Creating a legacy, shouldn’t be messy!!

 

“Make a difference, change the game for the better, leave a legacy, be a guide that someone else can follow and make better, and then someone else will follow that and make that better.”

― Carlos Wallace

A beautiful quote that forms the basis of our today’s topic and something that will serve as a guide for the families, head of the families and the society as a whole who leave back their legacies. The unclear, undecided, unattended and unprepared plans for continuing the family inheritance is bound to play a spoilsport when everything is said and done. So, lets discuss more about the why, the how and the when of Creating Legacy for your successors.

Typically, the legacy or inheritance (in case of India) is thought about only the materialistic things: such as the bank balance, real estate, the business ventures, family ornaments and anything else that is considered precious and valuable. And that in a way is correct too. But, it is imperative to pay attention not just to the semantics of the word Legacy but rather it’s much deeper and comprehensive implementation of it in the real world. This means passing along the knowledge of values and the character.

Still unclear??!! Let’s talk about a wonderful example here… I am going to talk about Mahabharata, the epic and the classic that was written down almost 3000 years ago. We all know and remember the things from Mahabharata that there was a war between Kauravas and the Pandavas that continued for almost 18 days and eventually the Pandavas won. But, have we ever thought about “the Why” of that war??!! The roots of this war were not just the intentions of becoming the King of Hastinapur (between the Kauravas and the Pandavas); but it ran much deeper than that. Their fathers Pandu and Dhrutarashtra, their uncle Bheeshma had passed along to them the Throne of Great Hastinapur Kingdom, but along with that the set of values and beliefs to the Pandavas and Kauravas clan too. Earlier in the years, Kaurava’s father Dhritarashtra being blind was sidelined by the elders and they made Pandu (Pandava’s father) the King of Hastinapur. Dhritarashtra from that moment onwards was emotionally hurt and very prejudiced and felt as if injustice was done with him. Later, as Pandu passed away, Dhritarashtra became the King and always wanted his sons to take up the throne next. He wanted the history not to repeat itself… Just imagine, what was left in inheritance was not just the throne but the acerbic values, behaviours and thoughts as well. Naturally, there was a power struggle for the Throne and with multiple ethically and morally wrong-doings such as attempt to de-clad Draupadi in front of the entire raj-sabha, killing of Abhimanyu and mutilating his body during war to name just a couple. The entire Kaurava clan was killed and Pandavas next generation was wiped out by Ashwatthama after the war…  Was the war really worth all that??? It was not just legacy of the throne but the wrong values and ethical conflicts passed along…

Now, why are we talking about this entire story in the modern generation? The reason is exactly what we have been exploring and obviously for the analogical reasons… The legacy means not just the valuables, real estate and the money, but passing along the knowledge to earn, to retain and to grow the financial independence. The earlier generation has really worked hard for it and so the next generation should not just take it for granted. Otherwise, in modern day context: the crores those have been earned over many hardworking and smart-working years, could simply be spent and flushed down the drain without much clarity of thought and absence of guiding principles. You don’t want your Legacy to be “What could have been” but rather become “What has been and will remain in future” too…

So, what can be done about it? How can it be done? The answer lies into financial planning tools and sound advise, as well as making sure your next generation stays on top of it too. They are to be made part of this planning too and they are to be made aware about the perils of lackadaisical attitude towards the money management. Let them understand it, let them earn it and then let them enjoy the fruits! Imagine an 18 year old getting a new BMW or a Mercedes car, without understanding the real value of it… Not price, but the value! It would be an irony to think that in your own lifetime you have to worry about your inheritance due to worrisome habits. So, then what can you do about it? There are more than few ways to plan it and prepare it. Here are a couple of thoughts and we definitely want to advise you to take professional help to decide what is best for you. Thinking of doing formal “Will” is a great way ensure that your legacy is secure. You can define and pre-decide certain clauses based on time, based on conditions and based on situations in there to protect your Legacy. A wonderful idea would be also to create a trust which will manage the funds as well as help your heirs decide on the correct course of action to preserve the wealth. Another suggestion could be to invest in an instrument like Whole Life Insurance and ensuring that your hard-work, rewards the next generation; no matter whenever your leave your earthly journey for heavenly abode… Just a few ideas to consider for preservation of your Legacy in cleanest possible way!!

Finally, we come full circle to our question… What does it mean to leave a legacy? It means putting a positive stamp on the future of your family, and making a contribution to your future generations. People want to leave a legacy because they want to feel that their life mattered. Let us at K M Wealth Solutions help you do that… Are you ready to leave a mark on the future to come?