Kantor

Thayer Willis has a unique background to write about the psychological challenges of wealth. She was born into the founding family of the Georgia-Pacific Corporation, enjoying the privileges of extreme wealth and suffering some of the many tragedies that children of wealth experience. In her professional career, she has developed a counseling specialty working with wealthy families, especially wealth inheritors, on the “dark side of wealth”.

In this article, Thayer talks about this dark side, especially the focus on financial assets and the ingratitude that can dominate the thinking and lives of children born into extreme wealth.

Why Family Wealth is a Curse

Thayer also wrote a second article on the blessings of family wealth. Interestingly, this article has not been as widely read as the “Curse” article. Yet, in this article, she provides hope and advice on overcoming the “Curse”.

Why Family Wealth is a Blessing

One of the reasons we founded the Certior Group on the principles of Empowered Wealth was because of my own experiences seeing the positive impact Gratitude and True Wealth had within my own family and the families of the people we work with. Thayer Willis’ articles reinforce our vision that we can make a difference by helping individuals and families build a solid practice of Gratitude and focus on the things that really matter – like love, support, and making wise choices.

Joie de Vivre and True Wealth

December 1, 2017 by Avi Kantor

I was on a conference call recently when one of the other participants commented that “joie de vivre” is one of the qualities that he enjoys most about the people in Jackson. That comment sent several other participants to their smartphones looking for a definition.

(from Google: joie de vivre = exuberant enjoyment of life).

I had a similar experience when I first came to Jackson. Having spent two decades as a wealth manager, I – like most of my peers – had become accustomed to helping clients maximize investment returns, accumulate assets for retirement, minimize taxes, and mitigate risks. That was my world; that was what I thought was the greatest value I could provide for my clients. I would talk about what matters most to people about money but didn’t really do anything outside of the usual and customary tasks of wealth managers managing investment portfolios. But when my family and I permanently relocated to Jackson, I realized that I had shifted my perspective.

Through a series of events, I came across the work of Lee Brower and Empowered Wealth. Empowered Wealth help me and my family see things through the lens of “True Wealth” – our core values, our contributions to others, our learning and wisdom, and what attracted us to Jackson in the first place, the ”joie de vivre” that characterizes the community.

Sustaining True Wealth Over Multiple Generations

October 11, 2017 by Avi Kantor

According to the Family Business Institute…only 30% of family businesses survive into the second generation and 12% into the third. A mere 3% make it into the fourth and beyond

Many sources cite similar statistics, pointing to an extraordinarily high worldwide failure rate in wealth transitions (generally defined as wealth remaining under the control of the beneficiaries). This begs the question, “Why does this happen?” One of the pioneering thinkers on this issue, attorney, James E. Hughes, Jr., focused on the lack of structure and governance in families. The article below suggests that lack of inter-generational communication and collaboration have been the primary causes of wealth dissipating over three generations.

CNN Money Article: Squandering the Family Fortune…Why Rich Families Are Losing Their Money

Consider the many advisors that families employ. There are attorneys, accountants, consultants, psychologists, life coaches, and various financial advisors from wealth managers, to insurance agents, to financial and estate planners all of whom, presumably in good faith, attempt to help their client families protect, preserve, grow, and sustain their wealth for multiple generations. Despite the collective best efforts of all of these professionals, their net effectiveness has been no more than 10% over three generations. What if Apple sold you a product that failed 90% of the time? Would you buy it? Yet, that’s in effect what families are doing when they continue to use traditional methods to plan for their families’ futures..

We cannot solve problems with same level of thinking that created them

– Albert Einstein

Thinking at a new, different level about the challenges of transitioning wealth, does not mean that the best work of attorneys, accountants, and other professionals isn’t necessary. Families need governance guided by the work of skilled attorneys. They need excellent tax and estate planning, wealth management, business consulting, work on family dynamics, and life coaching. Families need teams of professional service providers. Yet, how might these teams of professionals do things differently, more effectively?

By now, many of you know that we’ve adopted a mindset of Gratitude, “True Wealth”, and Leadership as core beliefs to address the “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations” issue. It has been our experience that families must accept an attitude and a disciplined practice of Stewardship if we’re to sustain True Wealth over multiple generations. Our roles as advisors are to support our client families in this Stewardship undertaking. In other words, it’s to collaborate with our clients and each other in an endeavor that has historically challenged even the most intentional families. I will elaborate further on this topic of “collaboration” in future newsletters.

Avi Kantor

Gratitude, True Wealth, and The Total Eclipse of 2017

August 27, 2017 by Avi Kantor

I missed the Total Eclipse.

On August 21st, I was with our extended family at an annual family event on the outer banks of North Carolina. Where we were, even though the sun was 90% obscured by the moon, the changes in the environment were barely perceptible. Yes, it was “cool” and “awesome”, but it didn’t have much of an effect on our day.

However, we had guests at our home in Jackson who reported that the total eclipse was a “once in a lifetime experience”; one like no other. I pondered what they meant by this and surmised that it had something to do with becoming aware that life on Earth depends upon the energy from the Sun; that our very existence is fragile, and that we benefit from a rare combination of cosmic circumstances that sustain life as we know it. The total eclipse must have heightened that awareness.

I’m reminded of the late Carl Sagan’s “Pale Blue Dot” monologue, in which he describes his response to the visual images of the Earth sent from the Voyager 1 spacecraft as it passed Saturn in 1990. He called the Earth the “Pale Blue Dot” because it was so small and insignificant as seen from Voyager 1. Here’s an excerpt from Sagan’s monologue:

“Look again at that dot. That’s here. That’s home. That’s us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every “superstar,” every “supreme leader,” every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there-on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.”

That’s what I suspect was on the minds of our house guests during and after the eclipse.

There’s a part of me that wishes I could have experienced the Total Eclipse in Jackson. Yet, I know in my heart that I was where I was supposed to be: with my family, building on our traditions, and creating stories that will sustain us and connect us over time. It’s our family’s True Wealth.

When we appreciate the opportunities we have to be with our family and friends, to engage in meaningful and fulfilling activities, and to contribute to the well-being of others and our community, our lives become richer. We experience True Wealth, not just numbers on financial statements or account balances.

Avi Kantor

Cookout and Conversation

August 4, 2017 by Avi Kantor

On Sunday, July 23rd, we hosted an informal barbeque at the home of David Cedenhead in Jackson.

The Certior Group will continue to conduct regular social events and workshops.. Please contact our office for further details and please check this newsletter for announcements of future events.

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