What does family legacy mean to you?  It is defined as something that is handed down through the family from previous generations to keep the family traditions alive and help move the family forward.  There are different types of legacy including monetary, reputation, accomplishments, beliefs, and actions just to name a few.

Have you started thinking about the family legacy you want to leave?

My grandfather left a legacy of the importance of education.  His siblings sacrificed for him to get his college degree, so he made sure he graduated.  Back then (early 1930’s) they knew that education was a way to create more opportunities, especially for black people.  My grandfather was determined to make sure that his children graduate from college, he succeeded – 3 lawyers, 3 educators and 1 business professional. The sacrifices he made helped to move the family forward and allowed them to experience life in a way that he was not necessarily afforded, especially monetarily. I’ve always wanted to start a college scholarship in honor of both of my grandparents for those that need assistance along the way. (Going to get started on that this year.)

That is what a legacy is all about, continuing traditions and creating opportunities for future generations to go further.  Think of the Kennedy’s whose legacy of political and social action not to mention their financial legacy helped to keep their future generations moving forward.

Like anything else leaving a legacy takes planning.  A legacy plan can address financial or non-financial things such as family history, traditions, values, and philanthropic goals.  It starts with deciding what you hope for future generations and what important traditions you want them to carry on. Deciding what type of legacy you want to pass on is the first step in creating a plan.  The next step is to identify short and long-term goals and identify the steps necessary to achieve them.  One thing I think most people tend to let fall to the wayside is having conversations NOW about your plans.  It shows the next generation how important the legacy is and gives them the opportunity to ask questions now.  As a culture, we must get better at having conversations NOW even though they may be a little uncomfortable. 

I am working toward creating a legacy that includes:

• Financial Independence– obviously money but this also includes financial literacy, proper money management, stressing the importance of assets over liabilities and multiple streams of income.
• Education (formal and informal)– keeping the tradition going that came before me but also instilling that there are several ways to get an education. The goal is to keep learning.
• Community Service (reaching back and helping)– We have been very fortunate in being able to help others, especially during the holidays. We started a tradition of adopting families for the holidays and taking our son to go with us to deliver food and presents and also give an encouraging talk.
• The Love of Traveling (coming up in a blog post later this week) – We started early taking our son to visit as many states as possible so that he would know that there was no limit to where he could go (having grown up in the Midwest, he currently lives in the West :-)) or what he could do.
• Family Traditions – One of the things we loved to do as a family when our son was younger, was movie night whether at home or in the theater. We are huge Star Wars fans and would often go to the midnight premieres even if the next day was a school day. The best part of movie night was spending time together. We still enjoy movie night and chat about the latest movies all the time.

What do you hope to pass on to your future generations?

Check out my LIVESTREAM on Family Legacy- Moving the Family Forward.