Infusing Inherited Money with Meaning
Dear Clients & Community,
Imagine: you look at your bank account tomorrow and it has more zeroes at the end of it than you’ve ever seen before.
Sounds nice, right?
Unfortunately, as is the case for many of our clients, sometimes this experience is paired with the loss of someone who you love dearly. That means that there might be a broad range of emotions that can complicate your feelings about working with the money.
Mixed with the weight of the grief of having lost someone important to you, you might also be feeling:
- That you want to avoid or postpone working with the money because it reminds you of your loss.
- That you don’t want the money, you just want the person back.
- Isolated, wondering who you can talk to about it.
- That the money isn’t “yours” because you didn’t earn it.
- Overwhelmed navigating conversations with people in your life who may have expectations for you or your funds (spouse, family members, friends, colleagues).
- Grateful for the gift left to you.
- As though the person who passed away had expectations for your use of these funds, and that you don’t want to let them down. You may be wondering: How do I manage the money responsibly? How do I use the money to carry on the legacy?
Sometimes the emotions can feel so intense that, much like a hot potato, people may (unconsciously) look to get rid of the emotions by getting rid of the money.
During times like these, it’s essential to take a proactive pause and create a plan.
Though it may not seem like it, this life pivot point can be a rare opportunity to use your resources to create the life you most want to live. In our years of working with clients, we have found that when people are able to connect the new money with meaning through purpose-driven planning, it’s empowering and brings new fulfillment to their life.
If you know someone going through a moment like this who could use some support, we are happy to help the people you care about navigate transitional and pivotal times like this in their lives. We also have a robust list of professional referrals (ex. attorneys, CPAs, grief counselors), and are always looking to expand our list so that anyone we connect with can benefit, whether they’re a client or not.
With that in mind, if you or someone close to you has discovered any information, tools, groups or professionals that have been helpful when going through a situation such as this, please reach out to us and let us know so that we can add it/them to our resources to help clients and our community.
In good wealth,
Anne B. Johnston
Founder & Managing Director at Created