Take a quick glance here, at Private Wealth Management, and their lead article/puff piece on Bessemer Trust: Managing Investments, Managing Relationships. If these men in suits were managing your multi-generational family's money, and managing the relationships with your family's decision makers, and with you, and if they were guiding not only your allowance, but your philanthropy, how would you feel? And what would you do to shake things up? I am not sure where true social change will start, but not with these fellas, managing investments, managing relationships. But in what sense is it your money, not theirs? To what extent should you be managing the money and the relationships with those who manage it for you? They won't, I suspect, be eager to have you take the lead, nor may your parents. If you feel sullen, demoralized, dizzy when you think of your money, maybe it is not you. Maybe dizzy or foggy is fine. Maybe that keeps you where you need to be - passive and in the dark. If you are inclined to lead, you are not alone. Happy to introduce you to The Happy Tutor, Dungeon Master to the Stars at Wealth Bondage. He is incorrigible. I, on the other hand, like the fellas in the photo, just want to be a good steward of your family's resources, manging the money and managing you.
Tracy Gary comes from such a background, a family who would make good Bessemer prospects. She got herself unmanaged years ago. She and I are working on helping heirs and others to lead or partner in the dance of advisors, donors, and nonprofits. Check Appendix A for a taste. But it starts with you, with your getting clear on who you are, the roles you want to play in life, and how you want to affect the world for the better. That comes down to conversation, reading, experimentation, and reflection. To the extent you can master this art of leading from within such a complex closely guarded context, you more than most of us, can make the saving difference.
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