Business
Financial advising isn’t just about what an individual should do with their money while they’re still alive. It’s also about their family and what happens to wealth after an individual passes away. Wills, estate planning, powers of attorney, and healthcare directives are all important things that a financial advisor’s clients should be thinking about, and that means that financial advisors need to think about them as well. Today’s guest is Tom Deans. Tom is a professional speaker and the author of two best-selling books that deal with the intergenerational transition of family wealth: Every Family’s Business and Willing Wisdom. Listen to the episode to hear what Tom has to say about why there’s an estate planning gap, how advisors can fill that gap, and what kind of effect the COVID-19 crisis has had on the subject of estate planning. Topics Discussed in This Episode: How Tom became focused on the issue of estate planning (3:37) Why Canada has an intergenerational wealth issue (6:10) How advisors can fill the estate planning gap and provide advice to their high net-worth clients (12:01) What Tom has noticed about the culture of families that transfer wealth successfully (15:16) What is The Willing Wisdom Index (23:09) Whether there are any trends over the last few months related to COVID-19 (26:57) Links and Resources: For a free software trial: Sales@willingwisdom.com Call Tom: (519) 938-2069 Willing Wisdom Quotes From the Show: “Estate planning isn’t just about answering the question ‘Who gets my stuff when I’m dead?’ There’s a whole part of estate planning that’s very much about the living.” “A will is like an MRI for a doctor - the will and a conversation about a will reveals everything.” “Wealth has always been about family and family relationships.” Tom provides a unique perspective from outside of the traditional financial planning industry at how advisors can grow into an untraditional niche. His many successes in publicizing the issues facing intergenerational wealth position him to provide insight to all advisors on how they can grow their business by opening discussions on estate planning with their clients. Below, we will be discussing three key ideas from today’s episode: