I wrote this post in 2015, but I thought it was worth re-visiting. Have you ever watched the reality TV show on hoarders? It’s amazing that people would literally drown in their stuff. But in truth, it’s not just the hoarders. Joshua Becker writes a blog on living the minimalist life and he’s compiled quite a list of how much …
Think Different—it was an award winning TV commercial by Steve Jobs. It was part of the launch of the Apple revolution in personal computing. The commercial touts the “crazy ones” who aren’t afraid to dream and tackle the impossible. Steve Jobs changed the way people think about technology. Simple elegance. He viewed technology as transformational. But transformation is not safe. …
After a difficult fight with leukemia, my mother-in-law, Sue Replogle, recently passed away. She lived a great life of faith and service. Our family was truly amazed by all the people who shared with us the kind ways she had served them. Even in the aftermath of her passing, we found more ways that Sue had served her family. She …
Have you ever thought about the cost of giving? What do I mean–the cost of giving? At a practical personal level, in so many cases, we can make personal tangible gifts–of our time, a smile, a pat on the shoulder, an encouraging word. And on the one hand, we can look and say to ourselves, “those gifts didn’t cost anything.” …
The book of Matthew (26.2) records Jesus: “You know that after two days the Passover is coming, and the Son of Man will be delivered up to be crucified.” I was having coffee with a friend who told me of a business acquaintance who’d gone in for a physical. After a series of tests, the man was told that he …
Do you engage your family in discussions about money? Specifically, topics like giving, saving and spending? It’s surprising how many families don’t talk to their kids about money. Below are some good money conversation starters for older kids, a sampling of questions from Sharesavespend.com’s set of Family Money Talks discussion starter cards. They provide an easy way to begin talking about money …
In December 2016, the Slingshot Group published a whitepaper called Who’s Leading Next? The paper addresses the fact that in the nonprofit world that many top level leadership positions are held by the Boomer generation. On the other hand, there are 10,000 Boomers turning age 65 daily until the year 2028. As a result, the coming years should produce a …
It’s the most common question I get in estate planning: How much should I leave to my children? The answer to that question is not a simple formula. For many Americans, we’ll work hard and accumulate some level of wealth. At whatever level “wealth” is defined, there will be some level of relative value. The question is what will we …
I’ve seen many clients make great choices for lawyers and financial advisors to administer their estate and their finances. But in some of those cases, their lawyers and financial advisors might not outlive them. It’s a planning risk to be taken seriously. In some cases, many clients rely heavily on attorneys, accountants and financial advisors for their financial life. These …
Some families choose not to have children. Some families are prevented from having children—whether because of infertility or otherwise. Or of course, there are single individuals who accumulate some level of wealth on their own. So without a spouse and without children what do these people do with their wealth? And for that matter, do they even need an estate …
