Guarding Your Legacy through Philanthropy

Amassing great financial wealth affords people the opportunity to provide for others financially. In many cases, wealthy individuals use their financial strength to support family members and leave behind a trust that creates financial stability for future generations. In other cases, individuals with great wealth use their resources to support other members of the global community through philanthropy. Your legacy will live on well after you're gone, and philanthropy can help guard your legacy in the future.

Create Strong Financial Structures

First and foremost, you'll need a clear structure to help distribute your wealth to the charities and organizations of your choosing. While you're still alive and actively involved in philanthropy, you'll have power over the distribution of your wealth. It is up to you to determine which causes to fight and which groups are worthy of your support. What happens once you can no longer be an active participant or have passed away?

With a clear, strong financial structure in place, your assets will be accurately distributed now and in the future. This is important in guarding your legacy because it ensures that should a charity close or fall into disrepute, your assets no longer go toward support of a questionable enterprise. On top of that, your philanthropic efforts become more flexible. If a new charity launches, your predetermined structure can help determine the value of that charity and direct funds to it for support.

Define Your Mission

Take a moment and think about what is near and dear to your heart. Do you want to help school children in inner city neighborhoods gain greater access to 21st  century technology in their schools? Or maybe you'd like to help launch sports programs that encourage at risk youth to grow in confidence and maintain active lifestyles. Defining the mission of your philanthropic efforts is critical in determining where your assets go now and in the future.

Select Wise Trustees

While you'll remain a powerful voice in your philanthropic efforts in life, in death you'll have no say in how your assets are distributed. Selecting a smart individual or group of individuals to work as trustees ensures that your vision is followed after your death and that causes you believe in are supported properly in the future. It's important to make an impartial selection when it comes to trustees. Choosing someone you know is not nearly as important as working with some that shares your beliefs and values.

Leave Assets to Charities

At some point in time, you'll have to relinquish direct control over your assets. Whether this occurs in your old age or after your passing, you need a system for distributing your assets. A family foundation, such as Bill Gates' Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation, transfers control of your assets to a family organization that controls the distribution of those funds to charitable organizations you choose.

If you opt for a different route, such as donor advised funds, you'll turn over direct control to a charity immediately. There is no middle man in these situations, the money or assets instead go directly to the charity.

Whatever you choose, it is important not to wait. You've worked hard to build a legacy in life, so don't let that fall apart in the future from a lack of planning. Philanthropy can help guard that legacy in the future and ensure your assets are used wisely for decades to come.