EP196: Why Most Families Fail at Generational Legacy

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Can you imagine living forever?

Not literally, of course. 

Butttt that’s pretty much what it’s like to leave behind a legacy of generational wealth and freedom! 🤩

And get this, creating your legacy is actually NOT as hard as people make it seem.

With the right knowledge, you can learn how to grow generational wealth and leave a long-lasting legacy through the simple system of income-producing real estate assets! 

We can get you started!

Isn’t it crazy to think that the financial decisions you make now can have a huge impact, even long after you’re gone? 

And the best part is this…

It’s not only your great, great, great grandkids that will benefit from the wealth you create. 

By harnessing the power of income-producing assets, YOU will also get to reap the rewards soon – like while you’re still here to enjoy them! 👏

Here’s to living free now, then living forever through a lasting legacy. 🥂

An estimated wealth transfer of $68 trillion will take place over the next 25 years.

This by far is the largest wealth transfer in the history of the world. 🌎

Are you prepared for this?

By the end of this episode, you will understand what it will take to build generational wealth and a lasting legacy, the game plan for your kids, your grandkids, and your grand-grand kids, and balance the present needs with future financial stability.

But before we do that let’s talk about how not to approach generational wealth.

To do this, let us talk about a family that ignored all the things we will talk to you about in this episode.  

In the golden history of American wealth, few names shine as brightly as the Vanderbilts.

Cornelius “Commodore” Vanderbilt began as a modest ⛴️ ferry operator and, through his ruthless business acumen, laid the foundation of a railway and shipping empire.

By the time of his passing in 1877, he was worth an estimated $100 million (about $2 billion in today’s currency), making him one of the wealthiest men in American history.

Yet, as grand as the Vanderbilt legacy began, its decline was just as spectacular.

Within just a few decades of the Commodore’s passing, the Vanderbilt coffers, once bursting with wealth, began to thin. 

By the time the 1940s rolled around, no member of the Vanderbilt family was among the richest in the U.S. In just over 50 years, the vast Vanderbilt fortune had all but evaporated. 

Though the Commodore’s descendants, blessed with an inheritance that could have forever etched their dynasty into history, instead became a cautionary tale in generational wealth.

Source:  The Kitti Sisters TV

Are you thinking that the tales of the Vanderbilts collapsed fortune won’t apply to you?

Well, here’s the thing.

👉 Did you know 70% of wealthy families lose their wealth by the second generation and a staggering 90% of their wealth will be gone by the third? 

So even if you make a fortune in the most abundant time in history, statistically you, your kids, or your grandkids, your grand-grand kids will end up losing it all.

It’s a gut-wrenching thought: all those years, every drop of sweat, every sacrifice, evaporating in an instant.

The haunting image of your loved ones lost and vulnerable without the fortress you built for them. 😣😣

Can you bear to imagine them, exposed and struggling in a future you didn’t prepare them for?

While you may not pass down the same size fortune as the Vanderbilts or the other Gilded Age families, it doesn’t minimize its value. 

And here’s the thing, you don’t need to come from an aristocratic family or have a 💰 billion-dollar net worth to plan for a lasting legacy successfully.

Come on, you’re a successful entrepreneur and founder, you’ve paid your dues and you have found your success. 

So, how to start, where to begin?

For you to get started, you need these two distinctions. 

To do this, let’s talk about potato chips. 🥔🍟

Back in the day, there was a Lay’s potato chip slogan, “Betcha can’t eat just one.”  

This is probably the most accurate slogan ever because we have yet to meet a person who can stop at one chip.

And this is how, if not careful, some families will treat their personal wealth.

They turn them into a “treat yourself” fund – yikes! 

But generational wealth? 

That’s the family vault – not so easy to raid on a whim!

When you build a lasting legacy, the distinction is that it’s by definition intended to be more illiquid, meaning that it’s hard to convert back into money, and because of this, it reduces the chance of being plowed through by you or your heirs.

Thinking of why it is so critical that you work on building a last legacy, right now reminds me of Nan’s high school 🧫 biology class.

Back then, and still now 💉 needles are my worst enemy.

There I was in high school, can you believe it?

I was expecting to stab myself to figure out my 🩸 blood type as part of the class assignment. I mean, seriously? I could’ve just asked Mom and Dad, or my older siblings who’ve gone through this class.

