Many Benefits to Utilizing a Family Mission Statement
A.T. “Al” Benelli, CFP, FIC
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A family doesn’t need a surname like Rockefeller or Vanderbilt to benefit from a family mission statement. According to the Financial Planning Association of Washington, D.C. a mission statement is a collaborative document created by one or more generations of family so that standards and goals can be set for the handling of all family assets.
While mission statements aren’t legal documents — in fact, many are done both in written form and on videotape as a companion to legal wills and directives — their purpose is to record the family’s values, goals and aspirations and how those sentiments should drive future decisions about family wealth, business plans and charitable pursuits. It should also identify family leadership who will work with other relatives in implementing those goals. It’s not so much about the piece of paper as the process. Developing a mission statement can help families build consensus about long-term goals, but the conversation can take twists and turns that don’t directly involve the family money.
In this process, a family can identify strengths, weaknesses and unearth the priorities of all family members.
Trained financial advisors including financial planners, tax experts and estate attorneys, can help explain the process and set an agenda for families to follow.
There are generally four components to a family mission statement — estate issues, philanthropy, business planning and family dynamics in general. Many experts start with questions that first get family members talking about their relationships and their dynamics, and then move into business and money matters.
Some common questions for starters include: What’s most important about our family? What should our goals be? When do you feel most connected to the rest of us? What are our strengths as a family? Where do you think we’ll be as individuals in 5, 10 and 15 years? In order, what are the five things you value most in life? How should we take care of relatives who are or become sick or disabled? How should we resolve disputes? How important is the family business to you? What should we be doing differently with our family money as well as our assets inside the business? What professionals or structures should we bring in to help us manage our wealth? What’s the best way for us to be building our wealth? What do you think the role of our family should be in helping the community? What should we be doing individually and as a family with regard to philanthropy?
Structurally, the mission statement can be whatever you agree it should be — most experts say it should be no more than a paragraph long, but that’s a guideline, not a rule. It’s also very important to focus on the positive, meaning what you want to accomplish, as opposed to what you want to avoid.
And it needn’t be set in stone — a family should have a meeting every year or two to revise or approve its mission. The family mission statement helps a family establish its identity and the variety of voices within … and those voices may be subject to change over time.
The family mission statement is a living, breathing document that can evolve over time. In today’s fast paced world, it is easy to get caught up in the here and now; a family mission statement can help you stay true to your family’s values.
As a result, families may not feel the pressure to keep up with the Joneses because their mission statement helps achieve balance.
The right mission statement can help reset goals and diffuse tensions later. It can also be used to moderate discussions that inevitably happen after major changes within the family — death, divorce or happily, an increase in the number of heirs and participants.
For more, consider these websites: http://www.nightingale.com/mission; http://www.franklincovey.com/msb/; http://www.ehow.com/how_2043790_write-family-mission-statement.html.
Al Benelli is a Certified Financial Planner® practitioner with Long Financial Group of Plymouth Meeting, PA.
