Generational Wealth with Sharon & Shelly Lechter.
Loral Langemeier has known Sharon Lechter entrepreneur, international speaker, best-selling author, licensed CPA, and Charted Global Management Accountant, who I call my financial mom, since 1996, with the Rich Dad, Poor Dad brand.?She has been instrumental in being a mentor to me and helping guide me through this interesting author speak world.
????And then, her daughter, Shelly, CEO and Founder of Help My Senior, and co-founder of Navigating the Health Care Puzzle for Dementia and an Aging Population, is here because we’re gonna have a very different conversation about the Electoral Legacy and generational wealth.
????As many of you know, October 26, 27, 28, our Generational Wealth Conference is in Reno, Nevada.?It will not be streamed live, so we are talking to families in advance to help share what a conversation sounds like in a family.?Here’s what I would say to all moms and parents, is your kids watch you.?They watch you from you know, the good, the bad, and the interesting.?They know everything spoken and unspoken in the way that they were raised in your family.
????Sharon has led the financial literacy conversation more than anyone I know, so I asked her what legacy means to her.
????Legacy creates the amount of wealth that you’re leaving from generation to generation.?She says that legacy is created every single day, with every heart you touch, so it’s much more than just money.?It is who you are, what you stand for and the character and the lessons that you’ve taught your children, your family, your friends, that they can look up to and know that their lives are better off because of you being a part of it, and she thinks that’s even more important than the dollars and cents, but your legacy is really important, the imprint you leave in their hearts, as well as their wallets.
????Shelly says that she’s really blessed to have Sharon as her mother, and that Sharon has left an incredible legacy that she’s still creating every day.?Shelly goes on to say money is money, but it comes and goes.?Of course, it’s important, of course, you know, there’s so much value to it, and in her eyes it’s about what you can do with that money for others.?
????Shelly says her mom has always been about supporting those in need, really supporting the non-profit organizations that are doing good work.?And so, the legacy is not just about success and people’s lives, it is about all those other pieces and parts that have built into their daily life, and what her mother has shared with her.
?????Everything that Shelly does today is based on that she provides care for people, and she works with seniors.?She is a dementia expert and runs memory care communities, and assisted living, so she’s with people that are at the end of their legacy.?It means something very special to Shelly, because she’s watching that legacy come to an end. And a moment of time where it’s starting on a new level for the families to continue.?That’s how our memory stays alive is through our legacy.
????For some families their mantra is, “I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it, I’ll get to it.”?Meaning what I call the big five, from your estate lawyer, to corporate structures and compliance.?????making sure you are funded.?Powers of Attorney, all the documents, insurance, tax strategy.?Like all five of those are key players in this planning on the financial side, and making sure that you’re estate doesn‘t go to the state.?
????So, I asked Sharon what she would say to those who say, “I’ll get to it?”?Sharon told me she would probably get in their face a little bit, because tomorrow isn’t a guarantee.?If the fact that you’re stalling in preparing that pathway, means you’re adding additional burden on your children and your grandchildren, you’re also, potentially diverting monies and legacy that you’ve created and it goes to the state or somewhere you know in taxes, shame on you for not taking the time, carving out the time to create the documentation of what you want your legacy to be, how you want to establish it. And so, if you don’t make your wishes known among your family when you’re gone, nine times out of ten, there is fighting and a litigation.?Figure out what you want.?Make sure the documentation is there and clearly communicated with your family what your intentions are.?People will be upset when you’re gone.?Make the other part as smooth as possible by minimizing the stress.??
????What Shelly remembers most growing up in the Lechter family is being able to join her mom on her journeys of supporting other women.?One specific memory is of joining her mother on her dream trip to Africa for entrepreneurial women that were trying to create a business.?She said it was beautiful because she watched and helped using her hands to lift other women up to create their entire life by giving them the opportunity to start a business, and their own legacy for their children.?Not only did that experience impact Shelly, but it impacted her daughter, because those same gifts and values and ways of thinking that her mom, Sharon has given to her, is allowing Shelly to do that for her daughter, as well.
???There are some moms who say, “I’ve already screwed it up so much, you know there’s so much I shoulda, coulda, woulda.”?So, they’re living in that kind of guilt space of how do they begin now or it’s too late.?They can’t get themselves motivated.
