When was the last time you tallied your assets under management? It’s often abbreviated AUM. It’s a term that financial advisors use to provide a measurement of how many dollars they are providing guidance for. The bigger the AUM the more prestige—typically. For individuals and households, we talk in terms of net worth—a listing of the assets minus liabilities equal net worth.

Under any circumstances, whether assets under management or net worth, I wonder if we’ve defined the term too narrowly. Think about it. What does AUM or net worth tells us? It measures one thing—our financial portfolio—but little else.

All your other assets under management

What about the relationships we steward, and the health of those relationships? A thriving marriage, respect and care with kids, or laughter with grandkids? How do you measure those?

What about the measure of our work relationships? Have we dealt wisely? Do we have the respect of our peers? Do people consider us a great teammate?

Or what about spiritually? Do we rightly know how to handle God’s Word and to teach others? Do we have vibrant relationships vertically (with God) and horizontally (with people)?

Are we generous with our time, our talent, and our treasure? What are the words that people would use to describe us?

You get the idea. So what other resources are you stewarding? How do they show up on your balance sheet?

Perhaps we need a new form. We could call it the Resource Stewardship Ledger. And in the Resource Stewardship Ledger, we begin to list and manage far more than our financial health—all the other aspects of a meaningful life.

Are you all in? What resources might you list out?

Photo by Tyler Nix on Unsplash

Bill High

Bill is CEO & Founder of Vyne Legacy. He works with families to equip them with tools to build multigenerational legacies, and he teaches givers and financial advisers on transformational biblical generosity. He is the co-author with David Green of Giving It All Away and Getting It All Back Again: The Way of Living Generously.

Published December 13, 2019

Topics: Family Legacy

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