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Committed to changing consumers relationships with money, one transaction at a time.

Tuesday, February 22, 2011

Generational Wealth Creation

I want to talk for a moment about generational wealth and what it really means and why it’s so important.  Putting it simply, generational wealth builds a family legacy.  Why do so many families start over each generation while others do not?  To explain this, I’m going to use an analogy.  Imagine your family legacy as if it was a track meet and you’re running a relay.  Each generation is equivalent to a lap and the baton represents wealth building.  Now imagine that you start the race with no baton and when you get to the end of your lap, there’s nothing to hand off – game over!  Now your offspring must find a baton and then join the race, how effective would that be?  In the worst case they never find a baton and never even re-enter the race, in the best case they find a baton, and start laps behind the competition.  Neither of those options is very appealing.

So how do you create generational wealth and still live a comfortable life?  I suggest doing it the way it has been done for generations in this country; via life insurance and/or real estate.  There are other ways to create wealth, but for the nature of this article, I’m going to talk about the methods that ANYONE can achieve.  Let’s start with life insurance.  It is one of the few products in the world that is guaranteed to work.  The bottom line is everyone is going to pass away at some point.  If you’re insured properly your beneficiaries can receive your assets free and clear of debt.  That could translate into cash, real estate and other tangible assets.  Imagine leaving your children or grand children six figures or more in cash.  What would their life look like?  What kind of education could be provided, what type of business could be opened, what kind of future investments could be made?  The sky would be the limit.  Almost everyone can buy life insurance and the younger you buy it the better.  There is a myth that the elderly or people in poor health can not buy life insurance and that is simply not true.  It is a lot more expensive to buy, however, it can still be purchased and in most cases, it is still worth it.  There are several types of life insurance, term, whole-life, cash building, etc.  Call an experienced insurance agent and find out what best fits your family needs and inquire about starting your family on the way to generational wealth.

Real estate as a future investment for your family is a no brainer.  Imagine what your life would have looked like if you received a free and clear house when you graduated from high school.  You never had to make a mortgage or rent payment throughout your entire life.  Keep in mind, real estate is the largest dollar investment most people make in their lifetime and they usually spend the greater part of their adult life paying for it.  What does your future look like without that financial burden, what does your children’s lives look like without that burden?  Real estate is an attainable way to transfer wealth from generation to generation and more importantly, it is sustainable.  Remember the American Dream of home ownership, not home mortgageship®.  Please visit www.aliciataylorlv.blogspot.com and read “Just Say NO to 30 Year Mortgages” to learn how to OWN a home.  It is never too late to start the relay, but you want to start with a baton.

3 comments:

  1. Dear Alicia,

    I could not BELIEVE you commented on my blog! I was soo honored. Thank you so much! I really wish you would have won, you would have done a great job. You were so professional and kind to everyone.

    Thanks again sooo much!

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  2. This is a very good topic Alicia. Many people do not think about retirement, wealth creation and Legacies until well into their adult life, which in many cases becomes too late. On my radio show we talk about how to use life insurance as a way to provide tax free retirement as well as leaving a "next egg" for your future generations. As the blog indicated the ealier you begin the more financially advantageous it could be for you. This is not to discourage anyone who may be older and has Not started....the key is to get in the race!

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