If you didn’t need to worry about money ever again, would your life be any different than it is today? For most of us, the answer is a resounding yes. Generational wealth is important because money holds most people back from living the life they truly desire. There are four ways generational wealth will change your life and the life of those you love. Wealth creates the opportunity for you to safeguard your independence, provide for those you love, establish a legacy and have the freedom to live a life of your choosing. The goal is to ensure you and your future generations never need to worry about money again. You will notice these four points are the focus of Obsidian Wisdom and the foundation on which the Wisdometric Framework is built.

What is generational wealth?

Understanding why generational wealth is important starts with understanding why wealth is important. Wealth is an accumulation of a significant amount of money, valuable possessions, property and other riches. Generational wealth adds to the concept of wealth that you are also focusing on ways to preserve and transfer the wealth you created. A good way to look at wealth is from the perspective that everything on this earth is yours for but a time. You are a steward of the riches of the earth, but you cannot take your wealth with you. It is part of the beauty of life in many ways. You have a time on this earth and when that time is gone, it’s gone. Everything you do while you are on earth is a part of your legacy. The same holds true for your wealth. For many, never needing to worry about money again allows you to focus on the things that truly matter in life.

Safeguard your independence

As a child, you grow up following your parents’ rules. You know as long as you live under their roof, you will be subject to their rules. As you grow up, you begin to dream about what it would be like to make your own rules. If you have a curfew, you imagine getting to stay out as long as you want. If your parents forced you to eat vegetables or limited your screen time each day, you dreamed of eating what you want and playing when you want. You couldn’t wait until you were out on your own, so you could make your own rules. As an adult, you learned that freedom was more elusive than you first thought. When you started working, you realized your supervisor could decide when you came into work and what things you worked on when you were there. They could determine if you received a raise and whether you were promoted. Even professional athletes quickly realized they had to abide by the rules set by their coach and their organization.

Regardless of the situation, you will notice if you are dependent on another person in some way, you will need to consider their wishes. In fact, the more dependent you are, the more consideration you need to give to their opinions. In the relationship with your parents, you knew as long as they were feeding you, paying your bills and providing a shelter for you, you needed to follow their rules. In work, as long as you were receiving a check from your organization, they would have a say in some part of your life. As much as you wanted your independence, you realized having to follow the instructions of another person is not always a bad thing. Oftentimes, your parents were right and you needed to eat your vegetables. Early in your career, listening to your more experienced supervisor was a good thing. As a professional athlete, when you are early in your career, the organization may have a better idea about how to build a winning organization and culture. This is a good reminder that even though you may have secured independence for your future generations, it doesn’t mean they don’t need guidance in the early-going. You don’t want to give them independence to make decisions when they have no established values or understanding. Generational wealth is important because when most people realize what they want in life, they have financial constraints that hinders their ability to pursue their purpose.

Establish a legacy

This leads into the second reason why generational wealth is important. Keeping in mind that whatever riches you accumulate on earth are yours but for a short while, you want to create something that represents your values. Your legacy can be represented in many ways. Some will use their wealth to create a foundation or nonprofit that will fight for a cause they believe in. For example, the Bill and Melinda Gates foundations focuses on providing clean water to communities who have none. Growing up in a single-parent household, Warrick Dunn’s foundation focuses on building homes for at need single mothers. Others will choose to use their wealth to build a legacy within their family. If education is important to you, then you can set aside funds to pay for your children or grandchildren’s college education. With a large enough fund, you can create a trust to pay for the college education of multiple generations.

Family Priorities

There are other families who believe starting a business should be prioritized over formal education. They want to pass on a legacy of entrepreneurship, problem-solving and helping others. This is commonly the case with a family who has built their wealth from a business. They want their children involved in the business and knowledgeable enough to start their own or take over the family business. To effectively pass on an entrepreneur legacy, you need to set some ground rules. You need to consider matters regarding the type of business you would be willing to fund. Is there are list of industries that would be acceptable? Would any business have an opportunity to be funded? Does the approval process require a business plan or will you establish a mini-board of senior family members who have approval authority? These are all things you need to consider when building a legacy. If there is a friend, school, nonprofit or religious organization you have been supporting while alive, what happens when you’re gone? It is worth considering if you would like to make a one-time donation in your will or whether you would like to allocate funds for perpetuity. We haven’t even started discussing what you want to do with your physical assets. Is land ownership important to you? If it is, decide what you want to do to make sure your children are not selling your land for cash. Generational wealth is important for more reasons than simply passing on a large sum of money. Generational wealth is about teaching the future generations what is important to you. And two of the easiest ways to show someone what matters you is through the allocation of your time and money.

Freedom to live a life of your choosing

We have discussed plenty of reasons why generational wealth is important. Of all the reasons you have read so far, the freedom to live the life of your choosing is what you are striving for. Reason-being, when you start living a life of your choosing, you stop worrying about money. We all have worried about money at some point in our lives.

There are those who worry about money day to day, while others worry about money when they have large purchases. There are those who feel comfortable about money today, who worry about money in the future. Whether that future is their retirement or their future generations. You can worry about money whether you have a lot or a little.

Confidence in the process

The notion that having a lot of money means you don’t worry about money is not true. Those who don’t worry about money have a plan a plan to address their goals and fears. If you have ever seen someone walk on a tightrope, you are amazed by their ability to perform without a fear of falling. While it does seem like an amazing feat for you or I do, the performer thinks nothing of it. The difference has little to do with your appetite for risk versus theirs. The difference is they have practiced walking a tightrope. The performer has fallen a few times, but ultimately learned a strategy that will effectively ensure they don’t fall. Since you have never walked a tightrope, you don’t have a plan to ensure you can successfully make it across. That is why those who have walked a tightrope for many decades will walk a tightrope across the Empire State building or the Grand Canyon. They are not crazy; they just have the confidence in the process and know the result they will achieve. For you to never worry about money again, you need a comprehensive plan that addresses each of your financial concerns. The plan should take your present and future goals into consideration. You should be provided with a framework that has you as confident in your abilities to perform as the person who is willing to walk a tightrope across the Grand Canyon.

Final thoughts

Generational wealth is important because it is about more than just passing on your wealth. Generational wealth is about passing on your values through your wealth to future generations. You want to share the wisdom you have learned along the way that has led to your success. This is not only key to ensuring your future generations don’t lose their wealth, it is important to safeguarding your future generations work ethic and self-image. Generational wealth is your way to show your family why family is worth investing in and what skills you think will help them succeed. Do you want to emphasize education or do you want to shine a light on entrepreneurship? Is it important for your family to volunteer and give back to the community or do you want to make sure they invest in real estate?

You won’t always be able to tell the future what mattered most to you, but you can show it through the way you allocate your time and money.

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