By Laura A. Roser Join Me in Mapping Out Your Life Several years ago, Philip de Souza, Founder and President of cyber security company Aurora, began compiling his thoughts about the meaning of life into short monthly emails he sent to his high-school-aged son. Word caught on and soon a bunch of his son’s friends requested…
By Susan L. Axelrod, CCP “What will your legacy be?” I have been asking people this question for 15 years. Mostly, the response is a head tilt and a curious look. Few people find their deep inner passion, and most people have not taken the time to contemplate the legacy they will leave behind. Why…
By Mark Hartnett Families face an uphill battle when passing down their wealth. One oft-cited study conducted by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser has shown that 70 percent of family estate transfers fail as a result of family squabbles and disagreement. To paraphrase noted author James E. Hughes, Jr., families that are truly successful are…
By Martha J. Hartney, Esq. I have been an estate planner for nearly a decade. The word legacy is tossed around in my profession like candy. For years, I felt confused and concerned by the word. I didn’t understand why the hair on the back of my neck would stand up every time I heard…
By Marty Chiu Happiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family … in another city.” — George Burns Close — but not too close — is the ideal situation, right? Family ties can be messy. Often family relationships seem to unravel along the journey of life. This is probably not how family leaders intended…
By Amanda Dunn For many collectors, their interest in acquiring art is a passion. People spend their entire lifetime building their collection, and it can make up a substantial part of their net worth. But, unlike the thoughtful planning that is often intrinsic to other assets, the majority of collectors have not crafted a plan…
By Janice A. Thompson The rocks in my sister-in-law’s garden tell a story. On each rock you can see the perfectly etched imprint of the foliage that once surrounded them. They tell of another time when the plants were alive and thriving. Just as these rocks tell a unique story now a part of history,…
By Merlin Buhl As soon as I turned the ignition key, the speakers erupted to life with thunderous noise spewing a rap song. As I struggled to find the volume knob, I quickly noticed that the f-word was being used more than if a sailor had smashed his thumb with a hammer. While I am…
By Thornton Sully Otylie Bártošova has no reason to believe that her eccentric, drunken father’s legacy, an aging score to a sonata that he bestows to her before staggering off to be killed in World War I, is of the profound origins that he claimed. Nevertheless, she dutifully defends it when in 1939 the jackboots…
By Laura A. Roser In his book, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore writes: How you spend your working hours — what you look at, sit on and work with —makes a difference, not only in terms of efficiency but for its effect on your sense of yourself and the direction your imagination takes. Some…
