Legacy Arts | Issue 19 | July 2019

ISSUE 19 | PARAGONROAD.COM

Heart & Hands Wisdom From Dad

+ HOW DO YOU PASS WISDOM TO THE NEXT GENERATION? MEET PHILIP DE SOUZA AND DISCOVER HOW HIS SHARED WISDOM NEWSLETTER TO HIS SON IMPACTED HIM AND HIS FRIENDS FOR YEARS.

Wealth Management With Heart + MARK HARTNETT HELPS REFRAME FAMILY WEALTH MANAGEMENT THROUGH ADDRESSING FAMILY MISSION STATEMENTS AND DEEPER CONVERSATIONS.

Transforming Legacy + JANICE THOMPSON EPOWERS FAMILIES TO LEAVE A LEGACY THAT IS MEANINGFUL, INTENTIONAL, AND TRANSFORMATIONAL.

Contents

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Note from the Editor

Your Loved Ones + Legacy Projects = Great Summer

8Â

The Nature of Legacy

Martha J. Hartney, Esq. Brings Help for Healing the Root of Ancestral Trauma

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The 3 Biggest Mistakes That Cause Families to Fall Apart

Marty Chiu Helps You Prepare Your Wealth and Family to Thrive for Generations

12 14 16

Smart & Heart Family Wealth Management Mark Hartnett Explains How Readers Can Reframe Success

Legacy Rocks

Janice A. Thompson Teaches Others to Leave a Lasting Legacy Impression That’s Meaningful, Intentional, and Transformational

The Giving Formula

Susan L. Axelrod Helps Put Together Passion, Purpose, and Planning

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20

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Monthly Wisdom from an Executive Dad Laura Roser Discovers Why Philip de Souza Sends Newsletters to His Son’s Friends

A Drunken Father’s Legacy Thorn Sully Reviews Bradford Morrow’s The Prague Sonata

Passing On Your Faith

Merlin Buhl Explains How He Engages Family and Friends with God’s Story

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What Happens to Your Art Collection?

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Timeless Wisdom: Plastic Thoughts — The Consequences of Faking Soul

Amanda Dunn Helps Families Plan for the Future

Laura A. Roser Reflects on Thomas Moore’s Care of the Soul

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Issue 19

Paragon Road PUBLISHER Laura A. Roser EDITOR-IN-CHIEF Marko Nedeljkovic DESIGN William Jenkins CONTENT DIRECTOR

Susan Axelrod Merlin Buhl Marty Chiu Amanda Dunn Mark Hartnett Martha Hartney Laura A. Roser Thornton Sully

Charity Navigator Paragon Road Your Meaning Legacy book

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Janice A. Thompson Check out our new video interviews with our contributors! Where you see this icon, click to check out the video.

Click to view an interview with the author!

Have a good idea for an article, feedback or suggestions for our magazine? Email the editor directly: william@paragonroad.com

What is Legacy Arts Magazine?

Legacy Arts is dedicated to the journey of developing a great legacy and passing on non-financial assets (such as beliefs, values & wisdom).

It is produced by Paragon Road, the leader in meaning legacy planning.

6 LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com

Note from the Editor Your Loved Ones + Legacy Projects = Great Summer

I

t’s the first week of July. You know what that means: kids are out of school, vacation season is in full swing, and family time is more intense. This summer, I’ve decided to conduct more in-depth interviews with my parents about their cherished memories, create a family recipe book with photos of our beloved dishes, and write more about my personal life experiences. The sad part is I’ve had these projects on my list for a while, but like most people, life got in the way of my good intentions. Not this summer!

In this issue of Legacy Arts, there’s a ton of great ideas to connect more deeply with your loved ones.

Take business executive Philip de Souza, for example. In this issue, I write about how he started a wisdom newsletter that he emails to his son and a bunch of his son’s friends each month. Merlin Buhl writes about how to express your faith and have heartfelt conversations with your loved ones in a way that will increase understanding rather than building up resentments. Marty Chiu discusses the three mistakes most families make that cause them to break apart and what to do about it. Estate planning attorney Martha Hartney reveals what she has learned about ancestral heritage and why it is so important to heal family relationships and emotional wounds.

passions and personality. If you’re into some summer reading (albeit not exactly a light read, but well worth it, especially for music and history buffs), check out Thornton Sully’s book review of The Prague Sonata.

As always, thank you to our wonderful contributors, Head Designer Marko, and Content Director William. Without your help and support, none of this would be possible. And thank you to our readers. This summer, as you eat family meals together, go on vacations, or spend time fishing and hiking with your loved ones, think about how each action furthers your family legacy. Because at the end of the day, that’s all a legacy is, those small moments that add up to a life.

Mark Hartnett writes about his work with creating cohesive families and how to begin to pinpoint individual family member’s strengths.

Janice Thompson talks about her difficult family foundation and how she and her husband went All the best, about changing the legacy they inherited. Susan Axelrod discusses her work in the nonprofit sector Laura A. Roser and how to create more meaning and joy through Editor-in-Chief of Legacy Arts and CEO of Paragon giving. Amanda Dunn gives tips and inspiration for building an art collection that represents your Road

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 7

The Nature of Legacy

Healing the Root of Ancestral Trauma

By Martha J. Hartney, Esq.

I

have been an estate planner for nearly a decade. The word legacy is tossed around in my profession like candy.

For years, I felt confused and concerned by the word.

I didn’t understand why the hair on the back of my neck would stand up every time I heard it. It felt wrong somehow, misplaced, misused, misunderstood.

Legacy and inheritance are not interchangeable. Legacy is something left behind for someone else. We leave a legacy.

Inheritance is something received from someone else. We get an inheritance. But both these words are meaningless without the silent word next to it.

Death.

I know, right? Death gives all of us a hitch in our giddyup. Death is so powerful a word that we don’t even want to say it, superstitious beings that we are. Death hovers like a drop shadow near the words legacy and inheritance, barely noticeable but giving them shape and form. The word death makes us feel our existential question bumping around inside. “How will I be remembered?” and “Have I lived a life that’s worthy of being remembered?”

Click to view an interview with the author!

So we swerve around death like pylons on the freeway to the easier-to-navigate word legacy. The modern usage of legacy gives a too-easy answer to these monumental questions. Unfortunately, not finding meaning to our existence also leaves us blank-faced and flat on the inside, uncertain of why we’re here and what we’re doing with “this one precious life” (The Summer Day by Mary Oliver).

Our existential questions have become more difficult to answer with every passing generation. Humanity’s diaspora since the discovery of the New World has separated us from the felt sense of togetherness, belonging, and the safety and sanctuary of family. Just look at the explosive growth of Ancestry.com and 23andMe. We are clearly a people in search of a living past to help us make sense of our present.

Something in us longs to know our people, the land we belong to, and the songs and stories of these lands. These connections to land, people, and culture have been stretched so thin that we’ve tragically reduced the word legacy to the only thing of common value in our new world—money. We’ve lost track of legacy as the enduring fragrance of the lives we have lived, for good and for ill and all that comes with — the tragedies that have befallen us, the violence we have endured, the pain we’ve inflicted, and the strength we have built as a result of our effort.

A Control Mechanism or a Gift?

