Latest / The Steve Harvey Morning Show / Uplift: Amber dedicates her career ensuring families leave behind not just wealth but also a legacy.
Transcript
- 0:00Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome to my show. This is Rashaan McDonald. I
- 0:04Speaker 1: host the weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews
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- 0:35Speaker 1: by sharing their experiences, giving advice, whether it's financial literacy,
- 0:40Speaker 1: small business owners, motivational leaders, influencers in the community. Now,
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- 1:04Speaker 1: will pop up. Submit your information. It'll come directly to me. Now,
- 1:08Speaker 1: let's get this show started. My guest is not just
- 1:11Speaker 1: an attorney, she's a visionary on a mission to transform
- 1:14Speaker 1: how families secure their financial futures. Give me on that futures.
- 1:20Speaker 1: Her personal journey, shape by our loss of a loved
- 1:23Speaker 1: one propelled her to dedicate her career to ensuring that
- 1:26Speaker 1: families leave behind not just wealth, but also a meaningful legacy.
- 1:32Speaker 1: Please welcome the Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Attorney Amber C. Sonders.
- 1:37Speaker 1: How you doing, Attorney Saunders.
- 1:40Speaker 2: I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you?
- 1:42Speaker 1: First of all, thank you for coming on the show.
- 1:44Speaker 1: In your introduction, I said shape by the loss of
- 1:47Speaker 1: a loved one? What did you mean by that?
- 1:50Speaker 2: Well, So I became an estate planner because of my
- 1:54Speaker 2: great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother. My grandmother came to
- 1:58Speaker 2: the US in the nineteen hundreds. My grandmother was born
- 2:01Speaker 2: here in nineteen twenty. They bought my grandmother was a
- 2:05Speaker 2: great grandmother, was a maid in Boston, Massachusetts, and bought
- 2:09Speaker 2: a couple homes. The last home that she purchased she
- 2:12Speaker 2: gave to my grandmother and my grandmother needed it over
- 2:15Speaker 2: to my mother and uncle. And when my grandmother got dementia,
- 2:20Speaker 2: she was the only one who did any planning. She
- 2:22Speaker 2: had a healthcare directive power attorney, she invested her stop.
- 2:26Speaker 2: She did all these things on her own, had long
- 2:28Speaker 2: term care insurance. So when she got sick, because she
- 2:31Speaker 2: had planned all of these things, it was really easy
- 2:33Speaker 2: for my mother my uncle to take care of her.
- 2:36Speaker 2: And within i'd say a three year period, everyone on
- 2:40Speaker 2: that side of the family passed away. We were going
- 2:42Speaker 2: to a funeral like every five months, and the last
- 2:45Speaker 2: person who passed was my uncle and my mother had
- 2:47Speaker 2: to go to court for three years some change. And
- 2:50Speaker 2: he didn't think he really owned a lot. The only
- 2:53Speaker 2: asset that they had was the house that he owned
- 2:55Speaker 2: with my mother. But my mother had to fight with
- 2:57Speaker 2: creditors and the irs and all of these things because
- 3:00Speaker 2: he didn't think it was important or he procrastinated on
- 3:03Speaker 2: his planning. But I saw the difference between not doing
- 3:07Speaker 2: anything and how easy it was when my grandmother transitioned,
- 3:10Speaker 2: and so eventually my mother was able to sell the home,
- 3:14Speaker 2: and the money from that house was able to help
- 3:16Speaker 2: her not work while she was battling cancer. And so
- 3:20Speaker 2: I'm sure that my great grandmother didn't think that the
- 3:22Speaker 2: house that she left to her daughter, that her daughter
- 3:25Speaker 2: left to her granddaughter would be able to help my
- 3:27Speaker 2: mother in twenty twenty four, and so you know, a
- 3:31Speaker 2: state planning doesn't have to be for wealthy people, it's
- 3:33Speaker 2: for all of us. And it was just the house
- 3:35Speaker 2: that was able to transform my mother's retirement and help
- 3:39Speaker 2: her while she was sick. And so because of that,
- 3:42Speaker 2: I think it's just extremely important for individuals to consider
- 3:46Speaker 2: what they have worked hard for valuable and to leave
- 3:49Speaker 2: it the right way to the people they care about.
