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For ultra high-net-worth (“UHNW”) families, integrating health into wealth planning isn’t optional — it’s essential for legacy, performance, and peace of mind. The good news: Individuals today are living longer. Over the last 200 years, life expectancy in the US has doubled and now averages 78.8 years.1 The bad news: This tremendous gift also brings new responsibilities. With extended longevity comes the reality of rising healthcare needs, increasing complexity of care, and the need for thoughtful and prolonged preparation. Just as families plan deliberately for education, retirement, and estate transitions, strategic planning for health and care has become a critical pillar of generational resilience. For UHNW families, where stakes are high and expectations of quality and coordination are nonnegotiable, this planning is both a safeguard and a legacy strategy. The upcoming holiday season brings families together in ways that few other times of year do. Amid celebrations and meaningful traditions,...
03.09.2023
Little Edward pulls out his 4th grade homework after a long day of practicing spelling and drawing chalk-art flowers. Tonight’s assignment: write a computer program in JavaScript to track his friends’ birthdays. Easy. Edward sits down in front of his PC, opens his Chat GTP app and speaks into the microphone. Thirty seconds later, the program is compiled and on his schools’ share drive, ready for his teacher to grade. If you’ve been listening to the news, apps like ChatGTP, Bard, and Jasper are conversational Artificial Intelligence (AI) programs that are already editing research papers, passing business school exams, creating paintings, and composing music. One simply speaks (or types, for those of us so inclined) our request into the program and in short order the AI produces whatever end result we desire, from writing computer programming language to composing a sonnet. The pace of change in the technology space can...
Frequently misunderstood elements of homeowners’ insurance and structural problems in the homeowners’ insurance industry can create problems for an unwary consumer. Several of the families we work with in California and Florida have received letters from their insurance providers informing them that the companies will no longer provide them with insurance. Additionally, in performing risk reviews for new client families, we often find gaps in coverage related to common misunderstandings. To illustrate how these insurance concerns might arise we dive into the fictional tales of woe of siblings John and Jane Doe, both of whom received such non-renewal letters. John Doe lives in California, the golden state and land of wildfires, mudslides, and earthquakes. John paid high homeowners’ insurance premiums to protect him from these risks and even understood that earthquakes were excluded from most policies and required separate coverage. John had learned that lesson the hard way, having moved...
At the beginning of the new year, we asked colleagues to reflect on the good and the bad of 2022. A diversity of obvious answers came flowing in – pandemic retreats, Ukraine war begins, markets decline. But we also recognized some larger trends were developing that promise to impact the future. Our limited survey revealed challenges, innovations, failures, and accomplishments that are bound to make an impact for years ahead. We wanted to share several of the insights and encourage readers to reflect on their own. Negative Trends in the last year: FEDERAL DEBT HELD BY THE PUBLIC, 1900 TO 2052 Percentage of GDP Positive Trends in the last year: GAME STOP PRICE CHART | 5 YEARS There are many other equally, or more important, trends that can be identified. 2022 was a historic year that will leave its impacts for many years. 2023 promises to present new challenges with...
"There is no official formula that defines a recession. A common rule of thumb is two consecutive quarters of negative gross domestic product. The actual determinants are more intricate."
