Wealth in Families

By Charles W. Collier

Book Overview

Wealth in Families, a book by Charles W. Collier, Harvard's former senior philanthropic advisor, can be a helpful resource with your own planning. This book addresses many of the questions of concern... This description may be from another edition of this product.

• Format: Paperback
• Language: English
• ISBN: 0978634500
• ISBN13: 9780978634506
• Release Date: June 2006
• Publisher: Harvard
• Length: 110 Pages
• Weight: 0.68 lbs.

Customer Reviews

Read this if you have children!

I had been wanting to read this book for a while. So I was very happy to see it back in print. This book focuses on intergenerational wealth management. A good deal of the focus is on people who have large amounts of wealth, something that would exclude me. But many of the lessons apply to regular people with modest savings. One of the best things it does is to debunk the myth that people should not discuss money with their family. It makes it clear how absolutely essential it is to teach the next generation about wealth, and its meaning. It also helps people understand that the real meaning of wealth goes beyond money and is really one's family and its values. I think anyone with children will benefit from reading this book.

A Thought Leader on Family Wealth

Charles Collier has created a great question set for helping families establish better communication around the subjects of Human, Intellectual, Social and Financial Capital. I have read the first and second editions of this book and have utilized the framework to help my clients with difficult topics.

Wealth in Families

My purpose in writing Wealth in Families is to encourage you to think deeply about the fundamental questions surrounding wealth and its effect on your family. If I am successful, you may find yourself choosing to alter the ways in which you plan and act with regard both to your wealth and to your family. After 25 years working with individuals and families of wealth, I have discovered that the hardest, yet most rewarding, part of the planning process is asking essential questions about what people want to preserve - besides financial wealth - and how they can enhance each family member's growth. These "why" questions surrounding family wealth are the most important ones, and yet they are rarely asked. The questions about the meaning and purpose of wealth should drive the thinking of individuals and families, and the resulting estate planning decisions and outcomes. Thinking about values first, products second. This book explores the meaning of wealth (Chapter 2), the amount of an appropriate inheritance (Chapter 3), family communication (Chapter 4), the development of a balanced approach to money (Chapter 5), financial education (Chapter 6), and the philanthropic impulse (Chapter 7). Several chapters include interviews with leading experts in the field of family wealth management. --- from book's introduction