- 3:51Speaker 1: Now, what is name of your firm, the Saunders Firm,
- 3:55Speaker 1: And give us a little education about your background and
- 3:59Speaker 1: why did you do you become an attorney. I know
- 4:01Speaker 1: you're inspired by a moment and that it happened. I
- 4:04Speaker 1: shouldn't s a moment of situation. You know that you
- 4:07Speaker 1: were able to see out and it's really amazing when
- 4:09Speaker 1: you're young, how those impressions can leave a big impression
- 4:13Speaker 1: on you, even though you you know I will tell
- 4:15Speaker 1: you just saw it and just stayed a part of you.
- 4:19Speaker 1: But what your educational background?
- 4:22Speaker 2: So my mother said, I told her I was going
- 4:25Speaker 2: to be a lawyer when I was in kindergarten. And
- 4:27Speaker 2: I don't know why. I think my favorite her favorite
- 4:29Speaker 2: show was Perry Mason, and maybe that's what did it.
- 4:32Speaker 2: But I was singularly focused my entire life. I always
- 4:36Speaker 2: knew I was going to be a lawyer, not a ballerina,
- 4:39Speaker 2: not any of those other things. And so in school
- 4:41Speaker 2: I took debate, did all of those classes. I went
- 4:43Speaker 2: to undergrad at Oakwood College and Huntsville, Alabama, John Marshall
- 4:49Speaker 2: Law School for my jd. And my Masters of Law
- 4:52Speaker 2: at Emirates. But I always knew I was going to
- 4:55Speaker 2: do this, and it is one of the most fulfilling
- 4:59Speaker 2: things in my life. I enjoy helping people figure out
- 5:01Speaker 2: what they need to be doing.
- 5:03Speaker 1: You know, it's state planning. That sounds like a wealthy term.
- 5:08Speaker 1: A state. You know, please explain to everybody when you
- 5:11Speaker 1: say the word a state, exactly what does that mean?
- 5:14Speaker 1: What does that mean?
- 5:16Speaker 2: Okay, So technically anything in your state is anything that
- 5:19Speaker 2: you own, So your shoes are a part of your estate.
- 5:22Speaker 2: The official estate does not get formed unless you open
- 5:27Speaker 2: up open up a case with the like when your
- 5:31Speaker 2: family has to go take your will to the court
- 5:34Speaker 2: and try and get it administered, then they open up
- 5:38Speaker 2: the estate of Amber Saunders, for example. But if they
- 5:40Speaker 2: don't open that up, then there's no official estate that
- 5:43Speaker 2: the court or the state has any jurisdiction over. But
- 5:47Speaker 2: it is everything that you own that is due to you,
- 5:51Speaker 2: even moneies that are owed to you, things like that.
- 5:54Speaker 2: Your debts can be a part of your state. And
- 5:56Speaker 2: when a probate a state is opened up, that's when
- 5:59Speaker 2: that transition happens. Those debts are paid off, those assets
- 6:03Speaker 2: are transferred to family, and then it's closed out and
- 6:07Speaker 2: everything that's associated with you and what you own is
- 6:09Speaker 2: closed at that point after it's done.
- 6:12Speaker 1: You know, when you hear the word is state, you
- 6:14Speaker 1: hear the word will. You know, we all think we're
- 6:16Speaker 1: going to live forever. We know we live forever. When
- 6:20Speaker 1: should one realistically start thinking about the process of first
- 6:24Speaker 1: of will and then their state. Are they hand in hand,
- 6:28Speaker 1: a one before the other.
- 6:31Speaker 2: Well, it all really goes together. I think that a
- 6:34Speaker 2: state planning includes a lot of things. So for example,
- 6:37Speaker 2: if you have a child who graduates from high school,
- 6:40Speaker 2: right and they turn eighteen when they go to school.
