The Importance of Multi-Generational Planning
Building and protecting a family legacy that endures over time and across generations is one of the most honorable things you can do for your loved ones. Your legacy is about the lessons you teach your descendants, the concern you show for their wellbeing, and the memories you leave with them when you ultimately pass away. It’s also about the financial wealth you grow throughout your life and entrust to your family.
Purposeful multi-generational financial planning allows you to have control over your legacy, provide clear instructions for your family members when you pass away, and preserve the wealth you’ve built to ensure the financial health and security of your family for generations to come.
What is Multi-Generational Planning?
Multi-generational planning is the process of acquiring, investing, and building wealth throughout your life and preparing to share the fruits of your success with those you love in order to provide long-term financial prosperity and security for your family. It involves collaboration, coordination, and trust. It also involves developing and maintaining a purposeful and detailed plan, which a financial advisor can help you prepare and communicate to your family members.
At minimum, multi-generational wealth planning involves creating a will, power of attorney, health care proxy, and living will. But multi-generational planning isn’t just about planning the eventual transfer of your wealth upon your death. The way you acquire, invest, and save your wealth throughout your entire lifespan is also part of your legacy. So wherever you are on your financial journey, you can plan with your family in mind.
Building & Preserving Wealth Throughout Your Life
Whether you inherit wealth from previous generations or create new wealth by earning, saving, and investing throughout your life and retirement, multi-generational planning begins with developing a comprehensive financial strategy, wherever you are in your financial lifespan. Working with a financial advisor to help you develop this strategy and plan your financial legacy can help you identify areas in need of improvement and optimize your current and multi-generational plan.
A plan to create, maintain, and grow your wealth should consider all aspects of your financial wellbeing. Here are just a few of the items that should be incorporated into your plan:
- Cash flow analysis and and careful budgeting
- Tax reduction strategies
- Risk management and insurance planning
- Investment management
- Comprehensive retirement planning
Estate Planning & Preparing For Wealth Transfer
Maintaining and transferring your financial legacy to those most important to you is a wonderful gift to give your family. Even under the best of circumstances, estate planning can be a tumultuous process; however, working with an advisor you trust, planning ahead, and being clear in your goals and wishes can help alleviate many of the difficulties and expenses that come with estate planning and multi-generational wealth transfer.
Successful multi-generational wealth planning involves taking specific, concrete steps to prepare for your retirement and the eventual transfer of your wealth. Successful estate planning can include the following:
- Taking inventory of all your assets
- Evaluating your current estate plan
- Documenting your health care wishes
- Assigning a financial power of attorney
- Identifying inheritance tax issues for your beneficiaries
- Creating a revocable living trust
- Finalizing your will
- Communicating your wishes to your loved ones
Crafting both a will and a trust is essential to ensure your decisions and wishes are respected and carried out during your life and after you pass away.
Multi-Generational Financial Planners
At Chatterton & Associates, we believe in building long-term relationships with our clients, and these client-advisor relationships often span multiple generations. We take the time necessary to truly get to know you and your family and thoroughly understand your short- and long-term goals and your wishes for your financial legacy. This ensures we can offer comprehensive, targeted estate-planning advice and suggestions specific to your situation and objectives now and in the future.
We know that multi-generational planning can be a difficult process, and that developing comprehensive solutions is about collaboration, coordination, and trust. Let us help you build, protect, and transfer your wealth in a way that’s meaningful to you and honors your wishes and family.
Sincerely,
The Team at Chatterton & Associates
