How a 9 Year Old Boy Leaves a Legacy

Every now and then you get a glimpse of heaven. And your legacy. I have a son-in-law, Phillip. He comes from a family of 13. His youngest brother, David, is 9 years old. On Wednesday, David was crossing the road to get the mail when he was hit by a pickup truck. He was killed instantly. Yesterday, a celebration of …

The Crazy Plane Ride to Nowhere

“Somewhere between zero and thirty thousand feet, you look out the window, see the people and houses below and you begin to wonder: where am I going? What am I doing?”  I heard that quote from a friend of mine who was describing his life on the road. Even now, I’m on a plane.  There’s turbulence so everyone is buckled …

The Rise of FamilyArc and Family Legacy

Many have seen my title Founder of FamilyArc.  A few responded with questions. It all started during my time leading The Signatry.  Families and family-owned businesses began to approach me. They wanted something more. These families were facing issues of thinking through succession. They wondered how their businesses would carry on, how their children would fare, and ultimately what their legacy …

The 4 Types of Giving

Did you know there are at least 4 different kinds of giving? When people think about giving, they usually think about giving to their church, or maybe a missionary.  They usually think about giving to an existing organization, but there are other types of giving. There is (1) Systematic giving—regular giving for support typically to an existing organization; (2) Strategic—this …

7 Lessons from the Obituaries

I know. I know. I mean who reads the obituaries. I’m still old fashioned. I get a print newspaper delivered to my house. It’s an old habit. I saw my dad pore over the newspaper. I’m following his way. When I read the paper, particularly the Sunday edition, there’s a large amount dedicated to the obituaries. I know that many …

2 Surprising Keys to Preserving your Family Legacy

Too often when people think about preserving family legacy, they consider two things: preserving financial assets and preparing estate documents that provide for estate tax savings. While those are important elements, they are only true if we determine that family legacy consists only of financial wealth. If we define wealth more broadly to include all forms of wealth—values, work ethic, …