- 6:42Speaker 2: When I went to school, they would tell my mother
- 6:44Speaker 2: about my financial aid and things like that as far
- 6:47Speaker 2: as I remember. Now, you can't get information because your
- 6:50Speaker 2: child is an adult quote unquote, because they're eighteen. So
- 6:54Speaker 2: needing a healthcare directive and power of attorney, which is
- 6:57Speaker 2: a part of estate planning, is essential for them because
- 7:01Speaker 2: you're still probably making some decisions for that now technically
- 7:05Speaker 2: adult child. If when you start acquiring things, if you
- 7:10Speaker 2: have a home, when people get married, when there are
- 7:12Speaker 2: life transitions, just so that people know what you want
- 7:17Speaker 2: to be done with things. Now, you might not need
- 7:19Speaker 2: a will, or you might not need a trust if
- 7:21Speaker 2: you have things that have beneficiary. For example, your life
- 7:25Speaker 2: insurance policy doesn't have to go through probate court. You
- 7:28Speaker 2: can just say this goes to mamma or to whomever,
- 7:31Speaker 2: and then that's it. For bank accounts, same thing. But
- 7:35Speaker 2: if you want to do a little more and kind
- 7:37Speaker 2: of say what people can do with it if you
- 7:40Speaker 2: want to if you have children and now grandchildren, and
- 7:42Speaker 2: you want to leave a little something and make sure
- 7:44Speaker 2: that it's used a particular way, then you need to
- 7:46Speaker 2: do a little more in depth planning to make sure
- 7:49Speaker 2: that the plan is executed the way that you want,
- 7:52Speaker 2: because a will just gives things away, whereas a trust
- 7:55Speaker 2: can kind of allow you to put some guardrails around
- 7:58Speaker 2: how people use it and say, hey, you got to
- 8:00Speaker 2: go to school if you want to get access to
- 8:02Speaker 2: these funds things like that. So it just depends on
- 8:04Speaker 2: what your long term goals are. But I would say
- 8:07Speaker 2: everyone needs the essential things that healthcare, directive and power
- 8:11Speaker 2: of attorney because while we're living, those things can assist
- 8:14Speaker 2: us if we're unable to pay our own bills or
- 8:16Speaker 2: if we're in the hospital or things like that, so
- 8:19Speaker 2: that people know how to help us when we need it.
- 8:21Speaker 1: Okay, I'm talking to Attorney Amber Saunders. Let me ask
- 8:25Speaker 1: you this question about you said something about bank accounts
- 8:28Speaker 1: life insurance policies. You saying, Rashan, you can just assign
- 8:33Speaker 1: the beneficiary to that policy or to that bank account,
- 8:37Speaker 1: and everything's cool if you pass away correct.
- 8:41Speaker 2: Correct, as long as there's a beneficiary name that does
- 8:44Speaker 2: not have to go to court. I mean, you've got
- 8:46Speaker 2: to notify the person because sometimes people don't do that,
- 8:48Speaker 2: but let them know that they may be beneficiary, or
- 8:51Speaker 2: if you put their address and things like that on
- 8:53Speaker 2: the policy, the insurance company might send them a letter
- 8:56Speaker 2: to notify them that they're the beneficiary. But then that
- 8:58Speaker 2: won't have to go to court. All they have to
- 9:00Speaker 2: do is provide whatever the insurance company asks for to
- 9:04Speaker 2: verify their identity and then they'll get a check for
- 9:07Speaker 2: whatever the balance is or whatever you left to them
- 9:09Speaker 2: on that policy.
- 9:10Speaker 1: Okay, Got that sounds very simple. Got that? And this
- 9:14Speaker 1: when you get into the physical things like cars, jewelry, houses,
- 9:20Speaker 1: land is where you really need to have a will
- 9:24Speaker 1: and an estate, plannings, plans set up. Am I correct?
- 9:29Speaker 2: Correct, because it's you can tell people this is the
- 9:35Speaker 2: thing that I think we are hopeful that people will
- 9:38Speaker 2: act right. But often when people get a divorce and
- 9:42Speaker 2: when someone passes away, you see characteristics come out in
- 9:46Speaker 2: people that you don't expect. And so when you don't
- 9:48Speaker 2: have it in stone, and when you don't have it
- 9:50Speaker 2: written down that this is who gets what, it can
- 9:53Speaker 2: really make people argue and tear families apart. I've seen
- 9:56Speaker 2: siblings not speak to one another because of something that
- 10:00Speaker 2: the mother did not have a will or anything like that,
- 10:03Speaker 2: and so when they went to court there were just
- 10:05Speaker 2: huge fights. And I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted the
- 10:07Speaker 2: family to be torn apart, but nothing was written down.
