As discussed in the last episode, a common feature of daily life seems to be that everyone in the family is busy, and everyone struggles with being productive. Part 2 of this series explores more lessons from sports — particularly golf — for identifying the most important things to work on and staying productive throughout the day.

One common feature of daily life in every generation is that everyone is busy and struggles with being productive. This episode explores lessons from sports — in particular, golf — as a metaphor for helping us start our day in a way that makes it productive and meaningful.

There are numerous ways to give or leave assets to beneficiaries, and each structure should be carefully tailored to be consistent with the client’s goals. Three common goals for estate planning are to protect, manage and preserve assets. This episode explores ways to structure asset protection, asset management and asset preservation trusts to balance access, control and flexibility.

There is a lot of talk about fostering the right “mindset” to facilitate personal growth and fulfilment. The most popular seems to be a “growth mindset,” compared to a “fixed mindset.” This episode explores a related concept — that of a “legacy mindset.” The legacy mindset is a mindset directed at an individual’s legacy or effect on people, institutions, or ideas. This episode considers the value of a legacy mindset, and it provides some thoughts on how to identify and develop your legacy mindset — not just upon death, but during life.

Estate plans and lifetime gifts are often based on discretionary distributions to beneficiaries. But famed investor Warren Buffett and movie star Ashton Kutcher have suggested an alternative, in which beneficiaries do not receive gifts – instead, those beneficiaries can take out a loan from a trust, or can ask a trust to make an investment in a beneficiary’s venture.

This episode explores this concept, called a “family bank” or “family venture capital fund.” This structure can be used to facilitate loans and investments for a beneficiary, which can serve the settlor’s overall purpose.

This episode highlights the advantages of a family bank and lays out opportunities to structure the entity for proper governance, investment philosophy and asset protection.

An estate plan often involves establishing an irrevocable trust for certain beneficiaries. But when circumstances change, clients wonder if the benefits no longer justify the costs of keeping the assets in a trust. Before moving to terminate a trust, however, parties should consider carefully whether the purposes of the trust would best be served through termination, if termination is permitted, what might be some available alternatives and how to move forward to make sure all parties are informed and protected. This episode explores potential options and pitfalls for terminating a trust, including adverse tax issues, and lays out some options as parties consider the future.

Many clients ask whether and when to share the estate plan with beneficiaries. Even after a client’s death, during the administration of an estate or trust, executors and trustees often ask the same questions about how much to share with beneficiaries. Communicating this estate plan can have important practical, moral and legal benefits in making sure the plan is carried out in the right way while fostering family unity and reducing tension or disagreement.

In this episode, Steve draws on the lessons from Warren Buffett’s 2024 letter to the shareholders of Berkshire Hathaway in which Buffett provides wisdom on the question of sharing the estate plan with beneficiaries.

On this podcast, Steve often explores ways to establish and administer trusts to facilitate productive and healthy beneficiaries. This episode explores a particular structure to further this goal: a “beneficiary well-being trust,” now authorized under Delaware law.

A beneficiary well-being trust authorizes, and could require, the trustee to provide programs for the beneficiary regarding any number of subjects, including financial literacy, investments, mental health, and family history and legacy. The episode also delves into ways trusts can serve these important goals — now and after a settlor’s gift or the settlor’s passing.