|
Help Clients Discuss Wealth, Privilege and Responsibility
Getting clients to open up about their estate planning issues is a challenge even for the most sensitive of financial advisors. Not a touchy feely type? Well, you're probably sweating about this stuff frequently.
It is always difficult to find the perfect moment to talk about the emotional subjects of death, inheritance and legacy no matter how great your relationship is with your client.
But to effectively help clients prepare for the future it's essential to know what they want to give their children and grandchildren, what values they hope to leave behind, and which charitable institutions they wish to endow.
Jim Stovall's best-selling novel, The Ultimate Gift, may be just the springboard to broach these important topics. And, fortunately, your clients may have heard of the book as it was made into a movie earlier this year, and is now out on DVD.
The Ultimate Gift, just 124 pages, is a quick read, and tells the story of fictional billionaire Red Stevens and the lessons he imparts to a would-be heir about real success.
Stevens is a larger than life Texas oil and cattle tycoon who built his empire from scratch, showering his family with privilege along the way. He discovers, too late, however, that by sheltering them from hardship and responsibility, he has spoiled them. Or, perhaps it's not too late.
He decides to reach out, from beyond the grave, as it were, to his grandnephew Jason Stevens. Before the 24-year-old. can receive what he hopes is a sizeable inheritance, he must complete a series of 12 monthly assignments dictated through videotape by his late great-uncle.
In the morality tale, we witness the quiet transformation in Jason as he receives a new assignment, each conveying a different life lesson, one that Red felt Jason must learn before he could truly appreciate the inheritance he was to be given.
Red teaches the self-centered, but teachable Jason to value honest work, to appreciate challenges, to be grateful for the opportunities created by one's privilege, and to live with a deep sense of purpose.
In writing the The Ultimate Gift, about the hazards and benefits of wealth, Stovall undoubtedly wanted all of us to think about our gifts – and how we can best use them.
And that's a conversation each of us needs to have.
About the author: Jim Stovall overcame blindness to become a national champion Olympic Weightlifter, a successful investment broker and entrepreneur. He is co-founder and president of the Narrative Television Network, which makes movies and television accessible for 13 million blind and visually impaired individuals in the United States.
|