- 10:10Speaker 2: It's kind of hard to argue when something's on paper.
- 10:13Speaker 1: Well, you know, my mom, she kind of had a will,
- 10:16Speaker 1: which is the worst thing. Kind of had a will,
- 10:18Speaker 1: you know, kind of had the information in there, so
- 10:21Speaker 1: that left us kind of debating what she really wanted
- 10:24Speaker 1: to do. And that's what we're talking about here. That's
- 10:27Speaker 1: why this is a popular subject on my show, Wills
- 10:31Speaker 1: and the State Planning because of the fact that, you know,
- 10:33Speaker 1: people of color, we never think about legacy. We never
- 10:37Speaker 1: think about tomorrow. We just think about today. We think
- 10:40Speaker 1: about the first in the fifteenth When when you hear
- 10:42Speaker 1: me talk like that, what frustrates you most? And why
- 10:45Speaker 1: are you on this show today to discuss what you're discussing, attorneys.
- 10:49Speaker 2: Artists, Because even if we're thinking about today and we
- 10:54Speaker 2: I mean generational wealth of the conversation that people, you know,
- 10:58Speaker 2: they love that word. By definition, it means that you
- 11:01Speaker 2: have to leave something for the next generation in order
- 11:04Speaker 2: for you to have generational wealth. It's not just building
- 11:08Speaker 2: up amassing a lot of money if you are not
- 11:11Speaker 2: thoughtful in how you transition it, thoughtful and how you
- 11:15Speaker 2: educate the next generation to make sure they know what
- 11:17Speaker 2: to do with it and how it is transitioned. So
- 11:21Speaker 2: we can't just think of the first and the fifteenth
- 11:24Speaker 2: because we're going to leave people with a mountain of
- 11:28Speaker 2: debt or something that they don't necessarily know what to
- 11:30Speaker 2: do with. And it is, in my opinion, one of
- 11:35Speaker 2: the While it's a protracted struggle changing the wealth or
- 11:39Speaker 2: minimizing the wealth gap, it is a significant way that
- 11:42Speaker 2: black people can change the trajectory of our people. If
- 11:46Speaker 2: everyone leaves a little bit to the next generation, and
- 11:49Speaker 2: then that next generation builds upon it and leaves more,
- 11:52Speaker 2: then we can make strides. But if we don't do it,
- 11:54Speaker 2: and each time we're losing assets and education, knowledge and
- 12:00Speaker 2: all of these things because we didn't think about how
- 12:02Speaker 2: we were going to pass it, then we're doing a
- 12:04Speaker 2: disservice to all of us. There's no point to making
- 12:07Speaker 2: all that money if we can't sit there and lay
- 12:09Speaker 2: a blueprint for the next generation on how to use
- 12:11Speaker 2: it and grow from there.
- 12:12Speaker 1: That leads to misconceptions. Common misconceptions that people have are
- 12:16Speaker 1: the big myths about mistakes when it comes to state planning,
- 12:20Speaker 1: because of the fact that, like I said, you know
- 12:23Speaker 1: you can there's a simple way, and there's a difficult
- 12:27Speaker 1: way to live your life. Difficult way is you and
- 12:29Speaker 1: you don't plan it out, you don't leave a paper
- 12:32Speaker 1: trail that people can follow and accurately, you know, divide
- 12:36Speaker 1: your assets once you left this earth. But a lot
- 12:39Speaker 1: of people want to be cheap now attorney something. They
- 12:42Speaker 1: want the cheap route. I can go online, I can
- 12:44Speaker 1: go on line. I can print a document, tell us
- 12:47Speaker 1: about some of that those scams or those uh those uh,
- 12:51Speaker 1: I guess I call them an internet lawyers, right.
- 12:55Speaker 2: I mean I just had to talkigh some money about
- 12:57Speaker 2: that today. They're you're gonna pay or somebody is going
- 13:00Speaker 2: to pay either way, right, either gonna pay upfront or
- 13:03Speaker 2: somebody's going to pay on the back end. And maybe
- 13:06Speaker 2: and if you don't care, then you can just say
- 13:08Speaker 2: up front, hey, I don't care what happens to them.
