The Hidden Factor That Can Derail Your Legacy

Wealthy families often take every precaution in preserving their legacies for future generations, with carefully constructed estate plans, wills, and trusts. But they often overlook the hidden factor that can undermine all these plans, and it isn’t investment returns or poor estate planning: It’s family dynamics. Studies have shown that the main reasons wealth fails to transition successfully across generations have little to do with making sound financial decisions—and much more to do with how the family interacts with each other. Families who exercise a high degree of intentionality and purposefulness regarding both the financial and the nonfinancial elements of their lives will be more resilient over longer periods of time.