Legacy Planning

Interview with Jenny Seaton

 
Discussion with Jenny Seaton of Curtin Radio FM on 18 March 2019 on what Legacy Planning is, who should do it, why it should be done. It included a broad overview of the process of how to create and implement a Legacy Plan. The main overarching goal of the Legacy Planning process is to make the last trimester of your life (last 20 to 30 years) your best.

Transcription

Jenny: My next guest, Michael Grant, is a principal strategic planner for legacy advisors in Australia. Good afternoon to you Michael.

Michael: Good afternoon, Jenny.

Jenny: Yeah, you too. It’s good to see the book that’s come out identifying and managing your legacy. You’re passionate about this. Michael, why are we sort of slack on making sure things are organized? Is that the case?

Michael: Well, I think it’s what we have is a, a group of people whom people call baby boomers, people who were around 60 who have managed to build up a nice business or organized a portfolio of assets and they’re sort of controlling that and looking after it and proud of what they’ve done, but they’re also looking at what else they want to do with their life. And there’s this issue around “How do I move from controlling all these things to getting on with doing other things. Like, you know, really getting with my wife again, or my partner again and the rebuilding my relationships with my children. I’m reinvesting in friendships. So, or even just getting back to the community and how do I go about doing that?” And this is because of angst or conflict around “Well, how do I move from one to the other?” So that’s what legacy planning is. Legacy planning is about helping people to do that.

Jenny: Actually that’s very interesting because, you know, really in the past we only ever thought about writing a will. We hope our children will benefit from that. But now of course, people aren’t aging like they used to. You know, people in their seventies and 80s can still live if they, if they’re well, if they’re not unwell, that live a full life and do other things now that they’ve created the family situation and they’re financially supporting everyone. Well, you know, when they pass on. So where do you start?

Michael: Well, I like to ask people some questions around, well, do they know where they are in their life right now? And, and then I ask another question like, where do they want to go? What is it they want to do next? Because you know, I’m really interested in helping them, making their last trimester the best. I mean, you know, we’ve got three phases in our life. When you’re 50 or 60, you still got another 20 to 30 years. If you’re lucky these days, then you can do a whole lot of good things with those 20 to 30 years, even if your health is not as good as it could be. That’s one of the things that I get people to look at, to really critically evaluate these things, cause that’s part of living a great life.

Jenny: Okay. So you’ve asked the question, “what would you like to do for the rest of your life?” It may be you’ve retired, maybe not yet. Maybe you’re planning to in the next few years and you can start planning financially for the life you’d like to live. But, okay, what else do we need to put in place? You’re talking about a will.

Michael: Really it’s about putting together, reflecting seriously on one of the special things that you really might’ve lost sight of and so, the hurly-burly is building a business, you know, but you really start to think about what I’ve done and I want to make sure it don’t lose it, but it’s also about, well, I want to live my life well. So what do you do? You need to look at things like have a health plan. Okay, I like to talk to people about having a friendship plan. Most people only have about six to 10, what they call true friends. And really they invest in friendships; it’s as important as being invested in family relationships. Because at the end of the day, what else did we really get? If we don’t have strong family relationships, strong friendships you know… Being respected in our community is also another important aspect and how you might go about doing that.

Jenny: Okay. Because I have to start somewhere. Don’t say it. They have to start somewhere.

Michael: So where do they start? If they need to create a plan, this is where I come in. I help people to go through that reflective process and help them document things through. Really it’s a discussion between themselves and their spouse initially, potentially opening up with the family and get general agreement on the outcomes that they’re actually looking at wanting to have. Because what we don’t want to have at the end of the day is once you’re done, the family is confused about what the outcomes are and then deciding that they don’t like those outcomes. I mean, what we really want to try and achieve is that the people we care about are in sync with what we want and expect, what’s going to happen. And then there’s no fighting and the family, when something occurs, the family dynamic is not stirred by the matriarch or patriarch.

Jenny: Michael, are you suggesting then when you get to the age that you feel this should be part of it, a family discussion that you do talk to your children and grandchildren about where you would like them to as far as your will goes and that sort of thing, and what you’re planning to do for the next few years?

Michael: I think once you’ve gone through the process and you’ve worked in your spouse, and we have consensus—yes, I think it’s very productive. Uh, it can be a little confronting. This is where I help. So, to have that conversation while you’re still able to control the conversation and it’s very clear to everyone what your desires are and what the outcomes should be and look, if there is disagreement, it’ll surface then and then there’s the discussion and hopefully a resolution. Yeah, it could, it could be modification. You know, it’s all about compromise at the end of the day.

Jenny: Yeah, I see where you’re coming from because then there’s nothing at the time of your passing where there is family conflict flaring up about certain things. If there’s nothing, then when you get to a point in your life where you do want to travel or you start to spend the inheritance then everyone gets angry and confused about it. So that can be a very horrible situation.

Michael: Well, it can be, but it doesn’t have to be. And look, it takes courage to actually confront these things. So a lot of people like to sweep it under the carpet and not face up to it, but then they do risk having damage. The thing that they built their whole lives-which is not the money side of things at all-it’s the relationship between the family members and also their friends and other people that are important to them like their employees who might’ve worked for their business for 20 or 30 years. Communities-they might’ve actually community contributed either with money, with time-important sort of charitable foundations that are meaningful to them. So these are all things that are locked up in people’s heads until I actually take it out of their head, write it down, discuss it with someone. You can take them through a structured process. That’s when things start to happen. And guess what? You end up having a happy and very satisfied life.

Jenny: It’s very, very true to live out your dreams and to pass on your hopes and wishes for all your family and friends around you is a great thing, Michael, good luck with the book. You’ve put a lot of effort into this identifying and managing your legacy. A very important topic. Thank you very much for joining us.

Michael: Thank you again, Jenny.

Jenny: Thank you, Michael. Michael Grant.