Legacy: How You Live Today and
How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
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“What you leave behind is not what is engraved in
stone monuments, but what is woven into the lives
of others.”
— attributed to Pericles
Although many people think of legacy as the wealth left to their families and favorite
charities, others, from the Greek statesman Pericles to the modern-day author Stephen
Covey,1 more often define legacy in terms of personal values rather than monetary
wealth.
Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth®, agrees that legacy means much more than mere assets.
We have come to understand that legacy thinking helps drive successful outcomes in
many areas of one’s life, from wealth planning to family relationships to philanthropic
endeavors. At Hawthorn, we believe the influence on your family and on causes you and
your family are passionate about will be more meaningful and likely have more impact if
you create your own legacy and a family legacy in the present.
Writing Your Legacy Story
Whether you have thought about it or not, your legacy is being written every day. How you
treat your heritage, decisions you make, and the effect you have on others all influence
what is said, remembered, and modeled about you. We think the real question is whether
your legacy will be intentional or accidental.
NAME
Hawthorn Institute Resident
Title
xxx.xxx.xxxx
email@hawthorn.pnc.com
NAME
Hawthorn Institute Contributor
Title
xxx.xxx.xxxx
Hawthorn Institute Resident:
Karen Ann Stollar, CFP®
Senior Wealth Strategist
412.762.6322
karen.fletcher@hawthorn.pnc.com
In her book Live Your Legacy Now!: Ten Simple Steps to Find Your Passion and Change the
World, Barbara Greenspan Shaiman writes: “The process of creating a legacy is both
selfish and selfless. When we give serious thought to how we want people to view us
and remember us, we can put our own stamp on our legacies. Think of it as composing
your life backwards. What a great opportunity to ensure that your legacy represents your
particular interests and resonates with your own style. Is that selfish? Maybe, but it’s okay
when you are investing so much of yourself in something so valuable.”2
1 Stephen R. Covey is the author of several books, including the international best seller The 7 Habits of Highly Effective People,
First Things First, Principle-Centered Leadership, The 7 Habits of Highly Effective Families, and The 8th Habit: From Effectiveness to
Greatness.
2 Barbara Greenspan Shaiman, Live Your Legacy Now!: Ten Simple Steps to Find Your Passion and Change the World (New York:
iUniverse Inc., 2009).
Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
Hawthorn’s approach to legacy planning begins with a personal discovery of what
is truly important to each individual, including core family values, belief systems,
and life goals. Before taking any tactical steps, the Hawthorn advisory team will
work with you to create a clear definition of your vision, mission, and values. Once
you have clarity of purpose, we use this “guide” to help you make sound decisions.
By taking the time to plan your legacy, you will likely find that the steps you take
and the results you achieve will be much more meaningful to you and your family.
Legacies that are lived intentionally during a lifetime generally allow a family to
define itself beyond financial worth, while also making it easier to handle complex
wealth issues and achieve peace of mind.
Legacy and the Hawthorn Promise
Hawthorn endeavors to keep wealthy families wealthy by:
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helping families define success in words as well as in numbers;
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easing the complexities of wealth;
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committing the appropriate resources to build deep, personal, and enduring
relationships; and
delivering peace of mind.
Though every family is different, most share a desire to preserve and perpetuate
their financial foundation. Hawthorn promises to help keep wealthy families
wealthy. What makes our promise unusual is that our definition of wealth
encompasses both actual fortunes and the values that make families fortunate.
Legacy considerations are instrumental in fulfilling key tenets of our client
promise.
Defining Success in Words as Well as in Numbers
Many investors measure financial success in absolute dollars. After the 2008
financial meltdown, Hawthorn advisors witnessed firsthand how such a limited
definition of success may lead to excessive risk taking, flawed decision making,
and, ultimately, financial planning failures. Hawthorn promises to help our
clients define success in a more meaningful way. We believe legacy planning is a
prominent aspect of fulfilling that promise.
Knowing precisely what you and your family value and how you want to live, today
and in the future, is one way to create an effective wealth plan and measure
progress toward your goals. Articulating a vision, a mission, and the values you
want to preserve will help you experience a true sense of satisfaction when you
actually achieve your goals.
Easing the Complexities of Wealth
At any given time, wealthy families have multiple opportunities and decisions
before them, and an array of possible strategies to implement. How can these
complexities be made simpler?
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Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
Clearly defined vision, mission, and values statements help provide direction and a
framework for wise decisions. The right choices for your family suddenly become
much more apparent when each new opportunity or strategy can be readily tested
against your vision, your mission, and your values.
Delivering Peace of Mind
Peace of mind depends in large part on a belief that your family will always be
financially secure. It also comes from the knowledge that family members will
be shielded from the potential misfortunes of substantial wealth, such as lack
of direction, family dysfunction, and isolation. At Hawthorn, we often extend the
legacy timeline to include future generations in a 100-year plan. We believe that
knowing what great grandparents accomplished and what they stood for means
more to future generations than just seeing names on a building or a trust account.
The certainty that family values and beliefs live on in future generations can help
enhance a family’s peace of mind.
Knowing When to Begin Your Legacy Journey
Families may start their legacy journey at any time. In fact, legacy themes and
questions are intricately woven throughout Hawthorn’s wealth strategy process.
