Pirates & Parrots & Legacy

The other day in our van, my wife turned on a new Zac Brown song for me to listen to. It wound up with us also listening to his “Pirates and Parrots” song. Now, I didn’t know going in what the song was about, but it didn’t take me very long to work it out.

The reference was very cleverly done, because they never once said “Jimmy“ or “parrothead,” but you knew who they meant. No explicit name dropping, but you knew. We all know, don’t we—because the reference is so familiar, it’s obvious. Here’s a man who basically went on a tropical vacation, and then decided to incorporate it into his singing persona, and thus he never truly had to come back. And so doing, he crafted a legacy in the minds of hundreds of thousands of people, one which stretched even to those who wouldn’t necessarily consider themselves fans of him. Love him or like him or even just…not, when you hear someone singing about margaritas and salty rocks and beaches, a certain performer will come to mind.

He built his own persona up to the point that with his passing, it became, almost seamlessly, a monument to him. A legacy lived, and then automatically memorialized. A tribute to him was as easy as playing any of half a dozen of his iconic songs.

Which brings to mind another recent song that I heard around that same time, “Standing Room Only” by Tim McGraw—one of those songs that feel like it was written for someone to have played at their funeral. He’s had a few in his discography, as have other artists in multiple genres, to go along with the old tried and true classics like “Amazing Grace.” It’s a fairly reliable heartstring to pluck. After all, almost every one of us has, at least once, thought about the music for our funeral or memorial. The theme song for our going away, as it were.

What are we leaving behind?

Yet that’s just a small part of what we should think about that we’re leaving behind. Our impact on the lives of those around us, and specifically the impact our financial decisions will have on our loved ones after we are gone, is far more significant than a couple of minutes of melody and lyrics played over our coffin.

From beach bums and permanent vacations, to poignant, earnest cowboy ballads, all of it ties back to the same theme: legacy.

We all leave a legacy, whether we craft it intentionally or not. How do you want people to feel about your life when you’re gone?

What do you want them to say about you?

If you don’t pay attention to what you’re leaving behind, it can wind up being something other than what you would really like it to be. Do you know what your legacy will be? What comes to mind when people think or talk about you? Do you know what you want for your legacy? Have you thought about how to get it?

Gertsema Wealth Advisors have the knowledge and tools to help you build your legacy into what you want it to be. We do all the financial planning and the numbers, the what and the how. We can handle the mechanics, but you provide the “why”—the “point”. We take care of the details, but you provide the reason. Do you know what yours is?

Don’t let what you leave behind for your loved ones be the work of chance. Contact us today to get started on your legacy.