We talk often about how the 4Buckets can create new realities for retirement. We talk about how more retirement income can lead to an increase in lifestyle and retirement enjoyment. But there’s an element of the 4Buckets that we believe can have an impact beyond today and our own lives.
Leaving a financial legacy is in reach for more families in America than at any point in our history. Estate planning, an area of law once reserved for the ultra-wealthy, is now core component of basic financial planning. When we think about legacy, we often see visions of how we want people and places left when we’re gone. What will they be able to do, what kind of impact can they have with what they’ll receive? These visions drive and motivate us. They shape our conversations, relationships, and plans.
What if we started thinking about legacy as a present-day reality? Less like a book that we’re writing which someone will read when we’re gone, but rather, weaving ourselves into the stories of those who surround us and will continue on after us.
There’s an old story about a man who wanted to build a great house. A house more magnificent and glorious than had ever been built before. It was to be a testimony of all that had been accomplished in his generation and a symbol of hope for the future. But there was a problem. Indeed, greatness had been achieved in this man’s lifetime, but not without heavy cost. This house was to be a place of rest and enjoyment for generations to come, not to be confused with heroic tales or slanderous stories about the life of one man.
The man realized he couldn’t be the one to build this house despite how badly he wanted to see it through. But he had a son, who would succeed him. One day he called his son into his office. He wanted to share the visions he had for this great house. His son, though young, could feel the desire in his father’s voice as he talked about it. The way he described the hallways, the doors, the ceilings, it felt like you were in it. As the father went on, his eyes teared up and he slowly turned away. Without looking, he reached for his son’s hand and said, “that’s all for now.”
Several years later the son was older. The father called him in again and said, “You remember when I told you about that house I wanted to build?” “Of course, I do,” the son said nervously. “Well, I want to go for a walk,” his father said. Together they went and the father showed him what he had been doing since that conversation. All the while, the father had been preparing workers and materials for this house. He introduced his son to the supervisors and the craftsmen that would be involved. He showed him the vast stockpile of materials he had reserved for the project. The son couldn’t believe all that his father had been doing.
The father took his son back to his office and asked him what he thought. The son was unsure what his father meant, so he talked about the enthusiasm of the workers, the beauty of the materials. His father smiled and nodded. “That’s right, it will be magnificent. And there’s something else,” he said. “I want you to build it.”
The son’s face went white. He had lived in the shadow of his father his whole life watching his every move. Now, his father was asking him to make his dream a reality. The father could sense his son was overwhelmed. After a minute, he walked over to his desk, pulled out some papers and handed them to his son.The son’s hands shook as he tried to make sense of the lines and shapes on the paper. “You remember our first conversation about this house?” The father asked. “It’s all right here – every detail from the foundation to the tapestries. Go and get to work.”
The son’s face was wet with tears, and he fell into his father’s chest. The only thing the son could muster through the sobs was “I can’t.” After a few moments, the father stood him up, looked him straight in the eyes and wiped his face. He said, “You can, and you will. Everything is ready for you. I will be with you for a time. Let’s get started.”
The house was an immense project and would take years to build. Not long after they began the work, the father passed away. The son would go on to complete the project. It was indeed a great house – matchless to none. The son would be praised for the work and the house would even bear his own name. But if you were in the office, if you talked to the workers, you would know the full story. Though the son built it, the father had written himself into the very walls.
From the outside this story is about an heir who built a magnificent house. If you look at it from a distance it seems two dimensional. A child inherits wealth and does something great with it. But when you look closer you see a father who did it all and a son who got the glory. These are the sort of legacy stories we want to write. We want the stories of generations to follow to be written on the paper of the one’s who leave them.
This is a call to rethink your financial legacy. Retirement, though a wonderful phase of life has its limits. The number of our days has its endpoint. What if we stopped viewing legacy as a legal document? What if it was something we engaged with, we strained for, we made it our last real purpose before we’re gone? It doesn’t have to wait. You can watch pieces of your vision become reality before your eyes.
Your legacy could take many forms. It could be sending a grandchild(ren) to college, creating a space that brings the family together, helping an organization that impacted your profession, setting a non-profit on a whole new trajectory. The opportunities are endless and they’re out there. Go and get to work.
This may feel hard, or you don’t know where to start, but I know there’s a vision buried down there somewhere. Maybe you need to have a conversation, and this has given you the nudge to do it. Perhaps you have the vision, but you need to rethink and retool retirement. We’ve built the 4Buckets to show how a few simple tweaks can create new opportunities and bring to light what’s possible. What if this process could set a new course that puts these visions at your fingertips?
Participating in your legacy today requires the confidence emotionally and financially that you can do it. This is a small part we can play. You have the chance to write the introduction to the next story – lay the foundation, so to speak. Then you hand the pen to someone else and watch the rest unfold.
