Benefits of The Heritage Process

The Benefits of The Heritage Process from Brad Haga on Vimeo.

Just thinking

You cannot legislate the poor into freedom by legislating the wealthy out of freedom. What one person receives without working for, another person must work for without receiving. The government cannot give to anybody anything that the government does not first take from somebody else. When half of the people get the idea that they do not have to work because the other half is going to take care of them, and when the other half gets the idea that it does no good to work because somebody else is going to get what they work for, that my dear friend, is about the end of any nation. You cannot multiply wealth by dividing it. 



Could you repeat that?

How was it you said that The Heritage Process fits into the planning sequence?

That's easy: there are three elements to effective multi-generational planning:

• Element 1– Financial Planning, which prepares and protects your assets during your lifetime;

•Element 2 –Estate Planning, which prepares your assets for your family; and

•Element 3–Heritage Planning, which prepares your family to receive their inheritance (and which includes far more than just your assets).

Pity today’s trust funders.

Their bright futures of easy money and endless leisure went up in smoke with the stock markets and financial crisis. They have seen their future Hamptons homes and Aspen villas crash in value, their charitable foundations get poorer and their bling budgets drastically curtailed. Some may not even get to replace their Bentleys this year.Then there is the group we might call Bernie’s Kids–the economically orphaned
trust funders whose parents lost money in Mr. Madoff’s fraud. We have read about dozens of foundations that lost millions of dollars in that alleged Ponzi scheme, and while most were created for philanthropy, some are vehicles for passing money from parents to their children.
Trust fund kids everywhere are up in arms. And in Palm Beach, Fla., they took matters into their own hands. According to an article in the Palm Beach Post, several teenage boys claimed responsibility Sunday night for festooning Bernie Madoff’s front yard in Palm Beach with toilet paper. The boys said they were “acting in retaliation after they lost their trust funds to the accused swindler” and that their act of toilet-paper justice was sanctioned by their parents.
By the time Palm Beach police arrived at the home Monday morning, the toilet paper was gone and the housekeeper chose not to make a police report, police spokeswoman Janet Kinsella said.
Among those who oppose inherited wealth, like Warren Buffett, the Madoff fraud might actually have a silver lining. While no one likes to see wealth destroyed, some may see Mr. Madoff’s impact on trust funds as a healthy corrective to inherited wealth and dynasty. Mr. Madoff may have finally achieved what Paris Hilton couldn’t–to limit the damages from unearned family money. It may even force some of today’s wealthy offspring to consider more drastic measures for their future–like working for a living.
Of course, it is a tragedy when anyone gets defrauded–whether the wealth is earned or inherited. But rather than this Halloween prank, which seems so, well, Middle School, couldn’t they have been more constructive, or least creative. Perhaps exercising their constitutional right to petition the government for some of that bailout cash?

From Wall Street Journal

In depth information

Want to learn about The Heritage Process? Co-creators Rod Zeeb and Perry Cochell have written a powerful, informative, entertaining and completely original book, called Beating the Midas Curse.

People have said some pretty nice things about it:

...a wonderful contribution to the field of gift and estate planning. -- A. Charles Schultz, President, Crescendo Interactive

"Couldn't put it down. What a terrific book" -- P. Binnion, National Sales Manager for Financial Services Firm

"You need to give away a box of tissue with every book-it's so powerful." --Sharon Porter

For more information, or to order a copy (tissue is extra):

http://www.amazon.com/Beating-Midas-Curse-Cochell-Rodney/dp/1933694009/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1233636734&sr=1-1

You've Already Done Your Planning? Then, please watch this.

Untitled from Brad Haga on Vimeo.

Is The Heritage Process for you?

Is The Heritage Process for you? Only you can decide. Fortunately, making that determination is easy. Just take a few minutes to answer the following questions:

1. If you could look into the future 50 years, and you could see your family gathered together, what would you like to see? It is usually easy to say what you don't want to see. For example, most folks do not want to see only a few of their family getting together, or that some family members are living unproductive lives. When you look into the future, and see your family, what kinds of things would you like to see, and what kinds of conversations would you like to hear?

2. Now, think about the financial and estate planning you have done. How far will that planning get you towards the picture of your family that you just described? Hopefully, it will pass your money into the future. But, does it accomplish the other parts of what you would like to see in your family 2 or 3 generations from now?

If your existing planning does not get you all the way to what you would like to see for your family in the future, then we invite you to explore The Heritage Process. This proven process will help you pass your values, standards and principles to future generations, and will work with your financial and estate planning keep your family and your fortune together for many generations.

And, if there is anything you would like to know, in order to determine whether this Process is right for you, we invite you to post those questions on this BLOG.