To understand why Family Wealth Planning is “green”, you first have to understand my definition of “green.”

I define “green” as anything intended to leave the world a better place.

So a product is green if it makes less of an impact on the earth when it is discarded, thereby leaving the world a better place. A service is green if it helps people leave the world a better place, both during their own lifetime and for future generations.

That’s what Family Wealth Planning (often called estate planning) is all about - increasing Family Wealth from one generation to the next. And, that includes our global Family Wealth in addition to your personal Family Wealth.

It’s about making conscious decisions for your future and your family’s future.

And, I call that green.

If you consider yourself green, find yourself a Personal Family Lawyer, so you can make sure your kids are raised with your Values, Insights, Stories and Experience and will make a real difference with the Family Wealth you leave behind.

Here are a couple of other things that make us green:

• We just got solar panels installed at our 1920 renovated office.
• Our office is as paperless as possible for lawyers and we are about to begin working with a green consultant to see where else we can make eco-aware decisions

Agree or disagree with my conclusion that Family Wealth Planning is green?

Let me know by posting your comments here.

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I’ve spent a bit of time this weekend diving into the blogosphere. Wow, I’ve got a lot to figure out.

If you love the mission of the Family Wealth Planning Institute to teach you how to pass on not only your financial wealth, but your whole Family Wealth, so you can leave the world a better place and you are a social networking/blogging expert, please email alexis at familywealthmatters dot com and let me know if you can help me figure this out.

I’m particularly interested in learning about trackbacks, technorati, blogrolls and anything else you think I need to know.

I’m starting by posting this link on my site so I could get listed on Technorati. My site is currently 1,212,405. I’ve got a long way to go.

Can you help me on this journey?

Namaste,
Alexis

Posted in Social Networking, Spreading the Message, Technology | Comments(3)
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Ohhhhh, yes. I definitely ate too much.

We did Thanksgiving the right way this year at my house. Well, not really my house. Actually, the condo in Miami Beach I rented with my sister and her boyfriend, Aaron.

Yep, boyfriend. There they are right there.

He’s the first guy she has willingly introduced to the family, so you know it’s serious. And, family he got . . . we’re in Miami with my mom, stepmom, grandma, and my stepmom’s parents and sister.

That’s a whole lot of women! He held his own very well.

And, for all you girls who have secretly started to believe you should just settle for the next okay guy because that’s all that’s out there - Aaron is proof that it’s worth it to hold out! Don’t settle for someone you know isn’t Mr. Right; someone you are secretly hoping will grow up or change in some way.

Instead, focus your energy on becoming a secure and confident woman. And, like Courtney, you can find your secure and confident man. We attract what we are.

Anyway, back to Thanksgiving.

We did it the easy way this year; my mom ordered in and we re-heated. It was perfect! Everything was so tasty and my Nan didn’t have to slave away in the kitchen all day.

And, I got a few minutes to browse a few of my favorite blogs. I’ve been giving a lot of thought to this whole gratitude thing all day.

I know it’s the key to happiness. The more grateful and appreciative I am, the better I feel. And, yet, I struggle with it immensely.

The little version of me is convinced that if I express too much gratitude for something or someone, it will be taken away. Of course, just the opposite is true. But, try telling that to the undisciplined 13-year old that lives in my head. She’s impatient, bitter and ungracious.

So, I was totally stoked to come across Tim Ferris’ blog post about the 21-Day no-complaint solution. It’s just what I need to train “little Alexis”into a state of gratitude, or at the very least become aware when she’s taken over my thoughts.

When I spoke at the Aon women’s networking meeting a few weeks ago, Denise Berger, Managing Director and WIN Global Chair, gave me a beautiful energy muse bracelet I’ve been wearing ever since. I’m going to use this bracelet as my no-complaint bracelet. It’s perfect. Thanks Denise!

Anybody want to join me in the 21-Day No-Complaint Solution? If so, let me know by leaving a comment.

Posted in Family Happiness, Personal Reflections, Time Savers | Comments(1)
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My ex-husband is a trust fund kid, sort of.

He wasn’t born into wealth, he was adopted in by his step-father, Lew Crosley. And because he was adopted, he gets to take part in one of the small Crosley family trusts.

Lew was the great-grandson of Powel Crosley, Jr., the inventor of Crosley cars, radios, and many early appliances. He was also the owner of the Cincinatti Reds.

Powel became a very rich man during his time and left behind a substantial fortune.

Unfortunately, he structured the passage of this fortune in such a way that it didn’t incentivize or even encourage his successors to build that wealth.

The Crosley fortune is tied up in multiple trusts managed by Fifth Third bank, one of the oldest and most conservative banks in Ohio.

As Trustees of the trusts holding the Crosley fortune, they are responsible for doling out the income and principal of those trusts.

Because of the way the trusts are set up, the beneficiaries would have an extremely difficult time removing and replacing the trustees.

In fact, there have been numerous lawsuits against the trustees over the years by various family members.

The trustees are very tight with the trust assets. They have no incentive to play nice with the beneficiaries because they know they are locked in as trustees, which comes along with big annual fees.

