When you hear the words estate planning, it might sound like something reserved for billionaires with private jets and teams of lawyers. But the truth is: your true legacy starts the moment you decide to build it.
Every choice you make – whether you’re investing in the stock market, already holding gold and silver, or saving for your children’s education – echoes far beyond your lifetime.
Your financial story doesn’t just affect you. It ripples through generations.
The Three-Generation Problem
There’s an old saying: “Shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.”
- The first generation builds the wealth.
- The second enjoys it.
- The third loses it.
And the numbers back it up: 70% of family wealth disappears by the second generation. By the third, 90% is gone.
Not because the money wasn’t there – but because there wasn’t a plan and a framework. Wealth gets spent, taxed, divided, or mismanaged.
Without structure, it slips away faster than you would think.
Two Families, Two Outcomes
Consider two powerful American families:
- The Rockefellers protected their wealth with trusts and family rules, ensuring both prosperity and philanthropy for over a century. Their name still carries weight today.
- The Vanderbilts had one of the largest fortunes in history. But without a plan, the money evaporated. By the third generation, it was gone. Back on the next generation to build back up.
The difference? Planning and protecting versus leaving things to chance and hoping for the best.
Legacy Assets That Outlast Generations
If you want your wealth to endure, you need more than just a well funded savings account. You need assets that can weather downturns and compound over time:
- Gold & Silver: Tangible hedges against inflation and crisis, always retaining value.
- Stocks & Businesses: Engines of growth that create lasting opportunity when structured wisely.
- Real Estate & Tangible Assets: Anchors of stability that provide income and security across generations.
Just like your tock portfolio, the secret is balance – combining growth with stability so your wealth lives on for
Don’t Wait Too Long
Your legacy doesn’t begin with your will. It begins with your next decision.
- Diversify. Protect your wealth. Invest in assets that stand the test of time.
- Put the right structures in place so your hard work lasts for generations.
- Don’t wait – the best time to start was yesterday, but the second-best time is today.
Your legacy is already writing itself.
The question is: What do you want the history books to say about you – and the foundation you helped create for the future?
The best way forward is to learn from those who came before you, take action today, and keep building – one day at a time.
That’s how you secure a legacy that lasts.
To Your Legacy,
Chris Witmer