- 13:09Speaker 2: I've heard someone say, you know, I'm going to be
- 13:12Speaker 2: gone anyway. And if that's what you you know, if
- 13:14Speaker 2: that's the mindset you have, then I'm not the lawyer
- 13:17Speaker 2: for you. You know, people can't and this is not
- 13:20Speaker 2: the show for them because you don't really care. But
- 13:22Speaker 2: I don't think most people feel like that. I think
- 13:25Speaker 2: sometimes people are scared to just face their mortality. But
- 13:28Speaker 2: then you listen to people online who are trying to
- 13:30Speaker 2: sell products, which fine, you know, there are strategy people
- 13:36Speaker 2: want to put do this infinite banking and things like that,
- 13:40Speaker 2: and without realizing, yes, you can build up cash value
- 13:44Speaker 2: and insurance policy, but you're paying into it. You have
- 13:46Speaker 2: to pay the premium, or you have to overfund it
- 13:48Speaker 2: and put money in there. But they think, because they're
- 13:51Speaker 2: only listening to a snippet, that I buy this policy
- 13:55Speaker 2: and then I can go borrow money. The insurance company
- 13:57Speaker 2: will go out of business. Like that's not how any.
- 13:59Speaker 1: Of it works.
- 14:00Speaker 2: And so without actually digging a little deeper, you know,
- 14:05Speaker 2: people want to build these big trusts that they don't
- 14:08Speaker 2: have the assets for or things like that without getting
- 14:10Speaker 2: a real or just let me go to this website
- 14:14Speaker 2: and get a template. Well, the template or the AI
- 14:17Speaker 2: or whatever this is doesn't know your family. Dynamics doesn't
- 14:20Speaker 2: know the situation, and it is it does a disservice
- 14:25Speaker 2: to our families without really thinking about it to try
- 14:27Speaker 2: and be cheap, because if we valued it, we'd spend
- 14:32Speaker 2: the time to do it. And sometimes we value that
- 14:34Speaker 2: bag or that vacation or that car, but we don't
- 14:37Speaker 2: value what happens to our family after we're gone. And
- 14:41Speaker 2: so that's a you know, maybe an existential question. You know,
- 14:45Speaker 2: it might be too much, but it's essentially what's more
- 14:47Speaker 2: important to you.
- 14:48Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
- 14:52Speaker 3: money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
- 15:01Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
- 15:06Speaker 3: continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
- 15:11Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
- 15:15Speaker 1: But one thing that really bothers me a lot is
- 15:17Speaker 1: three words that you said before the work, building generational wealth.
- 15:21Speaker 1: I hear that so much in the financial literacy and
- 15:25Speaker 1: the motivational game. It just annoys me. Building generation It's
- 15:30Speaker 1: almost like it's a scam. Words that people use to someone,
- 15:33Speaker 1: like a trick move people that branding, marketing, and building
- 15:37Speaker 1: generational wealth. Those are three words that are so popular
- 15:41Speaker 1: on the web of Internet, social media, motivational speakers. That's
- 15:47Speaker 1: all they use. Now when you talk about from an
- 15:49Speaker 1: entrepreneur's perspective, you know, from a person, what role does
- 15:54Speaker 1: estate planning play and creating generational wealth? Especially attorney Saunders
- 16:00Speaker 1: in the black community, I.
- 16:03Speaker 2: Mean, it's the key. It's the only way that you
- 16:05Speaker 2: can really do it. It guides the transition from one
- 16:10Speaker 2: generation to the next of the assets. But if you
- 16:14Speaker 2: do it right, you can also put tools and guidance
- 16:19Speaker 2: in there to ensure that it's not wasted. Their statistically
- 16:23Speaker 2: out there that show between one generation to the next,
- 16:27Speaker 2: I think the second generation the money. By the third generation,
- 16:31Speaker 2: the money is gone generally, and so there are reasons
- 16:35Speaker 2: for that because the knowledge that we have that the
- 16:37Speaker 2: first generation who made that money has it hadn't been
- 16:41Speaker 2: passed on in a structured, systematic way. And you can
- 16:45Speaker 2: use a state planning to do that to ensure that
- 16:47Speaker 2: the money lasts for generations and the knowledge lasts for generations,
- 16:51Speaker 2: so that your grandchildren can benefit and your great grandchildren.