And, the trust is set up as one big pot trust for all the descendants and all income is distributed evenly to each beneficiary.

What this means is that when a beneficiary qualifies for a principal distribution, such as for a health need, the distribution shrinks the shares belonging to the rest of the beneficiaries. Not good.

Because the beneficiaries have a right to all income, their natural inclination is to want the assets invested for income, not growth, which means the trust value is unlikely to increase significantly over time.

Money is earned by the trust, the trustees distribute it and the beneficiaries spend it, generally on non-wealth building items.

Contrast that with the new paradigm of trust planning in which the trust is the centerpiece of the family wealth building tools.

Here are some differences:

* Trustees are easily removed by beneficaries.

* Trust assets are separated out by shares for each beneficiary, so each beneficiaries spending and investment decisions have no impact on anothers.

* And, the assets are retained in trust and distributions made only on an as-needed basis to the beneficiary so that all of the trust assets are protected from lawsuits against the beneficiary as well as divorce and even estate taxes.

* Last, but far from least, the trustee is encouraged to invest in new businesses started by the beneficiary and take advantage of family investment opportunities that may increase significantly in value over time.

* Yesterday’s trusts created alcoholic/drug addict kids who were just waiting for mom and dad to pop off so they could get their hands on the family money.

* Today trusts prepare your kids for a life of family wealth building, which is the real legacy you want to leave behind.

So, job #1 for you is to begin to shift your thinking about the use of trusts. See a trust as a vehicle to grow your family wealth at each generation.

Talk to your Personal Family Lawyer about whether a trust like this may be a good idea for your family.

© 2007 Alexis Martin

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Alexis’ www.FamilyWealthMatters.com.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include everything in quotes with it: “Written by Alexis Martin, mom, writer, speaker and Personal Family Lawyer. Alexis makes it super easy for your family to talk about and plan for sticky subjects like money, death and taxes. Get Alexis’ humorous, enlightening, and often quite revealing “Family Wealth Secrets” at: www.FamilyWealthMatters.com”

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Last week, we talked about when to start talking to your kids about money.

I suggested you start at the age of 7.

If your kids are older than that, start today!

And, you don’t just want to start talking about it, but you want to take action with them.

Have a plan for the next time your child receives money. Instead of just letting them put it in their wallet and spend it on whatever (or lose it!), plan to introduce the idea of invest/spend/give.

There are many methods of this, so choose one that is easy for you to remember. The key is that you want your kids to begin to experience the core values you want to pass on.

I’ll illustrate using my core values and you can apply these principles to your core values. One of my core values is that money is an energy that must be circulated to create more.

When my daughter receives any money from anyone she must divide the money she receives into 3 shares - spend, give and invest (save).

The only rule I have is that spend and give are equal and invest gets the rest and that she can’t invest all of it.

Then, with regard to the part that goes into invest, part of it gets invested for something long term, like college, and part of it gets invested for something short term, like a $100 American Girl doll.

And, unless she is saving for something specific, she has to do something with the short term investment $$ when it gets to be around $100. I don’t want her just saving for the sake of hoarding her money as I don’t believe in that.

So, first determine the core money values you want to pass on to your child.

Then, come up with some rule start to apply next time your child receives a gift or earns some money.

And, as you are laying out the rules, explain the core value you are teaching in as simple terms as possible.

Have fun!

© 2007 Alexis Martin

WANT TO SEE MORE ARTICLES LIKE THIS ONE?
See Alexis’ www.FamilyWealthMatters.com.

WANT TO USE THIS ARTICLE IN YOUR E-ZINE OR WEB SITE? You can, as long as you include everything in quotes with it: “Written by Alexis Martin, mom, writer, speaker and Personal Family Lawyer. Alexis makes it super easy for your family to talk about and plan for sticky subjects like money, death and taxes. Get Alexis’ humorous, enlightening, and often quite revealing “Family Wealth Secrets” at: www.FamilyWealthMatters.com”

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Many parents wonder when and how they should start talking to their kids about money.

A participant at the financial skills course taping a couple of weeks ago wondered if it could hurt kids if parents brought up money too early.

From before your kids are old enough to understand the concept of trading a piece of paper or some coins for something they want, you are passing on messages about money.

These messages are part of the family wealth you pass on to your kids and it happens well before you die.

And whether you have millions or far less, you’d better be concerned about the messages you are passing on.

If you’ve got millions, you want to make sure the messages you are passing on don’t rob your child of the drive and ambition you have, which was likely cultivated out of necessity.

If you’ve got far less, you might feel as if you are struggling with making the kind of money you know is possible for you and wonder if you’d be more successful if you didn’t have such negative money beliefs.

Right now, be aware of your own unconscious money beliefs. Write down the first five things that pop into your mind when I say “Money ….”

Look at these beliefs you’ve written down and recall an experience that shaped and created this belief. How many other unconscious money messages did you receive?

* money is dirty
* money requires extremely hard work
* money is something to fight about
* money is complicated
* money is power
* money comes easily
* money is fun
* money makes sense

Which of these do you want to pass on to your kids? When you consciously consider the money messages you pass on to your kids, you can implant the messages you wish came naturally to you.

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