An (almost true) Family CFO Story.

John (not his real name) worried that his three kids grew up with too much and may not appreciate the value of a dollar the way he does.

After all, he fought his way up the corporate ladder with smarts, grit, and hard work. Apparently, smoked old fashioned’s helped too. I’ll second that.

Along the way, he built a small fortune, largely through his own effort – and some good timing.

When we first met, he had just retired. Well, tried to. Boards called left and right, and no amount of bourbon could sway him otherwise (yes, I am embellishing on the alcohol…a little).

He told us that he always managed his wealth on his own and that he enjoyed it, but it had grown quite complex. And despite feeling like he had been successful managing it all, he and his wife never got around to tackling their biggest fear.

“When we go, it’s gone” he said. “Our kids will spend it all. What’s the saying – shirt sleeve to shirt sleeve in three generations? In our case, it’s two.” Ouch.

This was obviously a painful topic. We get it, it’s easy to let the legacy s&%t slide when you’re a busy executive at a global giant and in the weeds on everything else.

“Have you talked with an estate attorney?” We asked.

“We have, but they’re more transactional, and we feel like we want to build a relationship with a team that can get to know us and our kids on a more personal level, now and over time. A team who will take the time to understand how we think about money and life. A team that uncovers our unique and often different perspectives, values, and goals – and how all that ties in with our total financial picture. More importantly, we want to better understand the trade-offs involved with different estate planning options and how those trade-offs might best align with our personal comfort level.”

He went on, “In business, there are no perfect solutions, only trade-offs.” Smart.

Now the kicker, “We want an advisory team that can act objectively, whose only incentive is to help us. We don’t want to work with someone who has to sell us something to get paid.”

Right up our alley (we’re fee only, no commissions).

“We know that we’ll need to work with an estate attorney, but we’d like our advisory team to be an intimate part of that process – guiding it, asking the questions we’re not asking, and helping to facilitate communication with us, the attorney, and our kids. It would also be nice to take all the legalese in those estate documents and put it on a simple, easy to follow one-page flow chart. That’s not in legalese,” he smiled.

Right up our alley again.

Enter our ‘Family CFO’ approach to building lifelong relationships with families like his.

Vernon (aka Vernonator) explains it much better than I do in this two-minute clip.

Disclaimer: For informational purposes only and should not be interpreted as legal, tax or financial advice. Always consult your CPA/tax advisor/attorney (or reach out to us;) to discuss your specific situation. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. The people, facts and circumstances in this case study have been altered to protect client confidentiality.