Legacy is now often more of a control mechanism than a gift.

Parents and grandparents use financial resources to leverage power over children to force them to live as parents want them to, behave certain ways, accept their values, or prohibit certain lifestyles. Inheritance has been used as a threat. Do this, don’t do that, or I’ll cut you out of my will. Marry someone of our faith.

Get a job I approve of. Take over the family business.

Financial coercion leaves a bitter taste in the mouth and rarely achieves the intended goal — and lawyers have colluded in this weaponizing of financial influence, resulting in astoundingly bad outcomes for many families. Giving someone an inheritance contingent on preferred behaviors is a desperate effort to fix problems and traumas that happened long ago — often before we were born — and fails to get to the real material preventing the fullest expression of our lives.

Most families struggle with some form of ancestral wounding — unknown and unseen in the present moment. Without attention and healing, ancestral wounds replicate generationally, though they morph through time. They shade and color the present, if we are still, quiet, and curious enough to notice.

The real nature of legacy is what we leave behind that we have not dealt with in this life. We, and our children, carry these wounds forward — they don’t just disappear. A boy inherits a mother’s depression. A neglected girl doesn’t have a good blueprint for how to become a mother. A victim of domestic violence lashes out in a haze of alcohol-fueled rage.

When we finally recognize the gravitational pull of the past, we may feel powerless to unwind its continuing influence due to the

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Martha Hartney is a mother, attorney, and healer/coach based in Colorado.

She has been counseling families in the nature of family legacy as an estate planner for over a decade.

She also guides others through the landscape of discovering personal and ancestral wounds to reveal a felt sense of wholeness and belonging in the present time. You can find her legal practice at hartneylaw.com and her coaching practice at thehartofthematter.com.

Depth Psychology: This subcategory of Jungian psychology takes alchemical transformation to the next level. Reaching deep into the unconscious and weaving our personal experience into a great, unbroken tapestry of life through dreamwork, archetypes, symbolism, and holism, in which the veil between self, other, nature, and spirit thins and is experienced as an imaginal whole. Depth psychology frames our lives as a personal mythos, authored by life itself in an unfolding great mystery and celebration of life itself.

Family Constellations: This modality was derived from a powerful Zulu practice brought to the west and modified by German psychotherapist Bert Hellinger. Some may find this modality strange (it is), but I have seen it work miracles for people who can’t seem to heal lifelong problems. The premise is that sometimes our inability to fix a problem is bound up in an ancestral event or pattern that was never resolved. Skilled facilitation can bring these events and patterns to the surface of consciousness where they can be honored and healed—and open up the flow of vitality and blessing in present time.

secretive nature of family histories and social conditioning. Our social structures do not support the revelation of family events that have imprinted on our core psychology, and our culture instructs us not to look any farther than money, status, fame, and desirability as the measure of our lives.

Compounding our wounds is the loss of the positive attributes our ancestors developed as a result of their struggles — their strength, skillfulness, valor, creativity, rebelliousness, resilience, joy, togetherness, and honesty; and the practices, rituals, and beliefs that helped them make sense of things. These positive influences are just as vital to our health and need to be harvested and integrated, just like the tragic parts of our heritage. Our true inheritance is the burden and strength we carry from the past.

Tools for Repairing a Legacy

In service to helping myself and my clients, I’ve been searching for tools and practices that access, honor, and harvest history. For the curious, those who desire to understand what is influencing present time, and seek resolution for personal and ancestral traumas, as well as receive the beneficial inheritance their ancestors have achieved, beyond what a family tree can reveal, I’d like to offer three ideas. Take only what works for you and leave anything that doesn’t. Not everything is in harmony with your own worldview — and that’s okay. This is a no-judgment zone.

Shamanic Journeying: Shamans have been helping people reassemble lost parts of themselves and repairing unhealthy ancestral connections for millennia and in nearly every indigenous culture. Shamanism is real. I can attest. In the States, there are many practitioners who can help reclaim soul parts that ejected from the body at some traumatic moment in the past or resolve harms done by and to our ancestors that we carry remnants of.

Find the best by referral, not from an internet search.

Additionally, there are a great many more modalities of lineage healing I have not listed and/or have yet to explore. But of those I have explored, these are the three that made the cut in terms of efficacy, beauty, mystery, and ease of entry. Your mileage may vary.

Essential to lineage healing is an attitude of acceptance of what was. All the tragedies, violence, secrets, suffering, loss, and grief must be welcome. They must have a place in our hearts. Finding a guide who understands this basic premise, that all must be honored, is the key to getting the most out of your search for wholeness and belonging. While we make peace with the past, we may have to look at things we don’t relish seeing. But the price of not taking a look ensures that our children will continue to carry family baggage and deprives them of the rewards of our efforts.

The wise oral tradition of the indigenous peoples of the Americas says, “May the next seven generations know why we gather to pray in this way.” And so I wish that for you. May your family be blessed by your courage and effort to unlock the mysteries of your past. n

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 9

THE 3 BIGGEST Mistakes That Cause Families to Fall Apart Prepare Your Wealth and Family to Thrive for Generations

By Marty Chiu

“H

appiness is having a large, loving, caring, close-knit family … in another city.” — George Burns

Close — but not too close — is the ideal situation, right?

Family ties can be messy. Often family relationships seem to unravel along the journey of life. This is probably not how family leaders intended it to be when their children were born.

What Would a Close Family Mean to You?

Imagine family relationships that grow with unity and harmony. Imagine that you are able to intentionally prepare and equip your heirs to lead the next generation. Also imagine that future generations will know and honor your family stories, traditions, and values. What would this mean to you?

Family leaders often fall into pits and seemingly cannot climb out. Read on to avoid the 3 biggest mistakes family leaders make that cause their family to fall apart. #3 Mistake: They rely on traditional planning to fulfill wishes for their families.

What is “traditional planning”? It is financial and estate planning. Solid financial planning and estate planning are essential to keep the financial wealth of your family intact.

However, when families stop there, studies show that 9 out of 10 plans fail to keep the family’s wealth and unity for more than 3 generations. Think about it. The first generation makes it, the second generation adapts to it, the third generation enjoys it, and the fourth generation laments it.

This condition is worldwide with examples dating as far back as 2000 years ago.

Traditional planning is a bit like a 2-legged stool. Another leg needs to be in place in order to support your planning.

That leg is called Heritage Planning. Heritage Planning prepares the next generation of family leaders to sustain unity and trust among the family with the intent to continue it for multiple generations. Heritage planning is a process that

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creates a foundation upon which families can plan for and accomplish what matters most today and for generations to come. It is what the successful families integrated as a part of their family tradition. The families that stayed together intentionally developed the unity, strength, and harmony of the family now, which sets the foundation for the future generations. Through this process, the next generation of family leaders appreciate and respect their relationship with financial assets, utilizing it as a tool to help align, pursue, and support what really matters most in life. You may have prepared your financial assets for your family, but have you prepared your family for your financial assets? #2 Mistake: They establish patterns of ineffective communication that breaks down trust between generations.

Often it is the patriarch or matriarch who leads the family by didactic instruction or commands to get things done.

