Are you a wealthy entrepreneur looking to give back? Consider what excites you, what breaks your heart, and where you can make the most impact. Discussing these questions with your family can strengthen relationships and even build a shared vision for giving.

Legacy planning teaches us valuable lessons. For instance, the famous actor Gene Hackman's recent passing left an $80M fortune but he excluded his children, leading to public, messy lawsuits and toxic family discord.

There were also many comments on Social Media about how thoughtless Hackman’s philanthropy appeared to be. What would be the life impact on his children? Would it shorten their lives and destroy them? Also, there was frustration aimed at Gene Hackman that he did not build up the people inhis industry and leave impact for the next generation of movie creators. There was much discussion about how Hackman could have had far more positive impact on the lives of young actors and filmmakers through scholarships and donations while he was alive. Plant the seeds of trees even thought you know you will never enjoy their shade.
Thomas Deans, Ph.D., author of "Willing Wisdom", says that we work on average, 78,000 hours in a lifetime; spend just 2 hours to decide if your wealth will benefit or harm your beneficiaries. Looking at legacy planning from the view of the impact on people in your life may bring a better outcome.