Three Ways to Enhance Your Family Legacy

Speaker A: What we're trying to do is to advance the concept of total family wealth not only for a $500 million family, but a $5 million family. We're trying to democratize it.

Speaker B: Welcome to the Navigating Abundance Podcast. Our goal is to encourage you to pursue your total family wealth potential through insightful conversation with experts and thought leaders in their fields. But first, some obligatory disclosures. Navigating Abundance podcasts do not represent investment, legal or tax advice. Any opinion expressed in Navigating Abundance Podcast is solely those of Christopher Tanke and his guests and and are based upon information believed to be reliable but not guaranteed. Podcasts are produced for educational and entertainment purposes only and should not be considered an endorsement of the guest or the views that they hold. Information shared may not be appropriate for your personal situation. Consult a qualified advisor for guidance. Investment advisory services are offered through Strategic Financial Group, llc, a, uh, registered investment advisor. Navigating Abundance is a trademark of Strategic Financial Group, llc. And now here's your host, Chris Tanke.

Speaker A: Welcome back to Navigating Abundance. I'm Chris Tanke and we have a full boat today. As you can see right in front of you, we have Stephanie Green and we have Connor Mackey. And we are here today to give you some impressions on a really cool event we were able to participate in and attend in Boulder, Colorado. Lovely place to be in the summer just about 10 days ago, called the Purposeful Planning Institute Rendezvous. Now I've been involved with that group for four or five years now, and I've really appreciated it. This is the first experience for Stephanie and Connor to come along. But, um, let me describe what Personal Planning Institute is. And basically it's an organization of professionals that, uh, float around in the family office space or as we would say, uh, are useful for total family wealth consultation. So we all come together and there's plenary, uh, sessions and breakout sessions. Uh, there's a lot of wonderful, uh, food, uh, but the really coolest part, one of the coolest parts is just sitting down with people over lunch saying, what do you do? Uh, and why are you important to, uh, the total family wealth concept? And a, uh, I don't know about you guys, but that was, that was the highlight of it for me. Would you agree?

Speaker C: Oh, yeah. And I think a lot of the, um, the breakout sessions I thought were really, were really interesting, but what really got me pumped and jazzed up to helping other families was just talking with those different professionals and seeing how they view total family wealth and how they're good in their own Spaces in that world. And it was just, I would say, energizing. It was tiring because there are long days. But um, overall I feel like it was very energizing.

Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. And I would agree. And I think one of the benefits of something like this is you get to meet these people in person. So oftentimes we're making our connections online and that's good. That's the age that we live in. But to actually see them in person and say you're real, you get to, you can actually see them and talk to them face to face, um, it's just so exciting. Yeah. Well, you guys hug them. You guys hug them. I shake their hand and smile.

Speaker A: Yeah. Some folks we were fighting, we've talked to them a lot. But now we're able to give them a hug. And that sealed the deal.

Speaker D: Yeah, definitely.

Speaker A: No, I agree it was really neat, but it was exhausting, uh, for all of us. It took us about a week to recover because there was so much energy going out. Um, this is like Christmas, ah, Eve for ah, a um, seven year old for four days. I mean we were just on, on, on, on. Just so jazzed. Talking to folks and seeing what they're doing in the space, how they're helping families. And um, and to us it was an ideal thing to, to go. So, so the reason we went is two. The first reason is we wanted to get uh, feedback for what we're doing here at Navigating Abundance. Um, uh, a little different I think than most of these practitioners because what we're trying to do is to advance the concept of total family wealth. As you know what that means. If you listen to us and look at our materials. Advance the concept of total family wealth not only for a $500 million family, but a $5 million family. We're trying to democratize it. How do we do that? And we got a lot of interest in our mission to do that. A lot of good feedback for that. And so we actually had a booth. Right. We had a table. And uh, as a vendor, although we weren't selling anything, we were there to solicit feedback, comment on um, uh, what we're doing. And the other thing that was so valuable for us, as obviously you've heard us mention, is this is a great networking opportunity for us as we try to be connectors with different uh, practitioners and their expertise in the field. We're going to talk um, about uh, three or four of those even today. Um, but it really fit very well with uh, one of our primary pillars in that really, um, navigating abundance or building out your total family wealth is a team sport. You cannot do it on your own. Uh, and we want to encourage and liberate and uh, let you fly to uh, say it's okay to hire some other people and spend some time with them to uh, accelerate a certain area of your logistic wealth, your legacy wealth, uh, or your ledger wealth. And so, uh, wow. What, what fertile ground for that. And that's why I think we were so tired, because we got so jazzed discovering these people, understanding where they are, what they're doing. And it's, it's really quite impressive, uh, the skill set and experience that's out there. Wouldn't you guys agree?