???Sharon believes that every child is unique.?And so, the way you parent a child is not necessarily how you current the next one.?She also thinks it’s really important to be a mentor, not an enabler.?Too many parents are enablers.?And so, what happens is the kids just kind of give up and say, “Well, you know I’m not going to bother with it, because mom will take care of it,” versus being the mentor that’s there to support them with domestic questions, and guide them in the right direction.?It really is each person is unique.?Each child is unique, and they need to find their own passion and they need to be able to allow to make mistakes and suffer the consequences.?Sharon is where she is because of all the mistakes has made, and what she learned from them.?Sometimes it’s easier for your kid to recover when they’re seven, eight, nine, ten years old, then when they’re in their twenties.?So, it’s important to let your kids learn the hard knocks, hopefully not too hard, because they’ll be able to have a lesson that they learn that keeps them from having problems in the future.?A lot of parents are afraid to talk about money because they don’t want their kids to realize that they need to learn the lessons too, that they’re not as strong and secure as they should be, but the gift of financial education is a gift of a lifetime.
????And it’s so important to be honest and true with your kids so that they can create that confidence in themselves, because they know how to spend it by the age of three or four.?Let’s teach them to make it, how to make it work for them in this environment.
????Shelly referred to the title of my new book Make Your Kids Millionaires: Step-by-step Guide to Lead Children to Financial Freedom, and that she views that as the lessons that we’re talking about and the values and just the idea you can be anything, you can do anything.?That entrepreneurial spirit, which she says isn’t for all, but it’s for a lot.?It’s that entrepreneurial spirit that her mom is giving to her and say you can do this.?Shelly believes she can, because her mom has recognized her gifts and weaknesses both and taught her how to work with them both.?How to build them to their strengths and bring on other people to fill in the gap.?
????It was that foundation given to Shelly by her mother, that built her to the place where she is today.?It’s the same concept that Shelly feels like for the children in school.?They are told you can only do this, and you can only be an employee.?It’s just building that concept that there’s no box that our children are living in.?It’s about pushing them outside of that box and giving them the beliefs.?That’s not only part of the legacy we are building in our children, but that’s how we make them a millionaire.?If it’s their passion, they’re gonna run with it.?No matter what.?Shelly feels that our job is identifying what is their passion.?And what is it that’s going to make them sing from the mountaintops, because then our job is that they have their foundation, and they’re gonna blossom.
????Sharon adds that it is so important to involve them early so that they feel ownership in it.?You want to involve them in what you’re doing and that they understand it.?It’s inherently important for people to give them some responsibility before they get that kind of wealth dropped in their lap.?Give them some decision-making, give them some opportunities to participate in the family financial matters, so that they have some ownership.
????Sharon created the game Thrive Time for teens because it’s so important for teens to understand that there are consequences to everyday decisions they make, not just how they spend their money, but two they spend their time and every decision they make either drives them to succeed or not.
????It makes them understand that they are in control.?We are all in control of three things, our thoughts, our words, and our actions.?The sooner young people understand that, the sooner they will be driving a course of success in their life.
????The mental health of our nation is in an interesting space.?I asked Shelly about what happens to those who don’t make decisions before that disease sets in.?And what she would say to those families who have that potential in their gene pool, or they see that onset?
????She says that it really opens itself up to the fact that every day we have these sudden losses and things that we’re going through.?And if we don’t know the details of what is expected or what is desired, it’s hard.?Families have got to have these things in order.?This is for the people that love them.?There’s no greater gift that people can give their loves ones than having things in order and setup and making sure that those right documentations are in place.?And it’s not just the Power of Attorney, the living will, and all of that, but it’s also the details of care and people miss that a lot.?Shelly says she sees the devastation of the families who she knows wanted their money to go to their children, but because they didn’t have it setup, it went to the state.
????With Generational Wealth Conference coming up October 26-28 in Reno, Nevada, I wondered how often people actually get that team together.?It’s pretty rare an insurance agent, a tax strategist, funding expert, compliance and corporate structure, trust, all these people get together on someone’s behalf.
????Sharon recommends her clients have a joint meeting with all of the members of the team I listed above.?What happens is you bounce between them and they don’t necessarily sing the same song, and so you’re frustrated.?You don’t know what the decision is.?So, you get them all together and find the course that works right for you.?Because you may very well find that they don’t agree with each other, and that’s okay.?But then when you listen to it, you can determine what path is best for you.
????You need to bring them together, so you can get a plan that incorporates what you want from a financial perspective, bank accounts, all those things, plus your insurance.?Is your insurance being used to pay off debt, all that needs to come together so that you limit the drama to your family.?They’re going to be upset and sad enough when you go, don’t make it difficult for them.