Charles A. Lowenhaupt - The Wise Inheritors Guide to Freedom from Wealth

The Wise Inheritors Guide to Freedom from Wealth

Making Family Wealth Work for You

Charles A. Lowenhaupt

Copyright 2018 by Charles A. Lowenhaupt

All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise, except for the inclusion of brief quotations in a review, without prior permission in writing from the publisher.

Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data

Names: Lowenhaupt, Charles A., author.

Title: The wise inheritors guide to freedom from wealth : making family wealth work for you / Charles A. Lowenhaupt.

Description: Santa Barbara : Praeger, [2018]

Identifiers: LCCN 2018015340 (print) | LCCN 2018022827 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440865534 (ebook) | ISBN 9781440865527 (hardcopy : alk. paper)

Subjects: LCSH: Inheritance and succession. | Wealth. | Parent and child. | Intergenerational relations.

Classification: LCC HB715 (ebook) | LCC HB715 .L68 2018 (print) | DDC 332.024dc23

LC record available at https://lccn.loc.gov/2018015340

ISBN: 978-1-4408-6552-7 (print)

978-1-4408-6553-4 (ebook)

232221201912345

This book is also available as an eBook.

Praeger

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ABC-CLIO, LLC

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This book is printed on acid-free paper

Manufactured in the United States of America

Contents

Preface

In my conversations with wealth inheritors, wealth creators, and wealth professionals around the world, I have found recurring themes that arise regardless of gender, age, nationality, religion, and other factors. Concerns about ones wealth regularly lead to anxiety. Questions about the purpose of wealth and how it should rule personal goals, familial relationships, and general happiness and well-being seem never-ending.

In truth, being a wealth inheritorwhich can be a very distinct advantage in lifecreates a variety of challenges that can be difficult to understand and deal with, none of which engender the sympathy of friends and colleagues. It is difficult to discuss these challenges with most people, especially those who have not grown up in similar financial circumstances. Conversations with parents, grandparents, and other family members about the unique issues faced with wealth can be even more uncomfortable and less satisfying. Those parents and grandparents are most typically the initial source of the wealth and discussions that can be misconstrued as complaints may come off as a lack of gratitude for being born into a family others would be blessed to be part of. Many times, these talks come to an end without any productive result.

So, where can a person turn for help in dealing with the challenges of inheriting wealth, and where can parents turn to help their children handle those challenges?

Thats why I wrote this bookto help wealth inheritors better manage the challenges that come with the significant wealth they have now or will have in their lifetime. My goal is to provide the wealth inheritor the tools and wisdom to manage the inevitable difficulties of wealth and achieve the ultimate goal: freedom from the burdens of wealth. At the same time, I wanted to give the wealth inheritors parents and grandparents an appreciation of the struggles many wealth inheritors are facing. In other words, this book is intended to give the wealth inheritor the understanding and vocabulary to address wealth challenges and the capacity to openly communicate them with understanding parents and grandparents.

Working through the dilemma faced by the wealth inheritor is a crucial part of his or her growing up. Although volumes have been written about how to manage wealth and how to create family harmony in multigenerational wealth, little is written directly for the wealth inheritor. The wealth industry is fed by revenue paid by wealth owners. Too often, the purpose of next generation education is the transmission of values and standards encouraged by the older generation.

As a third generation financial advisor, I, along with my family, have observed and helped wealth creators and inheritors for over 100 years. In that time, we have seen many complex personal and family issues arise and, more often than not, we have seen wealth lead to unhappiness, misery, family dysfunction, and addiction. Nobody believes that wealth should be poison, but few people actually have the knowledge and experience to figure out the purpose of wealth and set it on its course.

In my first book, Freedom from Wealth , I presented the thesis that self-actualization should be the true goal for anyone, with or without wealth. I explained that wealthy individuals must start their life journey of finding harmony with wealth by figuring out what the wealth is for. I then examined the various elements of wealth managementfrom investment process to governance, analytics to philanthropy, and from socially responsive investing to next generation education. My goal was, and remains, to help individuals and families understand what wealth is intended to do and ensure that wealth is always kept in its place. Wealth should never consume or imprison the wealth holder.

If you want to test where you arein or out of that prisonyou might start by asking yourself these questions:

• Do you feel that you have your wealth under control?
• Is your wealth a source of happiness or anxiety?
• Is your wealth supporting your personal goals and helping you become the person you have always aspired to be?
• Are you and your family closer or further apart due to your wealth?
• Do you sometimes wish you didnt have your wealth?

As I have traveled around the world speaking about freedom from wealth, its clear that many wealth creators and inheritors have not achieved a state of balance and self-actualization. Some recognize their unhappiness but dont know what to do about it. Others claim that they will start to chase their dreams, but if these are older generation folks, it may be hard for them to learn new tricks. Those who come to me with the most enthusiasm about freedom from wealth, however, are generally younger wealthy people. Some of them are creating wealth and are aligning their lifestyle and attitudes to reach their goals. Others are wealth inheritors or children of wealth waiting for the inheritance. Many are struggling with individuality and freedom and feel enslaved by their circumstances.

These wealth inheritors find themselves restrained in a number of ways. They find it hard to understand how money and life intersect. They have difficulty trusting others. They often feel overwhelmed by the familys wealth and its mysteries and their own lack of self-awareness. They have difficulty fitting into family and community. They need help taking the long view, figuring out their goals in life and then marshaling wealth in order to chase their dreams.

As I meet with wealth inheritors, I often hear deep unhappiness. I have spent time listening to impassioned pleas from wealth inheritors and their anguished descriptions of their situations. I have heard tearful complaints about the pain their family is causing or the stifling control over their lives that is destroying their quality of life. Many complain that money is the problem, not the facilitator of ambition and dreams that most people would assume. The visits are poignant and emotional. These inheritors may have wealth and health, but they are desperate for happiness and self-actualization.