- 16:54Speaker 1: Now, so let me move over to entrepreneurs and small
- 16:58Speaker 1: because entrepreneurs and small business owner that's the rage, you know,
- 17:02Speaker 1: especially African American women or Black women. They're the leading
- 17:06Speaker 1: small business owner developers. If you can look up any
- 17:10Speaker 1: stat nobody's starting more small business than black women. So
- 17:14Speaker 1: what legal steps should they be listening to. I'm talking
- 17:16Speaker 1: about people in general about how to protect their business
- 17:19Speaker 1: long term, not short term, because a lot of people
- 17:21Speaker 1: want to just look at like they said that first
- 17:23Speaker 1: in the fifteenth my door's opening thirty days one won't
- 17:26Speaker 1: be But you have to feel if you're starting something,
- 17:29Speaker 1: you want to hold on to it. What are some
- 17:31Speaker 1: ways they can protect their business long term?
- 17:35Speaker 2: Well, I think they need to first think about whether
- 17:37Speaker 2: or not they really mean created a business or created
- 17:40Speaker 2: a job for themselves. So when I say that, you know,
- 17:44Speaker 2: if the business can if you can't go on vacation
- 17:46Speaker 2: without the house burning down or the contracts and everything
- 17:50Speaker 2: is dependent upon you as the owner or as the
- 17:53Speaker 2: leader in the business, then it can't operate no one.
- 17:56Speaker 2: You can't transition it to someone else it because it
- 18:00Speaker 2: is dependent upon you as an individual. Now that might
- 18:03Speaker 2: be what you want. If you don't and you want
- 18:06Speaker 2: it to grow and become a business that is self
- 18:08Speaker 2: sustaining without you, that can operate, you have to look
- 18:12Speaker 2: at systems. You have to look at secession. If I'm
- 18:15Speaker 2: not here, who takes it over? And so succession planning
- 18:19Speaker 2: is a process figuring out the transition of power if
- 18:21Speaker 2: you're not there. If in the long term you want
- 18:24Speaker 2: to retire or sell the business or transition it to children,
- 18:30Speaker 2: then you have to think about that. I mean ten
- 18:33Speaker 2: years ahead and start making the plans and start putting
- 18:37Speaker 2: the structures in place. Think about insurance. If your partners
- 18:42Speaker 2: with someone and one of you passes away, do you
- 18:46Speaker 2: really want to be in business with their spouse? You
- 18:49Speaker 2: might not, So then that means you need to buy
- 18:52Speaker 2: sell agreement and maybe some key man insurance that would
- 18:55Speaker 2: pay out the interest that you had in the business
- 18:59Speaker 2: to your or loved one so that they are no
- 19:01Speaker 2: longer a part of it. And so how what you
- 19:05Speaker 2: ultimately want to do. You might be planning for an exit,
- 19:08Speaker 2: but an exit can also be retirement, and an exit
- 19:10Speaker 2: can also be a sale or transitioning the company to employees.
- 19:14Speaker 2: But you have to begin or operate the business with
- 19:18Speaker 2: the end in mind so that you are always going
- 19:22Speaker 2: down that path to make sure that you can harvest
- 19:25Speaker 2: the most wealth that you can out of the business.
- 19:28Speaker 2: You can just be out there like it's the wild
- 19:30Speaker 2: wild West. Sometimes that works in the beginning, but it
- 19:33Speaker 2: doesn't work long term.
- 19:34Speaker 1: I got it. I want to drop a question, but
- 19:36Speaker 1: you brought up something I need to transition to the
- 19:38Speaker 1: family conversation. We were talking for secession. We're talking about
- 19:42Speaker 1: especially when you're talking about running a business. I know
- 19:45Speaker 1: for a fact, three people, unfortunately in my life, have
- 19:48Speaker 1: been handed to the business and guess what, the business
- 19:52Speaker 1: is closed today. And because one they didn't respect the
- 19:56Speaker 1: business one part of it a way, one didn't spend
- 20:01Speaker 1: time there. I thought it was, you know, showed up
- 20:04Speaker 1: after the customers showed up. And the third one just
- 20:12Speaker 1: you know, when you when your parents or your loved
- 20:14Speaker 1: ones build something, that's the word legacy comes in. If
- 20:19Speaker 1: you don't want to do it, don't do it. So
- 20:21Speaker 1: that's where their family conversation that you're talking about coming
- 20:24Speaker 1: in and something and that's to start with the parents,
- 20:26Speaker 1: especially when they're looking at their kids. Are these the
- 20:30Speaker 1: kids that are going to move my business?
