The Most Important Heir to Prepare:
Part 1 of Preparing Heirs Series

I have been helping high net-worth families with their finances for almost 40 years as a professional investment advisor, as a Tiger 21 peer and as a friend. Based on my experiences, after a wealthy family has successfully organized their retirement income for the first generation and helped their children launch, many change focus to preparing their heirs for future inheritance. This is a noble and important task which will likely take decades to conduct properly (I will expand upon this topic in future series). However, the family’s primary concern needs to be preparing the heir who will accede to the responsibility of stewarding the family resources after the head of household passes; most often, this is the spouse. (While I will refer to the “spouse” in this report, statistically the survivor is the female, non-income producer in the marriage.)

In my book, Cash Out, Cash In: The After Success Investment Guide, I wrote a chapter directed toward widows and divorcees who find themselves unprepared. I also recommend reading the chapter on writing a “what if…” letter to your spouse with instructions on practical issues that are not covered in your estate plan. There I outlined how to create a road map of your different holdings and advisors for your spouse.

There are so many elements to consider when planning for your future that it can seem overwhelming; yet, imagine the possible ramifications of not properly preparing your partner. And as we all know, we are not talking about an if, but a when… Here are a few tales of successes and averted tragedies that I hope will encourage you to prepare your precious heirs: Continue reading →