Wealth is a responsibility—one that is not easily taught from generation to generation. So often, wealth can become a taboo subject. At Wellspring, we work closely with our clients and their families to help improve communication among family members, educate them on their finances and assist them in developing and understanding a cohesive financial plan. We increase, and in some cases, improve the quality of dialogue regarding financial matters across the generations. We also promote a sense of involvement that encourages and incorporates input from various family members.
Wellspring can be instrumental in the governance of family wealth by helping to establish roles and responsibilities among family members; helping to articulate the family’s financial, personal and philanthropic goals; and sometimes even helping establish a family council or committee to handle the financial and charitable affairs of the family. We help communicate and emphasize the family’s core values and goals, taking into account differing views, aptitudes and interests. When appropriate, we help provide the younger generations with an understanding of the history of the family’s wealth and some of the struggles endured and hard work put forth to create that wealth.
We schedule, coordinate and facilitate family meetings, which are especially helpful when family members are geographically dispersed. We work with your family to design and implement productive, timely and memorable meeting events. Quite often, clients do not know what to expect in these meetings, but come away with valuable insights into how the family members relate to each other, and how the subject of wealth can be woven into the fabric of family values, rather than become a source of division and misunderstanding. Effective family meetings then become an event that everyone looks forward to, rather than being filled with apprehension.