10 Reasons to Preserve Your Legacy

By Stacy Derby

1. Take Control. Ensure your heirs know your personal story. Don’t let others define your legacy.

2. It Wasn’t Always This Easy. Younger generations didn’t witness the struggle and the sacrifice. Enlighten your heirs.

3. Navigate Wealth Transfer. Engage in meaningful communication to avoid the high attrition rates of generational wealth.

4. Family Business Succession. A corporate history can inform and inspire future leaders to embody founders’ core values.

5. Philanthropic Continuity. Educate your heirs on the importance of your family’s philanthropic legacy.

6. Raise Resilient Kids. Children who know their family histories have higher rates of success when faced with adversity.

7. Engage Millennials. Millennials don’t equate monetary inheritance with love. They connect to values and stories.

8. Honor Thy Mother & Father. Gift a biography project to aging parents to celebrate their sacrifices and contributions.

9. The Power of Reminiscence. The healing and restorative power of life review provides physical and emotional benefits.
10. Share a Life Well Lived. There is great satisfaction in a life well lived. Share your wisdom with future generations.

© 2016 Bind These Words, LLC. Used by permission.

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Stacy Derby is the Founder and Principal of Bind These Words, LLC, a Chicago-based family biography firm. Stacy and her creative team work with exceptional families and family-held corporations to preserve their legacies for future generations. The firm’s custom, privately published biographies grace the libraries and coffee tables of prominent families around the world. Learn more at www.BindTheseWords.com.