Based on my experience, American societal money scripts around estate planning appear to be “Good parents leave everything to family,” and “The more money I can leave my kids the better off they will be.” It’s not surprising, then, that estate...
Gaining the emotional awareness to transform our relationship with money requires taking a difficult but critical journey into the past. As described last week, Ebenezer Scrooge made that journey with the guidance of the Ghost of Christmas Past. Only then was he ready...
One of the biggest conundrums of estate planning is considering how, or even if, you can give money or property to your heirs in a manner that will help them. How can leaving money to someone not be helpful? Research shows that receiving a lot of money can certainly...
A common estate-planning question is whether it makes sense to leave inheritances with strings attached. My typical answer is “it depends.” It’s natural to want your legacy to be used wisely, but trying to control from beyond the grave can have...
The Christmas shopping season is in full swing. Some shoppers overspend on gifts and end up paying off credit card bills for months. Others drive themselves crazy trying to find exactly the right gifts for the right people. Others hate shopping so much that they find...
Watch this video on YouTube Recently a client called with this dilemma: “I’m probably going to get one of those government checks. But I don’t need it. I’d be embarrassed to take it. How can I return it?” The government checks in question...