Why Involve A Financial Advisor In Your Family Wealth Transfer

Why Involve A Financial Advisor In Your Family Wealth Transfer

Many baby boomers that have created their wealth are facing complex decisions regarding passing on money to their children. There has been a growing concern with how their children might mismanage their wealth, along with the legacy that they have so carefully created. And even so, most parents have not included their children in any discussions regarding their finances.

To ensure your wealth transfer plans are carried out as you intended, you need to include your children in the discussions with your financial advisor. If you’re concerned about how your money will be managed once you’re gone, read through this article to learn more about why you should involve a financial advisor in your family wealth transfer dynamics.

Strengthen The Relationship

Your financial advisor knows your financial goals and the structure of your wealth planning. By incorporating your adult children into financial meetings, you can help to establish a lasting relationship between your children and your advisor. Your children will also be able to understand your financial decisions better, how you currently manage your money, and the crucial role the advisor plays in the process.

If you do not include your children in the discussion, they could stray away from the plans you had originally made. It is important that they see the vision you have planned and are kept in the light as priorities change and decisions are made. This way, they will be set up properly to make the big decisions when the times come.

Provide Direction

As parents plan for retirement and their end-of-life needs, they will face difficult decisions about how to allocate their assets. A financial advisor can help clients plan for these exact needs. More specifically, your advisor can provide direction to your children and set them up for future financial success as a family unit, and not just on their own.

In the case that you own a business, your financial planner can also assist you in planning for how the forthcoming business structure will unfold and how the wealth will be generated going forward.

Mediate Expectations

Each generation thinks, plans, and communicates much differently from others.  Expectations about the inheritance of money are often at odds with each other. Boomers generally have dedicated their lives to their careers and have built their wealth through hard work. They look forward to a well-deserved retirement but would also like to see their legacies continue.

Generation Xers and millennials come from a different time and likely will have very different ideas on how they would like to spend the inheritance money. A financial advisor can ensure that all expectations are uncovered and mediated to ensure a successful result.

With many boomers reaching retirement and starting to pass along their life savings to their children, it’s important to start including your children during your financial planning. The impending wealth transfer will come with many challenges, and a good financial planner can help to bridge any gaps to ensure your legacy is passed down and carried on as you intended.

What are You Missing in Your Life?

What are You Missing in Your Life?

Feel like there’s something missing in your life? Chances are it could be something that you could solve somewhat easily. If you don’t really know what you need in order to make yourself feel fulfilled, then how are you supposed to achieve happiness? The answer is by being open and willing to explore new things about yourself. By being open to change, you get to learn and discover more about your personal values, your potential, and what you need in your life in order to feel fulfilled.

Here we offer some simple ways to achieve this and gain a greater understanding of what might be missing in your life.

Learn What You Truly Want and Desire

So often we get caught up in comparing ourselves and our accomplishments – or lack thereof – with others. But by doing this, you automatically set yourself up for failure by provoking feelings of failure and self-doubt. When self-doubt is dominating a good portion of your everyday thoughts, how can you expect to explore your actual potential? You must learn to acknowledge your own individual needs and accomplishments without comparing them to others.

Maybe having more time and energy is more important than achieving a high-paying, stressful career. If you’re trying to fool yourself into doing something that really isn’t in line with your values and wishes, then you can bet you’ll end up feeling like there’s something missing, even with a fancy, successful career. Ask yourself more questions to determine what you truly want and then start to listen to yourself!

Be Open to Change

You can’t expect to achieve a different feeling and result if you’re not trying something different. Exploring a different approach and being open to change is crucial for really learning more about what’s truly important to you. If you don’t like something once you try it, then whatever! That’s the whole point of trying new things – discovering what you do and don’t like, or what does and doesn’t work for you. When you find something you don’t like, your narrowing down your identity for yourself, which will make it easier for you to change yourself for the better.

Determine What Your Values are

Everyone has a core set of values that dictate a lot about how we live out our lives, but many of us are unaware of the specific values that we live by. And the reality is that often, the values we hone in on can contradict each other and end up preventing us from achieving a level of happiness and fulfillment that we want. For example, if one of your major values is freedom and another is intimacy, you can see how these two would present some challenges and conflicting results. Being unclear about your values is what often leads to feelings of unfulfillment. So whether it’s love, success, security, intimacy, freedom, or good health, get to know what your hierarchy of values is by writing them out and adjusting them as necessary. Values guide most of our decisions, so if you’re unaware of yours or if you have conflicting ones, they could be preventing you from leading the life you truly desire.

Finding out what’s missing in your life can be achieved by getting to know yourself better. Let go of comparisons, be open to change and new opportunities, learn what your values are, and start to really listen to yourself. It’s all for a better, more satisfied you!

