The Legacy Of Financial Stability That You Build For The Next Generation
Some people think that the greatest gift that you can give to the upcoming and future generation is wealth - lots of money. However, even beyond that, you need to give them knowledge, positive mindset, and a working system that will not just generate wealth but will sustain wealth. That is; leaving a legacy that goes way beyond materials possessions, but focusing on building financial stability that will help not just your immediate family, but the community and the world at large. This is just like planting seeds, which when they have grown and mature into trees, it will provide the future generations with fruits to eat. This is what building financial legacy is about.
You have to understand that everything you labour for should not start and end with you. There are the future generations coming after you which you have to put into consideration and make plans for them. You are not to spend everything that come to you on just your own personal and immediate use, but take time to also plan for what happens after you are gone. You will be surprised how wealth which is not planned for may disappear over time. It is not just about making money and spending it, you also need to make plans for what will happen after you - the future generation. This is what legacy entails.
I once read a story on the net about two people who, in the mid 1980's made about the same amount of money. One used his money to live luxurious lifestyle and was buying designer articles, classy supers cars, while the other person invested in the banking sector. Fastforward to 40 years later, the one who spent on luxury and on cars became bankrupt. In fact, the cars and the other luxury things that he got at that time became almost worth very little. If you go to his garage, you will see fleets of cars lying in disrepair and in ruins. The other one who invested in the banking sector has had his investment multiply astronomically. At his present time, he has majority of the stakes in one of the mainstream banks, and is currently worth billions. This is generational legacy.
A friend of mine, who is a financial advisor, once said that "the major work is not to make money, but to keep and sustain it." A lot of people work so hard to make money, but they do not really take out time to put a working system that can sustain the wealth even when they are gone. Trust me, the money you spend is not what will bring you the legacy but the one you invest. There are some companies and investments that are seen now, which were started by the past generations and have now outlived the investors. When you invest, you also have to put the future into consideration.
To be able to build a sustainable wealth and financial legacy for the future generations, there are things you need to put in place. The first one is planning. No good thing of value will just spring out from nowhere. In a farmland for example, if you want to harvest palm fruits, then you have to plan towards it and then plant the seeds, which will take a while and then grow into the tree and start to produce fruits. If the farmer wants just any random plant to grow from his farmland, then he will be prepared to have weeds. In life, to build something that is worthwhile, including building generational wealth, you need planning - smart planning, like investing, setting up trust funds, managing assets and properties well, etc.
In addition to planning, you also need wisdom to be able to know what to do, the right time to do it, and in what manner it should be done. This includes knowing when to spend, when to save, when to invest, where to invest, the budgets to make, etc. Without applying wisdom, one can crash their entire earnings. So making money without the wisdom to know how to sustain it will not make you to leave a financial legacy. Remember that you are not only leaving wealth behind but you are also leaving behind the knowledge to sustain the wealth. In addition, you also need to leave values, positive mentality, financial integrity, and generosity as part of your legacy to the future generations.
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