This form of leadership may be effective for a time but cannot sustain growth or unity over time. If this form of communication continues from childhood into adulthood, the result is usually a breakdown of communication, safety, and trust.

Parents are not given an owner’s manual upon having a child. Most parents learn to parent through on-the-job training. Mixed with responsibilities of a career, marriage, and maintaining personal life balance, the reality is that parents have little time to equip themselves to raise their family the way they imagined it. They often default to what they experienced growing up as a pattern to raise their family, and this is the model of what they think parenting should be like — along with the good, bad, and ugly experiences.

Miscommunication leads to misunderstanding resulting in missed opportunity for growth. Family leaders need to weave active listening within the fabric of the family’s communication pattern. It is especially important for family leaders to recognize their communication needs to be modified as their children become adults. No longer is it a conversation from adult to child but adult to adult. The respect for the grown child is essential if family leaders want

to develop a trusting relationship. Family leaders should build relationship bridges, not burn them down. #1 Mistake: Their family’s legacy vision is too nearsighted.

Family leaders typically hope the family will understand and get along with each other, hope the financial inheritance will be used prudently and not frivolously squandered, and hope the family will stay together and engage in family gatherings.

They hope family members will follow family values and traditions once established by the family leaders. They are limiting their success by wishing for the future and not planning for it. The true reality is that it is not very effective just to be lucky. Luck favors the prepared. Family leaders don’t plan to fail. They just fail to plan.

Many family leaders prepare for their demise by paying a lot of money to properly organize and plan for their financial and estate distribution. The family’s wealth extends beyond just the financial assets. The family wealth also includes some intangible assets, such as its relationships, traditions, values, and stories. They often neglect or don’t know how to prepare the family to have unity and harmony for future generations.

When preparing to transfer your family’s wealth, it makes sense to include financial, estate, and heritage planning together in unison.

Click to view an interview with the author!

Marty Chiu is passionate to help clients align their life, family, and finances with purpose to create harmony in their life. He has counseled families for over 30 years helping them live their life’s best outcome. He is a graduate from California State University Long Beach and has been certified with The Heritage Institute.

Four steps to develop your active listening skills:

?

Focus all your attention on the conversation.

Asked inquiring questions and demonstrate you are listening.

See the conversation from the other’s Reflect and point of view summarize and defer what you heard. judgment.

We help family leaders prepare the next generation of leaders by creating an environment of family growth, unity, and harmony while honoring family traditions, values, and stories. We help family leaders formalize an organized and purposeful document to help clarify why they would like to see the family thrive and share how the family members can participate on staying together as a family. This is what we call a Family Wealth Blueprint™.

The Family Wealth Blueprint™ is unveiled to family members at a forum where family leaders share their stories of how they have become who they are today, their vision for the future generations, and ask family members if they want to participate to make it a reality. For the members who choose to take the next step, they begin building effective skills to promote constructive dialogue to communicate with truth, safety, and trust. During the process, we record and memorialize the stories, traditions, values, and essential spirit of a family that is to be shared with future generations.

Together as a family, members unify and amplify the family’s purpose and values, creating a family dynamic of harmony that resonates with each member and the greater community. We intentionally create a new and positive forward-looking environment for the family to interact with one another with the intent to move the family in a healthy and harmonious path.

Where we are today depends on the decisions made yesterday. Decisions made today will impact the outcome of tomorrow. Clarifying where you want to be promotes better outcomes. If you want something you’ve never had, you need to do something you have never done. A step in the right direction is to learn how you can take intentional steps to a better outcome. Visit www.wealthinfamily.com. n Country Time China 2000 years ago England 1350 years ago

Problem Wealth does not pass 3 generations Clogs to clogs in 3 generation

Spain

1500 years ago Generation 1 trader, Generation 2 gentlemen, Generation 3 beggar

USA Brazil

1800 years ago 1900 years ago

Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in 3 generations Stables to stars to stables in 3 generations

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 11

Smart & Heart Family Wealth Management How to Reframe Success

By Mark Hartnett

Click to view an interview with the author!

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F

amilies face an uphill battle when passing down their wealth. One oft-cited study conducted by Roy Williams and Vic Preisser has shown that 70 percent of family estate transfers fail as a result of family squabbles and disagreement. To paraphrase noted author James E. Hughes, Jr., families that are truly successful are united in finding purpose and meaning in their financial wealth and using it intentionally as a tool to create a lasting legacy.

Most planners spend an inordinate amount of time only on the financial aspect of family wealth management.

They sometimes overlook the family’s emotional health and don’t dig into family relationships and how the members view complex issues such as governance and financial management.

Families that want to preserve their wealth for future generations should take a holistic approach by blending proven financial planning strategies with best practices in managing a healthy company culture. This approach to wealth management, which I call “Smart & Heart,” can help families prepare for the eventual transfer of wealth so assets are managed in a meaningful, purpose-driven manner.

“Smart & Heart” goes beyond managing financial capital.

It also involves managing a family’s human, intellectual, spiritual and social capital. Here’s how it’s done:

How to be “smart” managing your family’s wealth Start with a financial inventory: One of the most important steps in building a wealth management plan is to conduct an inventory of financial assets and liabilities. This inventory includes assets such as retirement savings, real estate holdings, education and health savings accounts, trusts and life insurance. Liabilities include a home mortgage, personal loans and any other debts. It’s also crucial to review all income (salary and dividend income, if applicable) and all household and living expenses.

Additionally, the inventory will serve as a benchmark to measure progress toward achieving your financial goals.

It will also serve as the foundation to building a sound financial plan for your family and future generations.

Create a family mission statement: Families who are serious about the stewardship of their wealth should create a clearly defined and written mission statement.

It’s important to take this seriously and invest the time to create a statement that is true to your family’s vision and mission.

Be sure to include input from all family members and be as specific as possible when writing your mission statement. Think of it as the framework for your roadmap to success. Your mission statement will play a seminal role in defining how your family will manage its wealth for the years, decades and generations ahead.

Mark Hartnett, JD, MBA, CFP®, AEP® currently serves as Managing Director of Argent Family Wealth Services, a division of Argent Financial.

His practice focuses on providing leadership to financially successful families and family offices that desire to grow their family balance sheet through multi-generational planning in order to overcome the proverb “shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” Mark and his wife Jo-Shannon have been married twenty-eight years and live in Oxford, Mississippi, with their three children.

It’s also important to revisit your mission statement on a regular basis. All families undergo changes over the years (births or deaths in the family; marriage or divorce), so regularly reviewing the statement will help ensure it remains relevant.

How to have a “heart” when managing family wealth Use personality tests to assess family dynamics: Financial advisors rely on questionnaires to assess risk tolerance when determining how they should invest their clients’ assets. These questionnaires are essential, but only tell part of the story. The surveys do not provide any insight into the underlying personal or psychological reasons about how individuals assess risk.

Personality tests – such as the Myers-Briggs Type Indicator, DISC Profile, 5 Voices and 5 Love Languages – allow advisors to better understand an individual’s decision-making process and communication style. These tests, when shared among the family, can transform how the group communicates with each other and help family members find common ground when managing their wealth.

The importance of core values to guide decisionmaking: A hallmark of families who have successfully transferred wealth over multiple generations is their ability to align family values with long-term financial goals.