However, there are certain times and events in a family’s life that invite a deeper,
more structured legacy exploration. It may be time to initiate your family’s own
legacy journey when:
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You waver on financial or personal decisions, questioning the
appropriateness of recommended strategies and perhaps even lapsing into
inaction due to lack of clarity.
Your family comes to a crossroads, such as the sale of a business, the
retirement of a family leader, or a new generation reaching maturity.
Younger family members seem disconnected from your core family values.
You realize your family has reached a level of financial independence that
allows you to focus more resources on what really matters to you.
One Family’s Legacy Journey
Sharing the story of how one family created a meaningful legacy may help other
families see how they too could benefit from such an experience. We offer the
example of one particular family who embarked on its legacy journey after selling
the family business and converting ownership shares into investment portfolios for
multiple family members. The family came to realize that responsible ownership
of wealth needed to be viewed as responsible stewardship of wealth, emphasizing
that tangible changes in the structure likewise had some intangible consequences
which may continue today. With the family business gone and facing the challenge
of handling newly acquired liquid wealth, the family took time to determine what
really mattered, transcribing matters of the heart into a plan with purpose.
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Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
The family began a period of discernment, accumulating knowledge and applying
it to their new stage in life by asking the right questions of their past, present, and
future paths. The first step was to reflect on the family’s story so far, including
accomplishments, regrets, and lessons learned. They then carefully considered
what mattered most to them. From these discussions, the family discovered that
their primary goal was to make certain that their beliefs and values would be
the family legacy rather than simply a bequest of assets. The family recognized
that how they addressed life’s transitions would have a profound impact on each
successive generation.
The family effectively incorporated three elements into the legacy process:
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Vision—a clear picture of the family’s destination;
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Mission—a driving purpose for the family; and
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Values—a guide for decision making.
The family established its vision by identifying both the needs and aspirations of
the family unit and of individual family members. With the help of their Hawthorn
advisors and family advisors, they determined how much wealth was needed for
continued financial independence and, by extension, how much excess wealth
was available for family aspirations. Armed with this knowledge, family members
began to think strategically about how and to what degree they could influence
areas that were important to them and to society. They then developed a mission
statement that spelled out the family’s primary goals: to maintain lifetime
financial independence and freedom from worry, promote family values and
stewardship, and lead productive lives.
Ultimately, this family’s legacy journey led them to establish a private foundation
where family members could learn from and help support each other while
executing the family mission to be good stewards of wealth. They held
regular family meetings to educate younger generations and to reaffirm the
family’s vision, mission, and values statements. Throughout this process, our
recommendation of working with advisors from outside the family circle helped to
keep the conversation moving in a positive direction, promoted open and honest
communication, and set boundaries for the discussion.
The Living Legacy Model: A Guide for the Legacy Journey
Increasing recognition of the importance of legacy planning has spurred
collaboration between wealth managers and professionals in family dynamics.
Together, these professionals are working to help families take a more active,
thoughtful approach in creating their own legacy. We believe a primary concern
for families and their advisors is how to tackle important emotional issues while
maintaining openness, honesty, and mutual respect among family members.
R. Bruce Bickel, managing director of Hawthorn’s Private Foundation
Management Services, part of the Hawthorn Institute, describes our profession
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Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
as the “heart business” and acknowledges that reaching consensus about their
legacy can be challenging for many families. He has developed what he calls the
Living Legacy Model, which we use to help guide families on their legacy journey
(Exhibit 1).
Exhibit 1
Living Legacy Model
The Living Legacy Model
INFORMATION
Appeal to the Mind
INPUT
INCORPORATION
ILLUMINATION
Promote Mutual
Responsibility
Engage the Heart
IMPACT
INCARNATION
Inspire Commitment
Source: R. Bruce Bickel
©2002 R. Bruce Bickel
R. Bruce
Bickel
With theDr.
help
of advisors,
families following the Living Legacy Model typically
Senior Vice President
can create
a fulfilling
environment,
open
and accepting
Managing
Director,
Private Foundation
Management
Servicesof all ideas, where family
PNC Wealth Management
members learn from each other. In our view, this kind of safe environment, one
Copyright © 2002 R. Bruce Bickel
that is thoughtful,
considerate, and insightful, is essential to open communication
and family members’ willingness to express what resonates from the heart.
The Living Legacy Model identifies two key stages and four discovery phases along
the journey (Exhibit 2, page 6):
Input Stage:
Impact Stage:
1. Information Phase
3. Incarnation Phase
2. Illumination Phase
4. Incorporation Phase
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Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
Exhibit 2
Stages of the Living Legacy Model
Input Stage
The family’s story and aspirations emerge. The family begins to discover what is truly important to them so
they can become “mission-minded members of the family movement” by committing to the same vision,
mission, and values.
Information Phase
Illumination Phase
Appeals to family members as they respond to
questions such as:
Appeals to the heart as family members work
together to clarify their values, while also looking
at leadership potential and talent development
within the family. Critical questions include:

What is important to you as an individual and
as a family?

How does wealth influence your decisions?

What do you need to work on?

What does your family stand for?

How do you lead with your values?

What values do you hold dear?

What are your core beliefs?

What are the character traits responsible for
holding your family together?

What is your greatest potential, individually
and as a family?

What do you have and want to sustain in the
future?
Impact Stage
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This unified commitment nurtured in the Input Stage maximizes results when the family reaches the
Impact Stage.
Incarnation Phase
Incorporation Phase
Leads family members to be more introspective,
deciding what kinds, and what magnitude, of
impact the family as a whole can have on itself,
others, and the community. A few questions
might be:
Ultimately, this phase is the family’s outward
expression and frames family members’
commitment to living their mission. It introduces
concepts of sustainability and relevance to the
discussion.

How do you manage yourselves?

How will your plan become part of your life?

What are the rules, norms, and boundaries
you live by?

What are the desired and actual outcomes of
your actions?

How can you make the family mission your
own?

How can you support each other’s journey?


How can you communicate better with each
other?
What will you do to live your life applying
your beliefs and values?
For some families, the intimacy of the Living Legacy Model may be intimidating at
first. In practice, however, we have found that the model’s highly personal approach
and the way the process unfolds actually encourages thoughtful conversation and
consensus building. By first appealing to the mind and then engaging the heart, the
Living Legacy Model inspires commitment and promotes mutual responsibility.
Positive outcomes of the Living Legacy Model typically include better recognition
and use of family talents, more successful development of family leadership skills,
and more effective family governance structures. Most importantly, the Living
Legacy Model gives all family members a voice and turns an undertaking that can
seem highly complex into a manageable, step-by-step process.
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Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
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Decision making becomes easier because every choice and every tactical
strategy can be tested against your vision, your mission statement, and your
values.
Family bonds strengthen because family members share a common
purpose and spend time on the most important things in life.
Individual talents are more highly valued, enabling stronger family
leadership and optimal use of family capabilities.
Giving is more personal and more rewarding because you align your
charitable efforts with your passions and can enjoy tangible results of your
generosity.
Greater confidence and satisfaction result from a better understanding of
how your wealth strategy helps support your life vision.
Preparing the next generation to step into family leadership roles will likely
enhance the success of generational transition.
Your Legacy Starts Now
Legacy planning is an ongoing process that we believe should always be forward
focused. Your legacy is continually refined as new family members join the
conversation and commit to the mission.
The family we used as an example earlier in this paper is still writing its story.
Family members who remain committed to their legacy journey generally
continue to develop skills and talents, empower passions, and foster future
leaders—all because they share a vision, a mission, and core family values.
Legacy has traditionally been thought of as what you leave behind, and that is still
true for the most part today. But what better way to influence the future than how
you live today? Your family has an opportunity to create and live amazing legacies.
Guided by your Hawthorn advisors, your discovery process can be the opening act
of a legacy story that will likely produce exceptional results during your lifetime
and beyond.
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Legacy is more than an analysis to determine a dollar value for heirs. It is a
continuous, purposeful deployment of the family’s capital—financial,
human, and social.
Legacy is more than a mission statement. It is a family’s commitment to
a mission-driven purpose that helps support and encourage proactive
family movements.
Legacy is not what you leave, but how you live, and it starts now.
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Legacy: How You Live Today and How You Are Remembered Tomorrow
The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. (“PNC”) uses the name Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth® (“Hawthorn”) to provide investment consulting and wealth
management, fiduciary services, FDIC-insured banking products and services, and lending of funds through its subsidiary, PNC Bank, National Association
(“PNC Bank”), which is a Member FDIC, and uses the name Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth® to provide certain fiduciary and agency services through its subsidiary,
PNC Delaware Trust Company. Hawthorn and PNC do not provide legal or accounting advice and neither provides tax advice in the absence of a specific
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services provided to a “municipal entity” or “obligated person” regarding “proceeds of municipal securities” (as such terms are defined in the Act) will be provided
by PNC Capital Advisors, LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of PNC Bank and SEC registered investment adviser.
“Hawthorn, PNC Family Wealth” is a registered trademark of The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc.
Investments: Not FDIC Insured. No Bank Guarantee. May Lose Value.
©2014 The PNC Financial Services Group, Inc. All rights reserved.
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