What does wealth mean? More than money, how can we pass on our values to subsequent generations?
The following article was published as a Special to The Globe and Mail newspaper on
Let me ask you a question: what does wealth mean to you? What, ultimately, is the reason you’re building and protecting your wealth?
… Over the next 10- to 15-years, we will enter a time of unprecedented wealth transfer in Canada. Families will be passing on their wealth to the next generation, and a lot of businesses will change hands too. Collectively, we have an opportunity – I would call it an obligation – to pass on more than just money. We need to pass on our values as well.
I’ve noticed an increasing interest in the question of financial legacy and wealth values over the past three- to five-years. Many of the [high-net worth (HNW)] individuals I know are devoting more time to defining the meaning of their wealth.
Recently I had the pleasure of meeting Samantha Reynolds, Founder and President of Echo Memoirs. For the past 14 years, Echo Memoirs has been creating personal archives or memoirs for corporate clients, and a select group of HNW families.
… As Reynolds explains, this is a big issue for HNW individuals. “They’re able to offer their kids and grand kids so much in terms of experiences and opportunities,” she told me. “But where I find them at a little bit of a loss sometimes is how to impart the values that they have, and that their parents had.”
Instead of a lecture about values, these people build a story that provides history and legacy to family members. “It’s about touching their emotions, and that’s where you’re going to see real results in terms of trying to pass along values,” Reynolds says.
Read the full story at theglobeandmail.com
