Building Future Capital

We spend our lives building a life for ourselves and our families. Many of us subscribe to the proverb that a good person leaves an inheritance for our children’s children. What happens in many cases actually most cases we don’t plan at all.  In the Black community 70% of people do not have a complete estate plan. As an estate planning attorney my experience challenges that number! I see many of the Wills that are filed and see that many are not complete plans at all. 

I will admit we see many Wills that are created on the death bed in an effort to minimize the disruption and confusion that is anticipated upon death. That is indeed not a plan. I would also suggest that this may create more confusion than it solves. 

When we look at what we pass on through a narrow lens we overlook many things. I encourage people to take the time to create a complete picture beyond the day of passing but to plan for our children’s children.

In building a legacy we need to take the time pass on more than money. The capital that we provide is social, spiritual as well as financial. The financial capital is a resource that we provide to impact the social and spiritual capital. 

In this current day it is evident to see how the love of money can impact motivation, ambition and values. If we are able to encourage and reward service, generosity and community in addition to achievement, we can shape the generations that follow.

Leaving money without values can corrupt. I often say that money evaporates without systemic support to maintain and build. I encourage legacy building through maintenance of property, the support of real property acquisition. I encourage providing resources for education, not just for education sake but for impact. I encourage supporting our heirs to walk in the gift and live in the purpose for which they are created. Yet, I believe that we are not intended to be narcissistic or hedonistic. As a person of faith, I believe that we should love our neighbors as ourselves. That is a lesson that we can teach by leaving a legacy that incentivizes service and giving.

As I encourage the utilization of Trusts in estate planning, I encourage folks to consider charitable giving as a component of their Trusts that are income producing.  Charitable giving not only provides support for our community, it also defrays some of the taxes that would be imposed upon the Trust. We can provide an opportunity for our heirs to make decisions about doing well and doing good. 

It is our responsibility to support our children and our children’s children to have the resources necessary to be contributing members of the community. That goes far beyond finances. We are blessed to be a blessing. We should not take for granted the depth and the breadth of the blessing by limiting it just to the financial impact.