Core values highlight what a family stands for – the beliefs and philosophy that guide their actions.

Just as a family should have a written mission statement, it should also have written core values. Identifying exactly what’s most important to your family isn’t easy because each family member will have differing views. But when everyone gets on the same page, you will be amazed at how core values can galvanize the family and bring purpose to how their wealth is managed.

Many families don’t realize the true potential of their wealth. But if you take a “Smart & Heart” approach you can position your family’s wealth to bring security and joy now, while also benefiting future generations. n

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LEGACY ROCKS! Leaving a Lasting Legacy Impression That’s Meaningful, Intentional, and Transformational

By Janice Thompson

T

he rocks in my sister-in-law’s garden tell a story.

On each rock you can see the perfectly etched imprint of the foliage that once surrounded them. They tell of another time when the plants were alive and thriving. Just as these rocks tell a unique story now a part of history, we are doing much the same. We, too, are making a lasting impression — intentional or not — on those following in our footsteps.

Working with families over the past decade in the area of legacy planning has taught me a few things. For instance, I have found people typically think of their legacy only in terms of the financial assets they will leave behind. Legacy planning, however, is so much more. Non-financial legacies, while more challenging to define and more effort to create, are far more impactful. Multiple studies tell us family values trump financial resources because wealth without the wisdom that created it is often squandered.

A lasting legacy encompasses a lifetime of relationships, accomplishments, truths, traditions, and values that live on in those whose lives we touch. It becomes a part of the ongoing foundation of life we hand off to the next generation. We steward the world we come into and those after us inherit what we leave behind. This cycle of life has the raw power for good or bad depending on what we do with it and how we prepare the next generation to receive it.

Changing What You Inherited

If you inherited a less than ideal foundation upon which to build, you have the power to alter the course of your family story. I watched my parents do this. Mom and Dad both grew up in a children’s home after each of them lost a parent at a very tender age. While growing up with 180 other children, their basic physical needs were met, but they missed an intimate family life. They grew up together and eventually married shortly after Dad’s military service. While they were grateful for what they had been given, they determined to create what they had missed — a loving home and family life.

They are the first to admit they were clueless about exactly how to do that, but that was never an excuse for them. In their mid-nineties now, they are enjoying the fruit of that dogged determination to change the course of their family story, as each successive generation inherits the gift of family values so important to them. They created a legacy with a lasting imprint much like those rocks!

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Click to view an interview with the author!

I have given a lot of thought over the years to what contributed to their successful legacy. Here are three themes that altered the course of our family story: l Meaningful — They identified the missing values important to them and built a family environment that filled in the gaps. Because they missed the nurturing, loving, and stable home environment they both longed for, those values became our family’s foundation. Each of us four children were treated not just equally, but uniquely. l Intentional — They were very purposeful in their approach to family life. They studied families they admired, read books, and looked for ways to ensure we were given opportunities to grow. They were not perfect, of course, but were quick to admit when they were wrong and modeled the values my husband and I hold dear today. l Transformational — They wanted something different for their family, and they are now enjoying the fruit of their efforts as the fourth generation of their thriving legacy is living out the values they worked so diligently to create. They

certainly made a lasting imprint on our generation, and we have worked hard to ensure our children and grandchildren value the gift we were blessed to receive — values my husband and I live by today.

Five Areas of a Proactive Family Legacy

If you are now thinking proactively about your own family legacy, here are five areas to consider: Your Personal Legacy explores your unique life purpose.

Everyone is born with skills, gifts, talents, and experiences that can be leveraged to create meaning and purpose while positively impacting the lives of others.

Your Family Legacy focuses on proactively transferring the wisdom and values you’ve developed to the next generation. Your family’s story is unlike any other and can be captured through your family vision, mission, and core values.

Your Financial Legacy maps out wise choices that help you gain confidence with financial decisions. This is probably the easiest to quantify but, if done while neglecting your Personal and Family Legacies, you can potentially transfer damaging rather than positive lasting results.

Your Business Legacy considers more than just the technical and legal aspects of business transfer, such as continuity, exit, and succession planning. It starts with plans to help ensure the business doesn’t ruin the family and the family doesn’t destroy the business. Preparing and mentoring the next generation is essential to a successful business transfer.

Your Charitable Legacy explores ways to use your leadership, influence, and financial margin to make life better for others. For those who share my faith-based values, this area of planning is an especially meaningful way to create something that will outlive you and last for eternity.

Do you have clarity around each area of legacy planning?

Many families sail through life without giving careful consideration to these areas of lasting impact. Even with help from competent advisors, many families end up with results that may not reflect their values or unique calling and, by the time they discover it, it may be too late to do anything about it. Let me encourage you to strive for clarity about your life and the legacy that will transfer your wisdom and values to the generations you care so deeply about. This is not just about wealth on a balance sheet — this is about the balance sheet of your life!

If you are now motivated to create a positive imprint on future generations, start with these considerations: What have I been blessed with in the way of talent, resources, and heritage that is important in my unique story? This will keep you focused on what really matters.

When you think beyond today, actions are more likely to be values-based rather than merely what’s expedient.

Janice A. Thompson, CFP, is the co-founder and CEO of One Degree Advisors, Inc., a wealth management firm that provides Comprehensive Financial Planning, Asset Management, and Life Stewardship Advising services. Janice’s interest in all things financial goes back to her earliest childhood memory. After years of teaching financial basics, she began to focus on a professional career in the industry in 1993. During the next decade, she earned a Master’s Degree in Financial Services, the Certified Financial Planner™ designation, and launched Strategic Financial Solutions, Inc. In 2014, she merged her practice with another firm and together they formed One Degree Advisors, Inc. Janice is passionate about assisting financially blessed families with holistic life coaching and wealth transfer planning, working with corporations and business owners, and addressing the unique needs of women going through transitions. She enjoys speaking, writing, and mentoring others. She serves on the national Board of Directors for Kingdom Advisors.

Janice and her husband, Tom, live in San Diego, California where they enjoy spending time with their children and grandchildren. Read Janice’s financial columns on Medium.

Connect with her on LinkedIn. For more information, visit onedegreeadvisors.com.

Why does it matter? You accept tremendous responsibility when you choose to leave a positive legacy. The reward is incalculable as you realize the next generation may take what you have given to a level you can only imagine.

How can I ensure what I value is preserved for generations to come? When you make decisions based upon conscious acts that prepare the next generation, you experience exponential value that far exceeds your investment of time and resources.

There are two kinds of legacies — the one you inherited and the one you will leave behind. While you have little control over the former, you have a great deal of influence over the latter. If you purposefully define your values and, intentionally and authentically live them out, you are more likely to have prepared heirs. Start with your why (purpose, passion, gifts, and values) before engaging the how (tools, techniques, and strategies) so your family has a values-based context for your legacy. Remember, proactive planning is not just about your balance sheet — it’s your life, your family, and your values that matter!

We have the powerful ability every day to leave a lasting imprint on those we touch. So, if these rocks were to tell your story, what would they say? n

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The Giving Formula™ Putting Together Passion, Purpose, and Planning

By Susan L. Axelrod, CCP “What will your legacy be?”

