Your time has finally come. You spent your years since high school scraping by on ramen noodles and pulling all-nighters so that you could score that great job, right? Now you have paid your dues for a few years and the time has come for you to get a raise or a bonus. This is certainly a cause for celebration!

Rewarding your hard work with some new clothes, a night out on the town or possibly something bigger like a new car is okay, but don’t get too carried away. It is important, to maintain a sharp perspective on your cash flow and your goals when your income begins to increase.

THE ESSENTIAL ELEMENTS FOR SUCCESSFUL FAMILY WEALTH TRANSFERS

It is inevitable--every day we get a little bit older. The time to begin planning for the next generation is now. As successful heads of your family, you have worked very hard saving for your future, taking care of your family and creating a plan for retirement. It’s possible that with a few additional conversations, you can create a legacy that your children and grandchildren may continue to enjoy for generations to come.

The complexities of the family and the amount of wealth transferring to the next generation can help determine how much time and effort will be required in the planning stages to ensure a successful transfer. If you would like the transfer of your wealth to benefit the next generation, then you need to consider involving your family early. It is important for each generation to try to understand each other’s perspectives regarding the shifting of assets and the impact these assets may have on their future.

If we look at society and societal norms, a lot of weight is given to success when it comes to defining happiness.

If we see a person who is successful, it is often assumed that they are happy. On an existential level we should consider what it all means. In reality, we actually have no idea whether or not that person is either happy or successful; for a couple of reasons: First of all, we can only measure someone else’s success or happiness by what we know about them. Secondly, and more importantly, we can only measure someone else’s success or happiness by how we define success and happiness. There is really no way of knowing whether their measures are even similar to our own.