Speaker D: Absolutely.

Speaker C: I think I've been to other like, national conferences before where you're dealing with, I don't want to say like minded professionals, but you all work in the same field and there wasn't at, uh, uh, Purposeful Planning Institute, the rendezvous we went to M. Just the sense of community and the sense of wanting to all move forward together was so strong. Um, it was kind of unlike anything I've been to before. It's just everyone kind of had the same heart in it and that was very refreshing. Like I said, I've been to other conferences where um, it's not quite the same vibe. So. So that was a very, um, wonderful differentiator for me.

Speaker D: Yeah, yeah. And my background is in sales. So normally when you have a room full of salespeople, they might act as if they are all friends and buddies, but in reality they're trying to find a way to get the leg up on the competition and probably steal some sales. But I didn't get that impression at Rendezvous.

Speaker A: It was a lot of collaboration.

Speaker D: Collaboration, yes, absolutely.

Speaker A: Collaboration is the word. You know, as we've said many times, total, uh, family wealth concepts, uh, ledger wealth, logistic wealth, legacy wealth. To do a really thorough job, to have a balanced approach to that, uh, takes other people and it takes collaboration. And I think one of the wonderful things about the uh, Personal Planning Institute community is that everybody realizes that and uh, we all need each other. And um, uh, to me it's a unique spirit, a unique environment. Everybody's quite encouraging and um, it's cool. So anyway, it was fun again. It was like Disneyland for us for four days. And that's why we were so exhausted. Uh, so as I said, we got a table, um, and we put our podcast up there so people could see what we're doing. Actually there were two or three personal Planning Institute, uh, members that had been on podcasts in the past, so they got to see themselves and they thought that was cool. But, um, the other thing we were able to do is to say, hey, we've created something called, as you know, the Essential Quiz and the Essential File. We described what it was, uh, the Essential quiz about what? 93 questions that you can take in about 15 minutes that's going to look at all areas of your total family wealth according to our matrix and ask you to rank yourself through a series of five or six questions per each subsection. And then you get a report saying, okay, how am I doing here? Ah. And the idea there is to enlighten you. It is to inspire, uh, you to do something different or maybe understand something that is more important that you should be proceeding, uh, with or whatever. That's what the essential, uh, quiz is. Um, the essential file is more robust. And that is an opportunity for you to actually start gathering together, uh, your, um, your efforts in your ledger wealth, logistic wealth, legacy wealth as we've described, uh, previously. I won't go into it now, but we were just curious to see what the Personal Planning Institute, uh, seniors would think about this. And, uh, I think the remarks that, that we got were quite positive. And, um, they liked the fresh retake of this because none of what we're talking about is new. We're just trying to package it so that people can actually, uh, take actionable, uh, effort on what they're understanding. Um, um, and we're trying to democratize it to make sure that if, uh, somebody has again $5 million, they could use a lot of this because families are families and we all need these three areas. Certainly, um, the more you have, the more complicated things can become. But essentially, um, we all have family capital, functional capital, and financial capital. So it was, I think, really good. We had some great conversations, uh, there at the table. So that was good feedback for us. Um, uh, that was, uh, you know, I think that was, that was the number one reason to go because we just want to have bounce back to see what people are thinking about this, that have more experience than us, perhaps. Um, and, um, I think that was a valuable thing. But what was surprising to me is that wasn't the most valuable thing. The most valuable thing were the breakfast and lunches. To me, breakout sessions were good, but not nearly as valuable as eating with people and getting to know them, saying, what do you do? Describe what you do. And that was absolutely, uh, inspirational. So what we'd like to do, right, you Connor, are you going to say something?

