We were inspired to write this having read an old Nick Murray article entitled “Rebecca’s Riverkeepers”.
Those of us lucky to have children (or be the aunt or uncle to some) know that children change us. Those of us lucky enough to meet our children’s children know the next generation change us again.
They change the way we think about the world and ourselves. And they change the way we think about wealth.
Most of today’s wealth is held by those who earned it, rather than inherited it. Most of that wealth will be passed on in the next few decades.
Throughout our working life we put money aside so we can enjoy the last third of our lives. We plan carefully trying to achieve the ‘ideal outcome’ – running out of money just as we run out of breaths.
Only to gaze upon these wide-eyed little miracles and realise that goal is futile and even selfish.
As we watch the next generation grow into adults, and our wealth grows to heights we could not dream of, we begin to wonder what our wealth could mean to them on their own journey through life.
As they learn, make mistakes, grow resilient, become passionate and ambitious and flourish in life’s adventures, we begin to realise what a significant legacy might help them accomplish.
We begin to see wealth in a new light.
Rather than being a finite resource that we use up, we can see it as a river – capable of growing wider and deeper as it flows downstream to the next branch of the family tree. We realise that our wealth can surpass transgenerational, to become multigenerational.
At our age, our parents and grandparents could not have fathomed the wonders of the world we live in now. And we cannot for future generations, but we can imagine that river deepening and widening.
It is our responsibility (honour?) to become our lineage’s riverkeepers, which means tuning out the noise and sticking resolutely to our ‘boring but effective’ strategy.
We will draw from the river as needed but aim to preserve it for the day when our children and their children are our age and are tending it for the generations we will likely never meet.
Some advisers think that money is money and estate planning is about saving tax.
But we know that money is love.
We want to help you develop your skills as a riverkeeper. That way we can widen, deepen and extend the life of your river together.
Riverkeepers have the healthiest, longest-term perspective, putting your family’s future in the best position for generations to come.
In 2022 let us help you become true riverkeepers.