Nick writes on an interesting topic which is a taboo in our society..”MONEY”
One advisor told me a story about the time they were having a one-on-one with the grandson of a billionaire when the grandson told them, “I won’t view myself as being successful unless I, independently of family connections, make a billion.” The advisor said that this was a common problem in ultra-high net worth (UHNW) families, who make risky investment decisions in hopes of solidifying their own independent fortunes.
I had another advisor reach out and tell me about the difficulty of discussing the cost of fertility treatments with middle-aged couples who wanted children. They stated:
So let’s start on the low end, freezing sperm and eggs. That’s roughly $500/year (sperm) – $10,000 (eggs). Then, if you want to try fertility treatments, it can be $5,000-$10,000 per treatment. If you have multiple treatments and iterations? Some couples spend $50,000 on pregnancy, most of which is not going to be covered by insurance.
If you think talking about money is hard, imagine trying to discuss this and your client’s impending decline in fertility.
There was the man who recounted how his business partner’s tax problems with the IRS almost cost him his advisory business. The IRS threatened to send a letter to all of his clients unless they got a monthly payment to pay off the partner’s tax liabilities. Long story short, the man was able to create a new company and move over his clients while ending the relationship with his deadbeat business partner. Morale of the story: Run a credit check on someone before you start a company with them.
Another common theme in the messages I received was how difficult it was to deal with money and family. One advisor, who was managing his parents’ money, found it hard to get his parents to agree to the same spending plan. Another advisor confessed that he had so much difficulty trying to make financial decisions with his wife that he had to hire an outside financial planner to make the process easier.
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