As an estate planning lawyer and a mom I think a lot about what I can do to give my kids tools for a successful life. Many of my tools came from growing up without much money and having to figure it out on my own. I started working at the age of 14 in a pizza place answering phones and I’ve never stopped. All of my experiences led me to become an attorney and business woman with an amazingly positive can-do attitude and a strong work ethic. It’s unlikely that my children will have the same experiences I had because I already have a lot more wealth than my parents had and yet I want them to learn the skills they will need to have a successful life and the desire to make a difference in the world.

You’ve all heard the proverb shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations, I am sure. Pick up the book “Family Wealth: Keeping it in the Family” by James E. Hughes, Jr. and in chapter one you’ll read about the common phenomenon that often results when the first generation starts out with no wealth, but much creativity and builds the family fortune, which then gives the second generation the luxury of a great lifestyle without the creativity and hard work that it took to create it until finally the third generation grows up in luxury spending the money frivolously and without any connection to how it was made or what it means, fating the fourth generation back to having to figure it all out on their own.

Of course, it doesn’t have to be that way! The Family Wealth Planning Institute is dedicated to teaching you how to avoid the shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves phenomenon in your family by giving your children the tools for success that will teach them the value of wealth and how to make a difference in the world.