But nope, grades were on the line. So, while I played a nerve-wracking game of chicken with the needle, Mr. No-Patience Teacher decided to play hero and jabbed me. Spoiler alert: I’m O+.

Could’ve saved us all some drama, teach.

The whole biology saga?

It was about traits we inherit, those natural goodies passed down the 🌳 family tree.

Bet you had a similar classroom drama, didn’t you?

Naturally, you get that while your kiddos might inherit your baby blues or that rare blood type, they might not snag your genius IQ or that knack for sealing deals.

Maybe they won’t have your tenacity or coding magic. 

But what they can surely get their hands on?

⭐ Your “simple businesses” — aka those juicy, income-producing real estate properties.⭐

And in our book?

We’re all about 🏢 multifamily real estate.

Why is income-producing real estate considered a simple business?  

1️⃣ As we have previously gone over, real estate unlikes crypto or the stock market is illiquid, making it harder for someone to seek a quick cash injection by selling it off.  

Of course, it’s possible but if structured correctly this will be harder to achieve.  Thus, it is an asset that can survive through successive generations.

2️⃣ Owning cash-flowing properties is like raising a farm full of geese that are able to lay golden eggs.  As long as you buy it correctly in the right market, it will always produce income that will put food on your table.

3️⃣ Ease of management.  An income-producing asset is a simple business.  

Unlike other businesses, you only need to focus on boosting income and reducing expenses to have a very profitable endeavor. 

Moreover, the model is set up such that you or your heirs can lean heavily on a team of experts – like a management team that can do all the heavy lifting on your family’s behalf.

4️⃣ Fundamentally solid.  People will always need a home, making income producing an ever-green business.

Eliminating any concerns that it will become obsolete and evaporating your family’s fortune along with it. 

This is like tying your fortune with a can’t-lose jockey, it’s a winning proposition.

5️⃣ Extremely scalable. 

Large-scale income-producing real estate, like multifamily real estate, presents the opportunity to acquire multiple revenue-generating units under a single purchase, which amplifies rental income potential.

And similar to the Monopoly game, you can continue to multiply its growth by purchasing more and more of them for generations to come.

6️⃣ OPM – Other People’s Money.  What other asset class can you put down 10-20-30-40 even 50% down payment, get your bank to be the silent partner, have them have no say in property operations, and get your tenants to pay down the mortgages, reducing your loan balance? 

This is real magic, right?

7️⃣ Tax efficient.  Even more than frivolous spending, the tax man probably is the biggest killer of generational wealth and thus investing in assets that have the highest tax efficiency is critical. 

We believe investing in income-producing real estate is the easiest way for you to build generational wealth and a lasting legacy. 😍😍

However, there’s a right and wrong way to do this.

Unfortunately, most parents do not equip their kids and grandkids with the right tools to make this possible. 

Let’s be clear on one thing, the goal of creating a lasting legacy isn’t to enable trust fund babies who don’t know how to earn money to spend the money, we just think they can work in a much smarter way.

There’s a saying, “A person who can’t earn for themselves can not hold onto wealth.” 

And we wholeheartedly agree with this.  

You must constantly talk to your kids and grandkids about money so that they learn to appreciate it as a tool, and not something to fear.

By speaking the language of finance you help make understanding how it works and how to keep it growing second nature.

For us the Kitti Sisters, we always love the compound effect, and this applies both to wealth and knowledge.

Compound interest has been hailed as the eighth wonder of the world.

Those who grasp its power reap its rewards, while those who remain oblivious end up paying for their lack of understanding. 

It’s imperative to continuously compound both wealth and knowledge.

Sadly, most people don’t know where to get the kind of information that is actionable for their situation.

But there’s good news! 

We break down things so you understand exactly how they work wealth-wise.

So, if you want to turn your business profits into a lasting legacy through income-producing asset investments like multifamily apartments or ground-up developments – introducing our 100-Year Legacy Newsletter!! 

To sign-up all you have to do is go to a100yearlegacy.com.

The newsletter is jam-packed with insights you will NOT get from other finance pros…

Give your children 🍼👶👶 the best shot of life they can have.

Ultimately, your legacy will be judged on how well you taught your kids and grandkids the value of building wealth and if you do this right, your grandchildren will be able to eat off the moves you make this decade.

Creating generational wealth isn’t complicated, and your wealth can go much further if you understand the tax game and how to win it, so go listen to this episode and learn how.