Have you ever heard of the adage “shirtsleeve to shirtsleeves in three generations?” It refers to the inability of children and grandchildren to manage family wealth that has been passed down. And it starts with the classic American dream story. One of the first generations hits it out of the park with success, but by the third generation, two things have happened: One, the money is all gone, and two, family relationships have been laid to waste because of the impact of the money on the family.

In fact, there have been studies done on affluent families to understand the reasoning better, and it’s not because of the lack of planning – less than 5% of failures are due to any failure to plan, so the pros are doing it right – fist pump in the air! Instead, they found that 60% of these failures are due to a lack of communication and trust within the family. Unprepared heirs cause another 25% – no one is setting them up for the roles and responsibilities they will have once mom and dad are gone. In addition, many people will raise their children to believe they are poor or middle class – not letting them know there is any family wealth. We highly recommend against this!

Finally, the last 10% of failures are caused by having no vision or mission of what to do with the money. We’ve been working on family legacy planning for years at DMG. We put together the “Living in Possibility Process” to help families address these issues, and Richard even wrote a book called Endless Inheritance that also walks a family through how to address these various causes of failure. To order a copy of his book, follow this link, and to learn more about family legacy planning, please visit https://aplaceofpossibility.com/family-and-legacy/.

One solution to the failures we discussed is creating a family legacy video. If you think about it, there’s the traditional way of passing things on through simple conversations, but they can quickly become forgotten and disappear over time. Photos are good for capturing a single moment; books and letters can give us valuable information, and audio can preserve one’s voice. But nothing compares to a video.

It instantly takes you back to moments in time that can be shared and passed down and ultimately helps foster connections for generations to come. That’s why we’re excited to sit down with a true expert on the topic, Stephanie Shaterain. Stephanie owns fLO Content, a video production firm specializing in documentary-style pieces that serve specific goals or strategies, and one of their specialties is legacy videos.  

In this episode of A Place of Possibility, we’ll be discussing:

• The shirtsleeves-to-shirtsleeves phenomenon of family wealth dissipating through the generations and how to prevent this from happening.
• Inspiring family stories that were preserved through video, including one from the Del Monte family!
• An inside look into fLO Content, how they got started, how it works, and what to expect when working with them.
• Special tips on how you can help preserve your family’s wealth, traditions, and values.

And much more!

To all the parents and grandparents who want to secure the future of the upcoming generations, this podcast is for you. It’s never too early to start thinking about the future. Join us as we dive into the secrets to maintaining wealth and family legacy through the generations.