- 20:32Speaker 2: Loan?
- 20:33Speaker 1: Or you may need to develop somebody within the company
- 20:37Speaker 1: that can run your business and guess what keep sending
- 20:39Speaker 1: checks to the kids and give that person part of
- 20:43Speaker 1: the partnership. But I don't want to get too deep
- 20:45Speaker 1: in this conversation when I bringing an expert in, I'm
- 20:48Speaker 1: just a storyteller. Talk about that family conversation, Attorney Saunders.
- 20:53Speaker 2: The conversation has to be had when you're deciding how
- 20:56Speaker 2: you want to what your exit strategy is. But also
- 21:01Speaker 2: the reality is you know your children, right, so you
- 21:05Speaker 2: know if they're really going to be able to do it.
- 21:08Speaker 2: And we like to be hopeful and we like to
- 21:10Speaker 2: have faith, and all of that is wonderful. But if
- 21:12Speaker 2: this person has not shown an interest or has not
- 21:15Speaker 2: been at that business as an intern, as a child,
- 21:18Speaker 2: when you were as a child, or in college showing
- 21:21Speaker 2: an interest, they might not be interested in taking it over.
- 21:24Speaker 2: So their behavior will tell and you have to look
- 21:27Speaker 2: at it like a business and not think about it
- 21:30Speaker 2: like this is my child and oh I want to
- 21:32Speaker 2: give them a chance to do it, because what you
- 21:35Speaker 2: worked hard for will be gone if you don't look
- 21:38Speaker 2: at it from an unsentimental eye. What is going to
- 21:42Speaker 2: make this business valuable and operable? Who are their employees
- 21:46Speaker 2: that you can transition it to. Just like you said,
- 21:48Speaker 2: there are ways that you can still make sure that
- 21:50Speaker 2: your family reached the benefits of what you're built without
- 21:53Speaker 2: letting them burn it down.
- 21:55Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. And that's that hard conversation because sometimes
- 21:59Speaker 1: your kids ego because step in and then you can
- 22:03Speaker 1: like not value their skill set or overvalue their skill set.
- 22:07Speaker 1: And next thing, you know, but I always tell people too,
- 22:10Speaker 1: if you want your child to be a part of
- 22:13Speaker 1: the business after you're gone. Bring them into the business.
- 22:17Speaker 1: Watch them. Is their sincere effort? Are they showing up
- 22:21Speaker 1: to work on time? Are they trying to be leaders?
- 22:24Speaker 1: Are those traits are not going to change? If they
- 22:27Speaker 1: are bad, they're not going to change when you leave.
- 22:29Speaker 1: They're only going to get worse. So, if you have
- 22:32Speaker 1: a dream that you start as a restaurant, your child
- 22:34Speaker 1: don't want to work in a restaurant. They don't want
- 22:36Speaker 1: to cook chicken or cook whatever you're doing. Don't want
- 22:39Speaker 1: to be a matre d don't want to wash dishes.
- 22:42Speaker 1: If they don't want to do the small things, the
- 22:45Speaker 1: dirty things. I always tell that child right there is
- 22:48Speaker 1: not going to be a good owner of your company
- 22:51Speaker 1: once they leave. I'm just going to tell you right now, now,
- 22:54Speaker 1: early in that conversation, you've always mentioned the word legacy,
- 22:57Speaker 1: Attorney Sonders being more valuable than money. Explain that to us, Well.
