Why is it important to plan a legacy for our children?

For most parents is a dream that our children and grandchildren could carry and transmit the values, culture and our particular family’s history, besides having the financial tools for them to keep and raise their prosperity. What if i tell you that you can make that dream come true?

The word “legacy” means “something transmited generation to generation”. The legacy of a family, can be quickly associated to the material wealth the descendants inherit, but a family’s legacy goes far beyond that.

You surely rememeber with nostalgia those precious little childhood moments as family, like family celebrations, your parents’ behavior or everyday situations that defined your own personality.

The emotional legacy is the culture and familiar history that is built through the years and shapes our life’s perspective, our goals and our way to face the problems. These are values, moral principles, attitudes, lessons and examples transmitted in your family ambience during your life and from generation to generation.

Nowadays, with the constant pressence of technology in our lives and the great ammount of information and influences to wich kids and tweens are exposed,   lots of people might think that this concept is obsolete or even extinct. But the real deal is that, positive or negative, the role models our kids watch will reflect on the adults they tomorrow will be.

That’s why it is pivotal that we as parents reflect, not only on the lessons that we’ll repeat to our kids a thousand times, but in the examples we give them everyday with our actions and for them to be conscious with the wisdoms we want to leave them for life.

The next component of the family’s legacy, are the properties, financial actives and other economic resources that the family posseses.

It is important to understand that the legacy will serve as a tool for your children to forge a better future, or at least as a backing for them to live without worries when you not longer be with them.  That’s why its planification can make the difference, even more if you have underage children.

A lot of families lose their patrimony when it is inherited from one generation to other, but the lessons you transmit to your kids will be key for them to administrate the family assets in a propper manner, and for your family’s vision to trascend from generation to generation.

Usually, the conversation about family’s legacy and how it’s going to be distributed is always posposed or avoided, because talking about death and redistribution of assets is not a very comfortable topic for many people. However, the lack of planification can leave to uncertainty, confussion and errors. This planification is necessary to be done. The sooner, the better.

Keep in mind that the planification of your family’s legacy must fit the needs, goals and characteritics of your family in particular, so it permits you take advantage of all the opportunities, protect your loved ones from potential problems and establish the basis for generations to come.

Are you ready to start? Let’s see 5 common mistakes you must avoid when planning successfully your family’s legacy:

1. Lack of defined goals.

Without goals is impossible to elaborate a plan. The first step is to define actual goals based on the needs of your family and your vision. Think on how you’d like to be remembered and determinate wich are the moral values that fundament your family’s culture. At the same time, think on who to benefit and how with the patrimony you have now or in the future. If you support some charity, you can include them in your goals.

2. Lack of communication inside the family

Sometimes, families avoid to openly discuss about this topic within its members, because it is directly related to the topic of death. In other cases, parents rather preffer not to reveal the family assets and its redistribution because they want to encourage their kids to forge their own future. However, participation of the children in the planning is essential to secure the continuity of the goals and it also prepares them to recieve and administrate the financial resources that they’ll inherit.

3. Lack of a plan to achieve the goals

Establishing a plan is necessary for your vision to become true and not just stay as good intentions. The first step is the hardest, but a plan marks the rout that will drive you to achieve your goals. You don’t have properties or assets? Establish first an action plan to achieve them.

4. Lack of specialized advice

Lots of time people feel reluctanct to share info about patrimony with their financial agents, or feel like it’s unnecessary to share their goals and dreams with a specialist in retirement planification. Don’t be afraid of getting advice with licensed experts on financial products, their guidance can help you take advantage of oportunities that most people that don’t work on finances, ignore.

A family’s financial plan is not the same for every family and is not static, because the needs even inside a same family will change with the passage of time, according to the stage of life of its members.

Start now a successful legacy plan for your family with a licensed financial adviser, expert in family’s legacy planification from one of the most recognized agencies in Miami, ACA Advisor. Either you want to plan your retirement, protect your mortage or save for the future of your children, they help you alineate your action plan with your goals. Recieve info and free advisory in english calling at (305)265-8180.

Keep in mind that is never too late to start. More reason if it’s about your family.