I have been asking people this question for 15 years.

Mostly, the response is a head tilt and a curious look. Few people find their deep inner passion, and most people have not taken the time to contemplate the legacy they will leave behind.

Why is this important?

Most people have a deep desire to be remembered and/ or a fear of being forgotten. I learned this over the latter part of my fundraising career, working as a philanthropy advisor helping donors figure out their philanthropic passion and desired strategic giving-impact.

It took many years for me to learn the beauty, opportunity, and responsibility of legacy after sitting with donors for countless hours, bearing witness to life stories. I loved listening to these generous and thoughtful people. Over time, I began to evolve a formula to help teach this powerful inspired message called The Giving Formula™. I would share it with anyone — organizational donors, colleagues, strangers on a bus, and financial-advising clients (when hired as a speaker). I even did some group conference calls on it before streaming was a thing. I published articles and blog posts on it and have covered it in social media — any opportunity to inspire giving and giving-impact.

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Through this activity, I have helped scores of people create legacies with organizations they care about. And by extension of people sharing my message, I know there are a myriad more. I was on purpose and on point in my work!

Finding My Own Philanthropic Passion

But, one day, I was sitting in quiet personal reflection and asked myself if my work, which is so purposeful for me, is the same as my own philanthropic passion! This is the magic ingredient I teach that turns giving into legacy. Not just giving but exploring and reflecting deeply and finding your philanthropic passion, something that stirs your soul and can capture your interest for the rest of your life. I sat there that day and wondered, is my work that thing?

I realized that, though I had been teaching my formula for many years by that time, I had never applied it to myself!

The formula was so organic to me. I had only to sit with it for a short time to realize that, while I loved my work, the answer was no. It was not the same as my philanthropic passion. Using my own questions and tools, I quickly identified my own philanthropic passion as my Judaism, and more specifically, as Jewish girls. I wanted to help Jewish girls love their Judaism! I had two Jewish daughters of my own and, while I had already done everything I could to help them turn into Jewish mothers [through their upbringing],

Susan Axelrod is a writer, speaker, and coach for women in mid-life. Her clients say, “She is a ray of light in a sometimesdark tunnel of mid-life changes.” She helps executive women find their voice and all women find clarity to pursue an authentic, engaging, and inspired second half. Her book, Your Job Is to Be: An Anthology to Inspire Soul-Connection (available on Amazon) helps readers become positive, purposeful, and forward thinking. Legacy work is built into all of her coaching for women and for nonprofit leaders whom she teaches to create an organizational culture of philanthropy. Susan is married to her college sweetheart, Dr. Howard M. Axelrod, and is mother of two wonderful women, Rebecca and Sarah.

Susan is eager to speak to your group (especially Women in Business groups!), to lead workshops or to work personally as a coach for women who are ready to face their second-half head on!

Contact:whatwillyourlegacybe. com | susan@confident-life.com | 518.495.4573.

I knew there were many other young Jewish girls I could inspire to love their Judaism and become Jewish mothers [thereby helping to perpetuate Judaism — my larger deeply personal interest]. But who am I? I am just one person, is it arrogant to think I could do anything about such a big issue?

And the response came to me immediately from within: Why not! Why not me? Why not now? It doesn’t even matter if I succeed! It only matters that I commit, that I join forces with others and try, that I take action now and that I keep at it. Legacy is built on finding your authentic voice and deeply personal desire, on small actions, consistency, and persistence.

I continued to use my own tools to break it down: What are my skills? What are my resources? Who do I know?

What am I willing to do? Am I willing to get started now?

I applied one of my seminal teachings: Do not try to do it on your own, always a heavier lift. Open your eyes, look around, who is already doing something in the area of interest? And another special gem: Do not start something new. I asked myself, who anywhere in the entire world is already doing something about this particular concern?

I knew that I could reach out to anyone, anywhere. And again the answer came to me immediately: “There is someone right down the road from me, right here in my own community!”

I continued to follow my own teaching [take action now!] and reached out to her via email, explaining that I cared deeply about the mission of her organization and offered my services freely to support the mission. “I am a fundraiser; do you have a need for my services?” … we laugh about that, still.

Nechama Dina Wasserman Laber and I combined our energy, and exponential synergy was created! This year, five years later, we celebrated the fifth anniversary of an online global movement to support our Jewish daughters [JewishGirlsUnite.com] co-created by bringing together our passion. What started as work — I thought I was just going to be sharing my professional skills on behalf of mission — quickly turned into a heart connection, then a soul connection on behalf of the mission. We worked together for untold hours talking, thinking, committing, planning, executing — and not always in agreement.

We are different people coming from different perspectives but, always, we kept the mission — our shared philanthropic passion — in mind. Of course, being merely human, occasional ego gets in the way, we stumble, even fail, but tenacity and dedication to missionimpact prevails. Keep at it, move forward, try/fail, grow/ leap; when you are in your philanthropic passion space, there is only resolve.

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So, what is this magic formula that led to this global outcome? What is the formula that can lead you to create your own meaningful and lasting legacy? It’s called The Giving Formula™, derived from decades working in fundraising and philanthropy, combined with coaching people to deep selfexploration of values and actively seeking purpose. The work is simple and engaging, and the outcome can be such fun.

The Giving Formula™ ~ P + P + P = L Passion [P]

Start by exploring your personal passion. Take time for reflection, through meditation, prayer, conversations with others, journaling; deeply contemplate your life’s journey and story. What has been a nurturing and nourishing thread for you? Go back, go deep, remember the good. If you cannot find that good from earlier in your life [this happens sometimes], seek any good, any nurturing and nourishing space that supports the best you, the you that you love, the person you want to be. Spend time seeking your authentic self, actively look for your deeply felt desires about things

that are profoundly ingrained. Take time for personal values exploration. Authenticity lives there. Ask yourself questions: What do I care about? What matters most to me? What moves or inspires me? What stirs my soul? Spend time on this as the first stop on your way to legacy.

+ Purpose [P]

Once you have found your passion-space, purpose is the next factor. Being in purpose comes from being on purpose.

To break through a frequent refrain [I don’t know my true purpose], consider the word purposefulness. In the context of your passion, what might feel purposeful to you? My dear friend, artist Deborah Friedson [a woman with a heart the size of an elephant], found her purpose using her art to help heal. She created Elephant Heart Charitable Works with a goal to bring nurturance and compassion through the visual arts to those struggling with life’s challenges.

Slowly, over time, with planning and commitment but without fanfare, she has donated work to more than 20 organizations around the world. She simply continues to do so. What purposeful activity can you bring to your inspired passion?

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+ Plan [P]

All the passion and purpose in the world are nothing without activation. Make a plan. Keep it simple, fun, manageable, and inspired. Below, you will see my simple 4-Point Giving Plan to support your legacy work.

= Legacy [L]

Use The Giving Formula™ to help you cross the bridge from how you want to be remembered to how you will be remembered! Anyone can create a meaningful and lasting legacy. It’s easy to do. It’s 100% in your control. You just have to want to. What will your legacy be?

The 4-Point Legacy Giving Plan

Here’s your simple 4-Point Legacy Giving Plan that works in conjunction with The Giving Formula™: Identify your Purpose. What organization can you support in your philanthropic passion space?

