Principle 1: Integrate planning for family wealth

The possibilities of wealth are abundant and creating a long-term, overall wealth plan can help you to realize those many possibilities.  As you develop your wealth plan, remember that it will, and should, evolve as your family members’ lives evolve. Families who embrace the principle of integrating wealth planning into their overall financial picture engage in certain best practices that help a family bring its vision to life.

Best Practice #1: Engage in strategic planning

Families who are successful with integrated planning put themselves in a strong position to be successful in transitioning wealth to future generations. It starts with understanding the current wealth plan structure, evaluating current family circumstances and creating a framework within which to consider changes that may better meet family wealth goals.

Our process is to present our clients with a simplified picture of their wealth — helping clients understand what’s in place and where changes need to be made to reflect their vision. These are the conversations that allow us to help clients (1) develop their family wealth goals and (2) discuss planning options to determine what strategies will best meet those goals, two critical best practices of families who are successful in transitioning wealth to future generations.

Best Practice #2: Revisit planning regularly

Planning should never really be ‘finished’. As we work with clients, we engage regularly in ongoing conversations with them about their families and their circumstances, and how changes can impact how they wish to use and enjoy what they have built for themselves. These conversations evolve naturally in the course of our relationships but evaluating life’s changing circumstances can often use a little help to get started.

Our holistic, integrated process, which engages the family around the planning they have in place and whether that matches what they envision over time, has proved to be an effective method to help the family identify and articulate planning goals and keep their planning fresh as life changes.

Best Practice #3: Involve collaborative advisors

A very important part of integrated wealth planning is recognizing the fundamental truth in a quote from Aristotle: “The whole is greater than the sum of its parts.” This is well understood by those who are successful in creating lasting legacies, and it sums up how we view teamwork and collaboration, both among the CIBC Private Wealth team and between our team and other advisors.

The relationship among your team of advisors should take on a life of its own after a while, and be an integral part of your wealth planning model.