Tips for a More Productive Summer Workplace

Tips for a More Productive Summer Workplace

Ah, the warm breeze, brighter days and packed patios lined with patrons sipping back cold refreshing beverages make summertime truly the best time of year. It can also be the worst when it comes to productivity in the workplace. With all of the temptations that come along with the improving weather, it can be challenging to keep your staff motivated and focused on their work rather than the time that’s left until they can head outside to enjoy the weather.

To help minimize those distractions and keep your staff focused, here are some tips for a more productive summer workplace.

Show Your Appreciation Frequently

Showing appreciation for your employees on a regular basis is really an important part of maintaining their morale and building a positive environment at work. Showing recognition for a job well done, offering a handshake, sharing their idea with the team, or even providing some tasty perks like coffee and treats are all small meaningful ways to achieve this. Also, consider combining your gratitude with a few outdoor activities, such as a staff BBQ or patio drinks to celebrate a successful milestone or deal.

Take Some Meetings Outside

Sure, this might not be as practical to do each and every time, but once in a while – on those particularly glorious sunny days when your staff seems extra preoccupied – try to switch up the scenery by hosting a few meetings outside. Getting out to enjoy a bit of the sunshine and fresh air will boost their mood and energy levels and will help inspire their creative juices.

Create a More Relaxed Work Environment

Unless you have any special guests or events that require a strict dress code, establishing a more relaxed atmosphere at work is another great way to create a more productive summer workplace. You could create a more casual dress code for a few months – maybe June until October – where staff can roll out their lighter, comfortable items like jeans, sundresses, golf shirts, etc. Of course, you can also create some guidelines and boundaries for their attire in order to make sure everyone knows what flies and what doesn’t.

Set Summer Hours

As Canadians, we know that once the warm weather arrives, we’ve got to take full advantage of it since we only have a short window of time to really enjoy it. So why not create some summer hours to allow your employees to enjoy more of the great weather? You may even find that productivity increases with this adjustment since staff can get into the office and work more efficiently with their time, rather than pretend to be busy until 5 o’clock finally rolls around. If your hours are 9-5, maybe making the day 8-4 during the summer will encourage a more productive work environment as they would get out earlier.

If you feel that the workplace morale and productivity seems to take a serious dip during the summer, try implementing some of these tips. Keeping your staff focused and happy is often easier than you think – so don’t be shy to try something new and switch things up.  Your productivity and business will always greatly benefit from employees who feel appreciated and enjoy going to their workplace.

Managing Bad-Blood Between Your Heirs

Managing Bad-Blood Between Your Heirs

Every parent dreams of passing on a significant legacy to their children. However, their wishes often don’t materialize due to poor estate planning. Misconstrued details can leave a family in disarray, resulting in conflicts among the family. It’s important to plan properly and anticipate any conflicts that your estate plan could cause between your spouse and children.

Here are some steps you can take to reduce inheritance conflict and manage bad-blood between your heirs.

Create an Estate Plan

If you have not yet done so, now is the time to create a detailed estate plan. A well thought out plan can ensure that you provide the proper support and financial stability for your surviving heirs and make sure that your wishes are carried out exactly how you intended. Without an estate plan you can’t choose who your beneficiaries will be, who will administer your estate, or choose a guardian for your children – the courts will decide for you.

Hold a Family Meeting

You’ll be surprised to learn that many children don’t want to inherit their parent’s belongings. Some prefer just to receive cash, while others may want their inheritance to go to another. You won’t know your children’s preferences unless you ask them. Hold an open family meeting so everyone can talk and express their interests. This can help avoid conflict in the future.

Address Personal Property

Most bad blood between heirs is usually in relation to personal property and how it is distributed among family members. To avoid a family argument over your belongings when you’re gone, leave a list with detailed instructions. Outline who should inherit what item and add it to your estate plan.

Summarize Gifts and Loans

You may have loaned money to one of your children to buy a home, start a business, or avoid bankruptcy. But if you don’t adjust for this in your will, your other children may become jealous. To avoid any conflicts, always address and outline any loans or gifts in your estate plan.

Organize a Third-Party Trustee

Except in extreme circumstances, your spouse should be named the sole and primary beneficiary. In second marriages, however, it may be beneficial to appoint a third-party trustee to mediate any interests as stepparents and stepchildren may not agree on the terms. A parent who distributes all the money to the children may endanger the well-being of their surviving spouse. However, if they pass on the full inheritance to the stepparent, then they may be creating more bad-blood – especially if the stepparent distributes the money to their other children.

Update Your Plan Regularly

When there are any significant changes to your financial situation or major life changes like divorce, you should update your estate plan. A current and revised plan will help to avoid any unwanted results like passing on your assets to your ex-spouse instead of your new one.

Managing bad blood between your heirs can often be prevented with a good, updated estate plan. Make sure you get in contact with us at The Beacon Group of Assante Financial Management Ltd. about how you can get started and create a comprehensive plan that outlines your wishes.