Don’t Leave a Mess!
How to Disaster-Proof Your Family Legacy
When families can’t talk about money, it hurts everyone.
You’ve built your business, dedicated vast amounts of time and money to it, and now you’re ready to consider your legacy. What are you passing on, and how does it reflect your values? Is your family prepared for the legacy they will receive, or are you leaving them a mess?
In “Don’t Leave a Mess!”, estate planner and family business advisor Sandy Pollack unpacks what it means to make wise choices for your business that not only protect what you have worked so hard to build but reflect your why. With more than twenty-five years in the industry, Sandy helps family business owners unravel the complexities that running a successful business and building significant wealth can create.
Join Sandy in a thoughtful exploration of your own history and values so you can set the right priorities, choose the right team of professional advisors, simplify your legacy, and communicate with your family so that no mess is left behind.
“Don’t Leave a Mess!” is the kickstart Family Business Enterprises need in order to start having open, honest conversations with their loved ones about protecting the legacy they’ve worked so hard to build.
What Others are saying about “Don’t Leave a Mess”
“Like its great title, Don’t Leave a Mess! has one outstanding element often missing in books about financial advice: its clear readability. Sandy Pollack writes in a straightforward, commonsense voice, easily conveying complex issues and recommendations in a very natural style. She boils things down to their essence without oversimplifying, using stories and examples to help explain things. If you want to read one book on family legacy planning, make it Don’t Leave a Mess.”
—JAMES GRUBMAN, PHD, family wealth consultant and author of Strangers in Paradise: How Families Navigate Wealth Across Generations
“This book is a wonderful resource for entrepreneurs and family business leaders. Sandy shares real-life stories which illustrate how easily things can go wrong, and then she follows up with clear, actionable advice to help us avoid disaster. Sandy also invites us to be courageous and to have regular, open conversations with our families so that we can ‘Leave a Legacy’ instead of ‘Leaving a Mess!’”
—DAVID C. BENTALL, President of Nextstep Advisors and FFI (Family Firm Institute) fellow
“Silence is easy; opening up is hard. NOW GET MOVING!’ Written with a disarming combination of empathy and tough-mindedness, this book is a soup-to-nuts guidebook for the business-owning family. Need some ideas on how to start talking about money in your family? On picking the right advisors and getting rid of the wrong ones? On managing your own emotions while you do these tasks? The author provides grounded, practical strategies on everything it takes to do the hard, right things.”
—MOIRA SOMERS, PhD, C.Psych, author of Advice that Sticks
“Don’t Leave a Mess!” was inspired by Sandy’s 25 years of experience in the financial industry working 1:1 with successful family-owned businesses and witnessing the disintegration of families due to poor planning and miscommunication. The mission of this book is to help business owners realize that there is still time to get things right, and the time is NOW. Maybe you’ve done very well in business, but you have this nagging feeling in the back of your mind that your future plans are unclear. Maybe you’re starting out in business and are on a trajectory to success, but finding it hard to navigate the legal, tax and personal complexities of the family business enterprise you’re building.
Regardless of where you are in your entrepreneurial journey, “Don’t Leave a Mess!” is your guide to ensuring that you’re protecting what you’ve built in your business and leaving a clear plan to help guide your loved ones after you’re gone.
Why “Don’t Leave a Mess!” is a Game-Changer…
Ensures Family Harmony Beyond Your Lifetime
Sandy showcases real life, difficult scenarios to communicate how important the hard conversations you may be putting off are….not just to protect your wealth and legacy, but to ensure that you and your family members are guided by your principles and values. These conversations are about more than just money; they are about creating clarity and preventing often heard about money disasters that break families apart.
Protect Those You Care About
Sandy believes business owners and self-employed professionals are especially unique. They feed many families, both directly & indirectly, and are the engine of any strong economy and community. Employees. Friends. Families. Customers/Clients….some or all of these important people are impacted without a strong Family Business Enterprise Legacy Plan. With a focus on Legacy Thinking, you can protect jobs, the community you support, and most importantly, your loved ones.
Gain Clarity
“Don’t Leave a Mess!” portrays with alarming clarity how disastrous not having a plan can be or how meaningful communication and planning can result in flourishing family wealth for many generations. Based on the premise that it’s never too late to get things right, the shared stories will help provide a deeper understanding into the complexities that family and wealth create while giving you clarity about how to move forward and ensure the well-being for your family.
Don’t leave a mess behind for those you care about.
Your values, courage and resilience led you to build a thriving business and significant wealth for you and your family. Most likely, these qualities are what have contributed to your success. The next step is having the courage to initiate deep and meaningful conversations with your loved ones. Unless you invest the time to share and intentionally communicate your values and explain how it relates to your wealth, you are leaving them with a mess! Families and businesses have been easily led astray without a proper plan and thoughtful stewardship via meaningful conversations.
It’s time to ignite that inner flame and take purposeful action to protect everything and everyone involved! Let’s embark on this journey together to provide you with the tools and knowledge to get started.
Interested in having Sandy and her Team assist you with Disaster-Proofing your Family Legacy?
Connect with us at Trimaran Advisory Group, we would love to hear from you!