Speaker D: Nope. That's it? Just.

Speaker A: Yeah, that was it. All right, so, great. So if you can tell this is well rehearsed, we just want to give you the real deal. We don't rehearse anything. Uh, so let's talk about this. Um, Connor, uh, you, um, had a conversation with someone that deals with, uh, I would say, uh, the ethos, the spirit of the family to what they provide. Can you describe that conversation? Who did you meet?

Speaker D: Yeah, yeah, I spoke with a gentleman named John Mosner from Film. Indelible. Um, and so John does some. Some really incredible work. He actually works in a couple of different areas in terms of legacy. First, he'll. He'll make recorded videos for brands. And that's. That's pretty much, uh, uh, known. I mean, that's what videographers do. They make videos for brands. But then recently, more recently at least, he's gotten into the legacy side of film. So he'll even do videos for towns. But specifically, the area that we're working with is he'll do videos for families. And so he'll sit down with the family, usually with the matriarch or patriarch of the family and the kids surrounding, uh, this member of the family, this matriarch or patriarch, and the kids will ask questions of that family member, um, and he'll record the whole thing. So we've often talked about all the different ways that you can pass on your family history or your family values, missions. Um, and we've talked about how you can do that in print form and how you can do that with grantor letters or ethical wills. Um, but one of the cool things that he does is he brings it into the modern age, and he makes this video that's very well produced, and he does B roll and everything, and he makes it look very, very pretty. Uh, but what was interesting in talking to him was he said that the value of making this video is not actually the video that you produce afterwards. It's the six hours of this family sitting together in a room asking this family member questions. Because for that family member, that's the highlight of their year, probably the highlight of their decade. All of their kids in one place asking questions about the family history, where they came from, and the struggle that this member had to go through to get to this point right here. That's very valuable. Um, it's not something you get to experience very often. And then to have a recording of it that is well polished and produced by a professional later on, I can't Think of a better way to tell your family story than that right there.

Speaker A: Yeah. And again, as we said before, what would you give to have a letter from your great grandfather describing all of this stuff, family history and struggles and the successes and failures, things that are learned, your values, your faith or whatever, for somebody to write a letter, an open letter to family members? I mean, I don't have anything like that at all. I would give a lot of money to have that. I can't get it.

Speaker D: Yeah.

Speaker A: So first of all, write it. But you know, you know, it's even neater though. Have him speak it to you. Right. So 150 years later, you can see your ancestor talking to your great grandfather on his knee about these things. Right. How valuable? Can you put a price tag on that? I don't think you can. What a neat opportunity that we have. And a lot of you folks listening, you have fabulous stories that need to be told. Wow. I mean, spend some money. Take advantage of this. It will be priceless in the future.

Speaker D: That's right. That's right. And John has agreed to do a podcast episode, so we have that to look forward to as well.

Speaker A: There you go. And he'll explain some more of this. And Stephanie Green, we also have another person that has agreed to do a podcast. And, uh, will you describe what she does?

