SAN DIEGO — With unprecedented wealth shifting hands in the next 25 years, one author said families must do more than transfer financial assets, they must transfer purpose as well.
“Love Wisdom Money: The Family Fiduciary’s Guide to Generative Wealth,” written by Buddy Thomas, offers a roadmap. He founded Superior Planning, a family office in San Diego that serves high-net-worth families.
The book argues that true and lasting family wealth begins with unconditional love for the family and is sustained by generative wisdom.
“In the United States alone, the coming wealth transfer is estimated to exceed $100 trillion,” Buddy said. “All that is meaningless without love. True generational wealth begins with the heart. Love and wisdom are the keys to wealth preservation.”
Written for the leaders of families as well as advisors to wealthy families, the book coins the phrase “family fiduciary,” which refers to a steward who takes legal and moral responsibility for the family.
“So often the financial and legal aspects of managing wealth take precedent,” Buddy explained. “No doubt, they are important. But they are not the most important.”
Instead, he writes that it is important to put the sequence in the proper order: first comes love, then wisdom, and finally, the money.
To ensure that the family isn’t consumed by greed and conflict, which is often stirred up during a wealth transfer, Buddy advocates that the family legacy must be about more than just the money.
The book includes stories of families who got it right as well as those who didn’t. There are stories of families who lost it all, and stories of families who came together to build lasting legacies.
In the final chapters, Buddy offers practical guidance for family fiduciaries, including how to engage family members across generations through gamification.
The book calls for the rise of the family fiduciary — a leader who not only protects the money, but reinforces the family’s values, expands their wisdom and prepares them for the future.
For more information, visit www.lovewisdommoney.com.
SOURCE: Superior Planning press release
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After closing his business and enduring several painful years of uncertainty regarding what to do with his life, Greg founded Forward From 50 to help men and women over 50 to live more purposeful lives by pursuing things they are passionate about. A Wisconsin native, Greg currently lives in Arizona.