H ARTL EY GO LDST ON E & K ATH Y WI S E MAN
The greatness of this story, interestingly, is the story of the founder’s awareness of the potential consequences of The Millionaire’s gift. It is important to realize that the donor’s intent is so critical to the outcome. Failure to understand the motivation for a gift so often leads to a failed playing forward of that action. And so I would end like this: These trusts are gifts, they are not transfers. The founder had a deep, deep desire that she make gifts in the highest sense. Every beneficiary should be so lucky — so blessed — to begin such an experiment with a loving and wise family elder setting the parameters; and a committed group of mentors supporting the beneficiaries as well as the trustee. In some ways, you just heard a tale of “greatness.” It supports the importance of thinking carefully about even the positive events in life.
“I WONDER IF WE CAN…” Among other things, our storyteller shows the power of being able to reply to general questions — not with answers (either general or specific), but with other questions, questions that are wide-ranging and thought-provoking all at the same time. Try this in a family setting, and watch the barriers fall.
T
he original trust had been created in the 1980s purely as a tax play. The grantor seeded it with about $400,000 of value that he fully expected to grow. And grow impressively it did.
From a strictly quantitative analysis, it was a wonderful play. The problem was that the grantor, at that point in his life, was all about taxefficiency. As time went on — his children came of age, got married, he had his first grandchild — he did more planning. 58