Speaker C: I would love to. I am really excited about what she does. So, um, Mindy early is the person, um, I spoke to at the Planning Institute. She actually works out of Rockford, Michigan. Um, she has her master's in education. And so she's working with ultra high net worth families, helping their kids get a good handle, um, and cultivate a good stewardship around money. Because these high net worth families, it's a different conversation than when it's maybe a middle class family. There's certain nuances and different complexities, um, that go along with that. And so it's really helping prepare kids to have those conversations. So, um, she focuses on kids ages 5 through 11 and what they do. They will send your family a box. And within that box there's going to be games and um, cool programs to do with your kids that will start that conversation, start the learning for them to get a better grasp on those handles. A better handles, whatever. A better grasp on those concepts. Um, it reminded me a lot of there is a company that will send you, when you have a newborn, they will send you a certain box every few months and it has, um, certain, um, toys and certain projects for the kids to do based on their developmental Age, this is the same thing, but it's focused around finance. So they're looking at things like money, skills, um, your purpose and identity. Who are you outside of maybe the family business or outside of the money that comes with it? Um, stewardship, philanthropy, and how to lead and make good decisions. And I just thought that was so cool. Um, I think sometimes people will look at a family who's really wealthy and say, oh, they've got it. It's their life is easy. They've got it all figured out. And it's like, no, there's additional conversations you need to have with your children and starting it those money conversations at 5, it's really not too young. Um, so I personally got really excited about this for my own boys. Um, not that I'm ultra high net worth, but just even those conversations I think are just going to be valuable for them to have.

Speaker A: And it's actually quite reasonable. We won't tell you the price, but I think it's a bargain for what it, what it gives.

Speaker C: And it's called launched learning. I don't think I mentioned what it, what it was. Launch learning.

Speaker A: Yep, you can look that up. Uh, Google that if you'd like. And again, what is it? Uh, don't, uh, mama birds imprint something very early on in their brood so they understand they're supposed to eat fish or not worms or whatever. There's, there's a lot of imprinting. Isn't that the terminology going on? Um, uh, so, so the idea is start at a very young age. It's, this is designed for them to imprint a healthy view of themselves and of money and uh, stewardship and all sorts of stuff. Um, it's really neat, it's an exciting concept and I think, um, kind of long overdue. So it's packaged, it's ready to go, um, it's fun. And uh, again, the value of this is just fabulous.

Speaker D: Imprint them and you talk about the age part of it. So one of the things in this industry that we see pretty often is that people don't have these conversations conversations until the kids are in their 20s. Well, the kids already know that the family has money. And that's one of the things that Mindy was talking about. The kids already know that there's money in the family. They see that they live a different lifestyle. But by the time that they're 20, it's not that it's too late, but you've pushed off a lot of learning that could have happened a lot sooner.

Speaker E: Mhm.

Speaker D: I like that. This is Designed for younger kids.

Speaker A: I think it's a strategic philosophy for sure. Really cool stuff. Launch, learning. Of course we're going to have Mindy on and she'll describe more of that as well. So you can understand why we're having a great time at lunch with all these practitioners. How inspirational they are. Um, the one that I had to discuss is, uh, bench, uh, consulting. Josh Gentry created that. Josh is a third, uh, generation owner of Sargento Incorporated. You've heard that name before. As well as a board member. And, um, through his experiences, he said, you know, I think there I could share with people what I've learned in my family dynamics, especially when it comes to succession planning and the handing over of the reins and business decision making. Um, so, uh, essentially I'm going to read what he says here on his website because it's. I can't improve on it. He says since tax codes can be extremely complicated, many families seek legal and accounting advice critical for the successful transition of the business and family wealth between generations. Right, so we get that. But too often there has been little effort made to uh, clearly and comprehensively capture the voice, the vision, the values and the wisdom of family leaders as well as the goals of the rising generation. So to maybe paraphrase what I think this is saying is that, uh, oftentimes when you think about transition, uh, and next gen, uh, passing the torch, we're thinking in terms of the transactional, the documents, the process, the organization, the goal, that's fine. But what about the relational? Right. What about. Folks can agree and I understand how this is going to work, but how do they feel about it? Where is their place? Do they have any, um, uh, skin in the game as far as how this is going to be done? Um, how will decisions be made in a way that even uh, though we might have unity of position, we have unity of spirit within the family, even if we have disagreement. There are a lot of um, intangibles. There's um, a lot of spirit behind this and it's not always found in a, ah, well laid out succession, uh, document. And so I would imagine. And we'll have Josh on, I imagine, although he might not share them, I'm sure he has war stories. Right. Of such a large, uh, company with who knows? I don't know. I would imagine cousins and nephews and all sorts of people involved with this and kind of what he has learned to propel him to begin bench consulting. So I mean he, he's. I'm really looking forward to getting to know him. I Think again. That might be a valuable resource for us to refer out to if, uh, folks are saying, uh, this isn't going so well. You know, the attorneys are great, but, uh, you know, we've got some family dynamics we have to figure out in this process. And uh, who knows, Bench Consulting might be a very good folks for them to connect with.

