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Your Survival Guy was speaking with a long-time client the other day. He’s an expert on all things animals. One day, a friend of his said he should meet her dad. Dad was in his early 90s and made a fortune as a racehorse breeder. She thought they’d hit it off because of my client’s interests, and they did.
When they were all in the father’s den having coffee, he asked my client, “Has she told you about my book?” “No, she hasn’t,” my client said. “Honey,” he said. “Would you mind grabbing it for me?”
Handing the leather-bound book to her dad, he blew off the dust and handed it to my client. Holding the hefty piece of work carefully in his hands, my client read the title: Everything I Know About Horses. He opened the cover, and inside were 300 empty pages. The dad smiled and said, “And that’s all I know.”
Not too long after that morning, the dad passed away, and the daughter inherited a fortune. And this is where trust becomes so important in your relationship with your kids and your money. Because he loved his daughter dearly, the bank trust department was tasked with looking after her.
But as it turned out, the bank wasn’t as easygoing as the dad. The bank handled the estate in such a strict manner they made the daughter’s life miserable. It wasn’t what dad would have wanted. Unfortunately, she didn’t live the long prosperous life he had envisioned. The miserable relationship with the bank didn’t help.
Action Line: When it comes to your estate and wealth planning, you need to have trust. Not that trust. Trust in your loved one. Trust in whom you’re working with and trust that your loved ones understand and know how you want things to go. The best transitions of wealth I’ve been involved in are ones where the working relationship between your heirs and advisors is in place while you’re alive and well. Then you can be sure your loved ones will be treated right. And the trust is established. When you want to talk about trust, I’m here.
Originally posted on Your Survival Guy.