- 23:07Speaker 2: Money can be spent and it's gone, and even after
- 23:10Speaker 2: it's gone, who you are, how you made people feel,
- 23:13Speaker 2: what you built, what you did, the memories of those
- 23:16Speaker 2: things that are still there, and that is what I
- 23:19Speaker 2: considered legacy. What people remember about you, what you did,
- 23:26Speaker 2: how you made people feel, all of those things, and
- 23:28Speaker 2: those are things that we have control over. We have
- 23:31Speaker 2: control over, you know, we can make as much money
- 23:34Speaker 2: in the world, but you can. Your legacy can be
- 23:36Speaker 2: you were a jerk and you didn't treat people well,
- 23:39Speaker 2: and you didn't leave anything to anyone, and that is
- 23:42Speaker 2: what people remember. The thing that is lasting in people's
- 23:45Speaker 2: memory about you and what the impact that you had
- 23:49Speaker 2: on them. To me is what your legacy is all about.
- 23:53Speaker 2: And that includes what you lead to your family because
- 23:55Speaker 2: essentially your estate plan is the last love letter you
- 23:58Speaker 2: get to write them. That is what even though they're
- 24:01Speaker 2: going to remember all sorts of other things, if the
- 24:04Speaker 2: last thing you did was not plan and they have
- 24:07Speaker 2: to try and sort through all the mess that was
- 24:09Speaker 2: there because you didn't think enough of them to plan
- 24:11Speaker 2: for it, they're going to remember. That's going to be
- 24:13Speaker 2: a part of your legacy too. And so you want
- 24:18Speaker 2: to think about holistically, what's a part of your legacy
- 24:23Speaker 2: and it could be I mean, I wear my uncle's
- 24:25Speaker 2: wedding ring every day. I wear my grandmother's necklace every
- 24:28Speaker 2: single day. It helps me remember them. It is sentimental
- 24:32Speaker 2: to me, and it is just a piece of jewelry,
- 24:35Speaker 2: but it is a part of their memory and it
- 24:37Speaker 2: makes me feel like I carry them with me all
- 24:39Speaker 2: the time. When you're gone, people are going to miss you,
- 24:43Speaker 2: not just oh the five dollars you might have left them.
- 24:45Speaker 2: They're going to be thinking about you, and so what
- 24:48Speaker 2: impact are you having on them is a part of
- 24:50Speaker 2: the conversation as well too.
- 24:52Speaker 1: Attorney AMBVERSI Saunders. How can we in touch with you?
- 24:57Speaker 2: My website is the Saundersfirm dot com. I am often
- 25:01Speaker 2: on Instagram at at ask Amber Saunders and then our
- 25:06Speaker 2: offices in Atlanta, but we help people everywhere, but we're
- 25:10Speaker 2: We're located in Buckhead and our number six seven eight
- 25:13Speaker 2: six eight zero four three three suits.
- 25:15Speaker 1: I appreciate you. I got one minute left. Can just
- 25:19Speaker 1: just a quick cliff note of someone listening, What action
- 25:23Speaker 1: should they take right now? We gave you a contact information,
- 25:26Speaker 1: what action should they take right now? When we talk
- 25:28Speaker 1: about taking their first step, I.
- 25:31Speaker 2: Think they should sit down and make an asset inventory
- 25:34Speaker 2: of everything, every account, every piece of crypto, everything they
- 25:39Speaker 2: have because what's very difficult if something happens is for
- 25:42Speaker 2: people to figure out where all your things are and
- 25:45Speaker 2: they have to search through your things, so make it easy.
- 25:47Speaker 2: Just get on an Excel spreadsheet, put everything in there
- 25:50Speaker 2: and what the account numbers are and that is a
- 25:52Speaker 2: great start and then you can go talk to somebody
- 25:54Speaker 2: after that.
- 25:54Speaker 1: Wow. Thank you for taking the time and the passion.
- 25:57Speaker 1: I love that passion. That's what the Money Making common
- 26:00Speaker 1: master Classes all again. I want to invite you back.
- 26:04Speaker 1: And you know for my style now, it's all about winning.
- 26:07Speaker 1: It's all about the uplift, it's all about giving people
- 26:10Speaker 1: information to win. Thank you, Attorney Amber C. Saunders. This
- 26:14Speaker 1: has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass posted
- 26:17Speaker 1: by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
- 26:20Speaker 1: the show today and thank you our listening to the
- 26:23Speaker 1: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
- 26:25Speaker 1: I want to be a guest on the show, visit
- 26:27Speaker 1: Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
- 26:33Speaker 1: Join us next week and remember to always leave with
- 26:35Speaker 1: your gifts. Keep winning.