Commit to a time element. How much Time are you willing to spend this year on your purpose?

Consider and commit an amount of Money to support purpose (organizations need financial support to run operations and become sustainable). How much money am I willing to commit this year?

What is the Impact you want to make this year (and beyond!) on the Purpose you’ve identified? n

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Click to view an interview with the author!

LEGACY LEGACY ARTSARTS Febuary Issue 2016 19 www.paragonroad.com 19 3

A DRUNKEN FATHER’S LEGACY A Book Review of The Prague Sonata by Bradford Morrow (Random House, 2017)

By Thornton Sully

O

tylie Bártošova has no reason to believe that her eccentric, drunken father’s legacy, an aging score to a sonata that he bestows to her before staggering off to be killed in World War I, is of the profound origins that he claimed. Nevertheless, she dutifully defends it when in 1939 the jackboots and tanks of Nazi Germany reverberate through the cobblestone streets of the city of Kafka, Dvorak, and Einstein: Prague.

Knowing that the Wehrmacht loots national treasures with each conquest, Oty divides the manuscript into three parts, hoping the occupiers won’t recognize it as anything of value in their quest for plunder. She gives one-third to her husband Jacub, keeps one for herself, and entrusts her best friend, Irena, with the third.

The three custodians share a pact to unify the manuscript if they survive the war. But war ...

More than sixty years later, Irena, having escaped to New

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York, is aware that her own death is imminent and concludes that she cannot herself fulfil the pledge she made to Oty to consolidate the three pieces. She is certain that both Jacub and Oty must be dead, victims of the war or old age. She transfers the obligation for reunification to a young pianist, Meta Taverner, after hearing her perform in concert. Meta, an accomplished and sensitive musician, is beguiled by the movement now in her possession and embarks on a quest to honor the legacy. She boldly, and perhaps naively, heads to modern-day Prague, haunted by the music and intrigued by the story. And she begins to intuit who might have composed the astonishing piece, clearly created during the period of the great composers of Europe.

But nefarious others, whose motives are less pure than her own, also speculate who the composer might be, when she innocently solicits their advice, and she must compete against them to locate the missing segments, if they still exist. With the help of a new ally, an

Thornton Sully is a manuscript consultant and former lead reviewer of books for the San Diego Union Tribune. He is the founder and Editorin-Chief of A Word with You Press (founded 2009) with affiliate offices in Wroclaw, Berlin, the United Kingdom, the Czech Republic, and Moscow, Idaho.

American journalist, Garret, a second section is found quite serendipitously. Together, they must spirit it across the Czech border before a trap to have them falsely arrested for theft can be sprung. Unknown to Meta, Garret’s own motives may also be suspect.

Possibly, just possibly, the final section of the Prague Sonata has also found its way to America, and that one unifying piece could provide evidence of who the true composer may have been. Garret and Meta follow the leads, though the prospect of success is a diminished chord. As the search narrows and hints at success, the villains see gold and close in on them. What Meta sees is a promise that must be honored and a legacy whose value cannot be measured in dollars, or euros, or Czech korunas.

Author Bradford Morrow has created a remarkable story, combining the history of the Occupation of Czechoslovakia with his deep and moving love of music, able to convey verbally in multiple ways how the Prague Sonata sounds without lifting an instrument. We can hear it through the

vibrato of his words, his prose nesting on the page like notes on a staff. His exposition of lives disrupted by the cacophony of war leaves us weeping. We feel their sorrow as their cobblestone paths to survival are littered with compromises.

But it is the percussion of heroism that provides a crescendo for Morrow’s literary symphony.

Like all great novelists, Morrow invites us into a world that piques our curiosity but of which we may know little: the world of classical music. Concurrently, he gives us a history lesson of the brutal forces at play in Europe in 1939, and how both collaborators and resisters negotiated with their own consciences and with those in power to survive not just the war, but the aftermath when the Soviets became their new masters. The novel, ten years in creation, has been quite a financial success and deservedly so. Perhaps his heirs will inherit his royalties, but the manuscript itself is the lasting value.

The Prague Sonata is perhaps Bradford Morrow’s legacy, bequeathed to a grateful world. n

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 21

Download FREE Chapter

You Are Worth More Than Your Stuff Leave a Legacy That Matters Estate planning traditionally focuses on your financial assets—your stuff.

But what about your other assets? Such as your wisdom, values, beliefs, and experiences. These are essential to pass on as well. In Your Meaning Legacy, legacy planning expert Laura Roser reveals a step-by-step approach to cultivating, capturing and passing on what matters most.

Passing on Your Faith Engaging Family and Friends with God’s Story

By Merlin Buhl

A

s soon as I turned the ignition key, the speakers erupted to life with thunderous noise spewing a rap song. As I struggled to find the volume knob, I quickly noticed that the f-word was being used more than if a sailor had smashed his thumb with a hammer.

While I am used to being “in the world” and not shocked by others’ language, I was horrified that this was my 16-year-old son’s car. My heart sank into the pit of my stomach as I realized that this was what my son had chosen to listen to.

And he had just returned from a ball game with his friends in the car. I was a heartbroken father.

Fortunately, in my counseling training, I was taught never to show any shock to what is being shared. This has been very helpful in our role as parents to 9 kids, 4 cats, and a dog! So, I calmly reached out to my son and asked if we could have a chat when he got home that night. He immediately apologized for the music and agreed to talk later that evening.

He came home about 10:30 p.m. and explained to me that he and his friends used that music to get pumped up for games.

I asked him what kind of witness he thought this was to his friends, some of whom are not believers. His response? “Dad, to be honest, I’m not sure I even believe in God anymore.”

My heart leapt. My pulse quickened. My mind raced … This was awesome! He trusted me enough to be honest with me.

Suddenly the music choice was a complete non-issue. It was merely a symptom. Our lives were about to intersect in a Godordained, powerful way.

In college and beyond, I had struggled with those same doubts and questions, so I was able to emotionally and intellectually take a seat beside him. We looked at this question and others from a shared perspective as we talked into the night about eternal matters. He found a safe place with me and, more importantly, with God to ask his questions and express his doubts. My son was on a journey to find his own path to God, and I was invited to intersect with my God story. A father’s broken heart turned into a father’s thankful heart.

How about you? Do you have people in your life that need the grace, mercy, and love of the Father you know? Your kids? Your grandkids? Spouse?

Friends? Employees? Do they need a safe place to be honest? Do you feel they are not watching you or do not care what you think?

Click to view an interview with the author!

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In a recent survey, 98% of people from the ages of 13-29 stated they would find the faith story of their parents and grandparents very interesting and valuable.

They want a real personal connection with you! God is calling you to intersect their story with your story.

Your God story is to be celebrated because it is amazing. We all have a unique path to faith in Christ. Some came to Christ at an early age. Some get preoccupied with material or vocational pursuits. Some run roads of self-absorption and debauchery before embracing the saving grace of God. Regardless the path, the end result is the same. Because of what Jesus did, we are saved from our sins and are awarded eternal life with Him. This is a drastically different outcome than that of the unbeliever.

