Product Description
Estate planning has more procrastination, indecision, and inertia associated with it than any other area of planning. Affluent baby boomers, in particular, as the beneficiaries of the largest intergenerational transfer of wealth in history, have a daunting set of financial concerns with which to contend. Here at last is a step-by-step approach to estate planning that equips planners and financial advisors to help clients tackle this important process once and for all.
Most clients understandably find planning concepts and strategies confusing, but most also have a fairly sound understanding of who and what is most important to them. These are the priorities from which to build the foundation of a successful estate plan. The seven principles explored in this book use personal values as a basis to form The Legacy Planning SystemTM. With this approach, advisors can:
- Help clients discover and solidify their deepest values, convictions, and objectives relative to their money
- Help clients express those values and objectives in a clearly written Family Financial Philosophy mission statement
- Serve as the team leader in advising clients and clients other advisors on how to use the mission statement to direct the planning process
Clarifying your clients priorities and personal goals will enable you, as a trusted advisor, to simplify the planning process for clients, ensure their lifetime financial independence, and help them control their ultimate family and social capital legacies. Confronting issues of family dynamics, taxes, and financial situationsnot to mention accepting ones own mortalityis difficult for many people. In addition, since estate planning often requires a shift in ownership of assets, clients feel an unsettling loss of privacy and control over their financial resources. Help your clients to overcome these obstacles and achieve their highest financial and philanthropic aspirations. Theyll thank you for generations to come.
Praise for Values-Based Estate Planning“Scott Fithians book provides planning professionals with new insights into the estate planning process. Most importantly, he stresses the individual and family benefits of philanthropythrough the concept of social capitalwhich should be a key element to the planners inventory of client questions.”—Charles W. Collier, Senior Philanthropic Advisor, Harvard University
“This exceptional book empowers planners with a well- organized roadmap to lead wealthy clients to implementation of an estate plan expressing the clients own values. Scott Fithians Legacy Planning System focuses the advisor on the critical importance to the estate planning process of helping clients identify and articulate their values and objectives. This useful volume makes those ideas available to a much broader audience, while broadening the subject with illustrations of effective employment of the methodology he has developed.”—David Wheeler Newman, JD, LLM, Mitchell, Silberberg & Knupp LLP
“Fithians view of the complete person helps the advanced advisor avoid the typical limitations (hazards) of planning for wealthy families. The easy-to-understand and easy-to-follow methods help determine in-depth values of the clients total financial goals. His methods result in cementing valuable relationships with the most prized clients. Critical reading for CPAs, attorneys, insurance agents, or other advisors.” & mdash;Jessica M. Bibliowicz, President and CEO, National Financial Partners
“Scotts wealth optimization system is truly revolutionary. For the first time, affluent clients and their advisors can rely on a fully integrated system that spans all phases of wealth accumulation, management, and transfer over time. An outstanding reference!”—Robert Keys, The Private Client Group
Values-Based Estate Planning: A Step-by-Step Approach to Wealth Transfer for Professional Advisors
2 Responses
Stay in touch with the conversation, subscribe to the RSS feed for comments on this post.
The PURPOSE of the book is what earns this low rating from me. My reading finds the book clearly organized, narratively pedantic and pleasant enough. What my reading DID NOT find was thorough direction on structuring an estate to perpetuate a trustor’s values.
It appears to me that the purpose of the book is to instruct planning professionals in counseling techniques useful for clients who DO NOT KNOW WHAT THEY HOLD HIGHEST. Perhaps many of the boomers slated for transition in the next 50 years don’t know, thus creating demand for the counseling on counseling found in this book. Best of luck, y’all…see what ya can focus and not squander in dissolute vague best wishes….
Rating: 2 / 5
Many estate planners fail to adequately understand a client’s personal values and priorities and merely plug into a standardized will and trust setup. This book provides a systematic method for analyzing and implementing needs for personal financial security, gifts to family, and charitable giving. The audience for the book is clearly professional financial planners, but wealthy individuals will find the author’s approach helpful.
Rating: 5 / 5