Gift of Communication Gift of CommunicationCoaching families and their financial advisors to learn the skills necessary to live fruitful lives
34 years ago I started my career in the financial services industry. I set up my first registered investment advisory firm in 1982 (Financial Action Plans,Inc.) and began doing financial planning for my clients.
Who is the “Alpha Child”? The Allianz Life Insurance Company conducted a study they defined as “The American Legacies Study”. They gathered information by conducting over 2000 interviews with Baby Boomers and their parents. One of the findings their study revealed was the existence of the “Alpha Child.” This is the child that keeps the…
Transforming your relationship with your parents about money is not an easy task. With the right tools, though, you can do it. You will be able to discuss issues and topics that were previously off-limits and figure out ways to work in tandem with your parents to improve, modify, or change their financial circumstances. You…
Estate planning is such an ominous term. Most of us try to avoid it as long as possible because it deals with our death and ultimate demise. I would rather we rename it “Transition Planning”. It is the planning we must do for our parents and ourselves to avoid legal delays and complications when the…
For the past several months my 88 year old Mom has had difficult moments. On a few mornings she woke up and thought she was in her old home and not at the independent Living Community she had moved into. Once in awhile she thought she was at the Senior Center waiting for a friend…
“My daughter is insisting I move in with her,” complains Martha. “She just wants to control my life and take away my freedom,” she continues. Jenny, Martha’s daughter worries that her mother keeps falling, and fears one day she will break her hip or hit her head. “I’ll take my sister to court before I…
Once you have created an agenda for the Family Meeting and discussed it with your parents and their trusted adviser, you are ready to have the meeting. Although it seems like a very difficult and perhaps impossible task, I assure you that once the Family Meeting occurs, everyone in the family will be thankful. For…
Four weeks ago my mom contracted a stomach virus and was sent to the hospital to recover. While she was there the Doctors discovered that she also had a urinary tract infection. After a week in the hospital she was sent to a nursing home for rehab. When I visited her there I noticed that…
When my mom was alive, she had a short stay in a local hospital. She returned from that hospital visit with a virus that caused her to begin to deteriorate. She had contracted a urinary tract infection while there and it dramatically affected her memory. We began ’round the clock aides and continued that for almost…
Many elderly people rely entirely on family or other trusted individuals to help them. Whether it is for physical needs or emotional needs, as people grow older they tend to need more and more help from others. This dependence on caregivers or family members makes an older person more vulnerable to abuse. For example, an…
Mediation is the process of bringing two or more parties together who are seeking to resolve a conflict. The mediator’s role is to facilitate communication between the parties and help them discover a solution. The mediator’s job is not to solve the problem or impose a solution. The process is completely voluntary, and any of…