It’s amazing because your story is the only story like it in all the people that have ever lived. It’s amazing because you get to experience joy in His presence, forever. It’s amazing because God wants to use your unique God story to touch others with His story.

God’s story is to be trusted because it is true. Every person would agree that if they could live forever in perfect peace and joy, then they would do whatever it took to obtain this future.

The Christian’s hope is that we believe this is actually true and can be obtained through Christ. Why do we believe this? Through our experience with God and the reasoning of our minds, we have become convinced of the truth of the gospel. There are many solid reasons to be confident that the Christian faith is indeed true. But many stumble here. In fact, J. Warner Wallace stated, “Ex-Christians often leave the church because they don’t think anyone in the church can answer their questions or make a case.” God used others to help you to His love and grace. God also wants to use you to articulate the reasons for the hope that lies within you (1 Peter 3:15 paraphrased).

Their story is to be intersected with your story because God wants others to experience His story. You are a living story

Merlin Buhl, MA, a former business owner, is now a self-employed entrepreneur experiencing God’s provision each and every day. He is and his wife, Theresa, co-founded My Hope To You, a non-profit organization dedicated to helping people tell their faith story, including the reasons why they believe what they believe.

They are parents to 7 children and 2 special nephews, grandparents to 4 amazing children (with probably many more coming someday). They live in Holland, MI. Merlin is available to come and speak about the importance of having a firm grasp on our hope in Christ and always be ready to pass it to others, leaving a spiritual legacy that will outlive us. Visit www.myhopetoyou.org or email us at myhopetoyou@gmail.com. being written by the hand of God. Your life is part of God’s story.

Every person you come into contact with is a person God loves and is pursuing. Each person could be a divine appointment for you to participate by sharing God’s story. Whether it be a gentle word, a kind act, a gift, a word of encouragement, a prayer, a Scripture passage, an apologetic truth, a glass of water, a simple meal, or your complete faith story, these are all used by God to intersect people’s story with His story. If you truly believe the hope that lies within you and grasp its significance, the love of God will ooze out of every pore of your life. When you do this with gentleness and respect (1 Peter 3:15b), God will use your story to intersect others story with His story.

So here is the “rest of the story.” After 7 years of our lives intersecting over the topic of faith, I felt it was time to give my 23-year-old son my complete faith story. Here is his response: “When my dad first handed his story to me, I wept, as I realized that he had poured his heart and soul into sharing his story with me. It meant so much that he would share his journey with me as I am on my own journey to a relationship with God. The book was amazing, made me tear up a few times every time I read it. I love how he had the pictures as they gave an emotional touch to each part of the story. This book is something I will keep with me forever. It’s a resource that I will be able to use for the rest of my life during the hard times and the good. Let alone, I will be able to share this with my future wife and kids.”

Our passion at My Hope To You is to prepare you for those God ordained intersections by helping you celebrate, articulate, and share your God story. We can assist in writing your story, helping your articulate the reasons why Christianity is true, as well as creating and publishing your God story in a legacy faith book for your kids and grandkids. Please visit www.myhopetoyou.org.

Everyone has a story to tell. Let us help you tell yours! n

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 25

How Will You Change T Make The Most Impact With Charity

Animals

l Animal Rights, Welfare, and Services l Wildlife Conservation l Zoos and Aquariums

Education

l Early Childhood Programs and Services l Youth Education Programs and Services l Adult Education Programs and Services l Special Education l Education Policy and Reform Scholarship and Financial Support

Community Development l l l l

United Ways Jewish Federations Community Foundations Housing and Neighborhood Development

Arts, Culture, Humanities l Libraries, Historical Societies and Landmark Preservation l Museum l Performing Arts l Public Broadcasting and Media

Resources for Intelligent Giving: www.charitynavigat

The World?

International

Navigator

l Development and Relief Services l International Peace, Security, and Affairs l Humanitarian Relief Supplies

Environment

l Environmental Protection and Conservation l Botanical Gardens, Parks, and Nature Centers

Health

l Diseases, Disorders, and Disciplines l Patient and Family Support l Treatment and Prevention Services l Medical Research

Research and Public Policy

l Non-Medical Science & Technology Research l Social and Public Policy Research

tor.org

Human and Civil Rights l Advocacy and Education

Religion

l Religious Activities l Religious Media and Broadcasting

Human Services

l Children’s and Family Services l Youth Development, Shelter, and Crisis Services l Food Banks, Food Pantries, and Food Distribution l Multipurpose Human Service Organizations l Homeless Services l Social Services

Monthly Wisdom from

AN EXECUTIVE DAD Why Philip de Souza Sends Newsletters to His Son’s Friends

By Laura A. Roser

S

everal years ago, Philip de Souza, Founder and President of cyber security company Aurora, began compiling his thoughts about the meaning of life into short monthly emails he sent to his high-school-aged son. Word caught on and soon a bunch of his son’s friends requested to be added to Philip’s “Monthly Wisdom” list.

Topics range from how to find a fulfilling career to how to participate in political discussions to thoughts about philanthropy. His goal is always to give these young people (many of whom are now in college or have graduated) the best advice to make wise decisions as they navigate life through the impressionable years of early adulthood. “Decisions these young men and

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women make now will affect them the rest of their lives,” de Souza says.

In one email, de Souza urges “Not being true to yourself is way too stressful, life is short – BE YOU!” In another, he tells these young adults to “unplug it,” referring to occasionally unplugging their lives from dayto-day stress and the importance of vacations. Each has a theme and simple message. But the impact has been significant.

With his own son, de Souza gets even more in depth.

“When my son left for college,” he says, “I wanted to stay connected with him. So, I started this series of letters sharing my perspective on various things in life with my

Laura A. Roser is the founder and CEO of Paragon Road, the #1 authority in meaning legacy planning. For more information about meaning legacy planning services, visit www.paragonroad.com.

son, whether it was politics or religion or oppression or growing up or my parents or culture—whatever. Every week I would send him a letter.” Philip says that he sent these letters for four years and his son never replied.

Finally, after four years, he asked his son about the weekly letters. Did he like them? Did he actually receive them? Did they matter?

His son beamed with a huge smile and said, “Dad, I absolutely love them. They’re amazing. What a way to keep the history of our family all in one place.”

Sometimes your influence is strongly felt, but the feedback isn’t there until much later. Philip’s so happy he kept up with the weekly letters and is continuing to do the same with his younger daughter. “But she

definitely responds, which is a lot more fun,” he says with a laugh. “She likes to debate her dad!”

Philip has seen the impact of small acts. Often, it’s the small things that make the biggest difference. At his charity Ainiti (ainiti.org), for example, he and his wife found that providing hair ribbons to girls living in poverty in India was a key to high self-esteem. Having their hair oiled, neatly combed, and in ribbons gave them a feeling of self-worth, pride, wellbeing, and belonging.

His newsletters may not seem like a world-changing action, but then again, you never know what kind of ripple effect the right advice, given at the right time, will have for his children and their friends. That’s why this busy business executive takes the task so seriously.

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 29

My son Monthly Wisdom - you are all a HERO :)

I am sure you have been caught up in the conversations about all things political happening in the US of A, especially since President Trump took office.

What the outcome of his decisions are, only time will tell. Indicators and measurements are of various kinds tangible and intangible, subjective and objective.