Speaker C: Yeah.

Speaker A: And I think so.

Speaker C: Sorry, I'm interrupting. Um, no. Something that I had multiple conversations at this conference with second, third, fourth generation business owners, family business owners, and I heard multiple stories how when it came to succession planning and passing the torch, how, um, the movement of money was, uh, what fractured their family. Um, I spoke with at least three people who said that they know they don't no longer speak to their siblings or their parents. And so I cannot stress enough how important it is to have your, your um, legacy wealth figured out. Um, again, we're meeting with people in real time that are describing just the heartache that can come with not having those hard conversations up front. Um, and so I just even thinking about like Josh at Bench Consulting, how he, I'm sure he does have war stories, um, and how heartbreaking that is. And, and at the end of the day, this is just money. It's just stuff. Um, having this be a blessing to your family versus, you know, a curse to it is just, it's so worth the time. I just, I thought of that as you were talking, dad, and just wanted to bring up the importance of that.

Speaker A: Yep. Don't just be transactional. Make sure you're relational as you design the handover, uh, of assets and of opportunities, uh, with businesses. So that's just briefly a tour around the block we wanted to bring to you today. Are there takeaways for this? Yeah. Number one is make sure that you, uh, keep tuning into navigating abundance because we're going to be deep diving into this with actually the founders of these opportunities that we just talked about. So you want to take advantage of that? For sure. We want to encourage you, uh, through their vision as well. Uh, and the other thing I think the big takeaway is, again, you can't do it by yourself. We can't do it all, you know. So, you know, if you are interested in reaching out to some of these folks, please do that. If you'd like to have a conversation with us about, hey, I've got this situation. Do you know anybody? Let's talk that through. Love to do that. As you know, you can get in contact with us and we would love to have a conversation with you be an encouragement to you and of course, go to our website, take the essential quiz, start looking at, uh, the essential file, uh, and figure out, um, maybe how I can start organizing what I've done in the three areas of my wealth ledger, logistic, and legacy wealth. Right. Would you agree? Any other takeaways you guys have or did that do it? Was that really well done?

Speaker D: That's good. Very well done.

Speaker B: Huh?

Speaker D: Very well done. Especially the continue watching Navigating Abundance part self serving.

Speaker A: But look, here's the thing. We can't encourage you if you don't listen to us. It's really hard to do.

Speaker D: That's right.

Speaker A: Uh, we're doing this just to be a blessing to you, so take advantage of it. All right, so this is Chris Tanke with Navigating Abundance with Stephanie Green and Connor Mackey. Uh, thanking you for spending some time with us. And, um, all three of us would agree and we want to encourage you. Sure. This is a lot of work. It is. Of course it is. It's a lifetime work. But your ledger wealth, logistic wealth, and legacy wealth, it's worth putting effort into it because your family is really worth it. All right, we'll see you next time.

Speaker E: Thank you for joining us for today's episode of Navigating Abundance. If you found this information useful or helpful in any way, let us know in the comments section below. If you'd like to see more content like this and follow our podcast, you can find us on all major podcast platforms. If you're interested in working with today's guests, you can find their information in the description of this podcast. If you'd like to know more about Navigating Abundance and how we may help you or find more reasons resources related to what we do, you can find those at ah, navigatingabundance. Com.