Among the more empirical tests are the DOW Jones Index, the National Debt, the cost of living, interest rates, mortgage rates, minimum wage, etc. Most of these number affect us in our daily lives.

Different people will assess the success of a President by measuring them against different numbers: for example, National Debt was at its lowest when President Clinton was leading us, and minimum wage its highest when President Obama left office, and the Dow its highest with President Trump. Who did the best?

And we haven’t even looked at subjective tests like happiness and quality of life yet! You see how complex the issue is.

People from varied political beliefs gravitate toward measures that justify their cause and while there is nothing wrong with that, our quest for a universal measure continues.

I was very impressed with Robb Willer, who actually addresses the issue of having better political conversations and seek consensus – he is a brave man. He does have a valid point and a terrific TED talk that you should all watch so you can arm yourself and bravely enter the next political conversation armed with a tool that actually might help you unify the group. To the heart of this discussion is the need to focus on common values like Empathy and Respect. I have added Humanity and Open Mindness and would like to deputize you all HEROs with the attached badge to prove it! n

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Philip de Souza is founder and president of Aurora (aurorait. com), a California-based consulting firm specializing in cyber security and compliance.

Established in 1990, Aurora serves as an experienced and trusted security advisor to medium and large enterprise global clients. de Souza spearheads company initiatives to keep Aurora and the industry at the forefront of protecting clients from constantly evolving security risks through education and unique technology and service offerings. To that end, de Souza created SecurePATH, a data encryption and regulatory compliance software company that helps top-tier corporations protect their data and avoid expensive losses in theft, resources and intellectual property. de Souza is deeply rooted in his community through supporting socio-cultural, volunteer and philanthropic causes. With a passion to develop future leaders, he mentors students from two local high schools, coaches executives seeking career advancement and advises growth focused mid-sized businesses. He and his wife founded Ainiti (ainiti.org), a nonprofit advancing education to empower underprivileged girls in developing countries.

LEGACY ARTS Issue 19 www.paragonroad.com 31

22 LEGACY ARTS July 2016 www.paragonroad.com

How Will You Be Remembered?

Let us help you “package up� important parts of you (such as your stories, principles, family heritage, and wisdom) so they aren't lost or forgotten. Specializing in books, videos, and audio interviews.

Discover what matters about your life. www.paragonroad.com

LEGACY ARTS July 2016 www.paragonroad.com 23

What Happens to Your Art Collection?

PLANNING FOR THE FUTURE

By Amanda Dunn

F

or many collectors, their interest in acquiring art is a passion. People spend their entire lifetime building their collection, and it can make up a substantial part of their net worth. But, unlike the thoughtful planning that is often intrinsic to other assets, the majority of collectors have not crafted a plan of action for their art collections.

Should the unlikely happen, what would become of your collection? Have you communicated with your family and friends about your works and their value? Have you laid out a comprehensive plan so your collection can go from one generation to the next or to the greater community to enjoy?

So how do you prepare for the inevitable?

First, take the time to inventory your collection by listing each piece along with the provenance, bill of sale, condition report, authentication, photos, artistic biography, insured value, and location. There are great inexpensive online collection management tools such as Artwork Archive that can help you to document this information for future use. We’d recommend that you update your inventory every time you make a new purchase to ensure you have the most accurate records.

What is your ultimate objective?

Ask yourself, is your collection your legacy? What are your objectives? Do you want your family to retain your collection or own it? Do you have an execution strategy, such as an auction house, in place?

Formulating a comprehensive succession plan for a collection is significant, important, and challenging. No plan is static

Click to view an interview with the author!

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Amanda Dunn co-created One Art Nation to empower and captivate art collectors and professionals by bringing together prominent art experts from across the globe to address topics that range from building, maintaining and protecting a collection, to tax and financial aspects of owning art.

Amanda has worked in North America, Europe, and the Middle East within respected organizations including Christie’s Auction House. Her passion lies in art and her goal is to demystify the process of buying art from start to finish.

Do you have insurance?

Make sure your collection is also being protected to preserve its value from physical damage and financial loss by seeking the advice of an insurance expert. A standard home owners policy won’t do the trick in most cases, so best to consider a fine arts insurance policy that provides broader coverage customized for your collection.

What about your intentions for the future?

Next your intentions and requirements need to be discussed in order for future generations to continue appreciating your works. Whether its family or an institution that will be taking over your collection, communication is key in protecting your legacy. You need to communicate your plan clearly. Otherwise your successors won’t know what your goals are.

And finally, spend time grooming the next person for your collection. Make sure they actually want your work. You might find that your family members might have no interest or competency when it comes to your collection and will simply sell your works for a quick buck. You also don’t want your collection going to an institution that will file your works away in a dingy basement where no one else can enjoy what you have created. as your philosophy and the laws change. Consider building a professional team to facilitate the planning strategies that include an attorney, art appraiser, insurance advisor, and possibly an art advisor.

What is the value of your collection?

It’s important to establish the value of your collection and to keep it up to date. In most cases, what you paid for it then is not what it is worth now. There are many amazing art appraisers out there, but make sure you select one that specializes in your genre of work and has been accredited by a governing body such as the Appraisers Association of America.

If you would like more information on how to create a successful succession plan for your collection, One Art Nation brings together prominent art experts from across the globe to address topics that range from building, maintaining and protecting a collection, to tax and financial aspects of owning art. This is the type of content that matters most to art collectors and professionals, both experienced and new.

Visit www.oneartnation.com. n

Have you protected your collection against taxation?

Understanding elements of estate or income taxation is key.

In the US, every asset you have is subject to estate tax, but every jurisdiction is different. You could be putting a big burden on your successors that you may have never considered. Your tax lawyer can help you minimize taxes when passing on your collection to the next generation, so be sure to seek advice, the sooner the better.

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Timeless Wisdom: Plastic Thoughts The Consequences of Faking Soul

By Laura A. Roser

I

n his book, Care of the Soul, Thomas Moore writes:

How you spend your working hours — what you look at, sit on and work with —makes a difference, not only in terms of efficiency but for its effect on your sense of yourself and the direction your imagination takes. Some businesses cover over their soulless conception of work with a veneer of fake walls, plastic plants, and pseudoart. If that is what we give to the workplace in the name of beauty, then that is the measure of soulfulness we will have at our job. Soul cannot be faked without serious consequences. In his poem “The Garden,” the poet Andrew Marvell refers to a “green thought in a green shade.” Surrounded by plastic ferns, we will be filled with plastic thoughts.

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Of course, this doesn’t only apply to business, it applies to every aspect of our lives. As you go about your day, are you surrounded by a veneer of soulful? Does your food taste “good” because of chemicals or unnatural processes? Does “quality time” with your family revolve around television or small talk, but have little meaning? Does the clothing you wear scratch synthetic fibers across your skin? Is your thinking inspired by tabloids and clickbait about the latest celebrity drama?

Think about ways you connect with your soul and try expanding upon them. It could be spending time in nature, carefully selecting the spices and ingredients you use to prepare a meal, listening to inspiring music, going to a museum, reading great literature or a spiritual book, or engaging in a deep conversation about life and love. n

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Issue 19

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