Business Innovators Radio - Cindy Arledge: Preserving Family Relationships and Ensuring Peace of Mind

Episode Date: June 17, 2024

In this episode, Dr. Tami Patzer talks with Cindy Arledge, an MBA-holding expert dedicated to helping families thrive through the generations. Cindy’s journey began from a deeply personal experience, which motivated her to create a unique process aimed at preserving family relationships and ensuring peace of mind about the future.As the founder of Legacy Family Revolution, Cindy addresses the often taboo topics of inheritance and family planning with a sense of humor and practicality, making these important conversations easier to have. She has written five books and previously participated in one of Dr. Patzer’s “Women Innovators” chapter books, showcasing her impressive accomplishments over the years.During the interview, Cindy discusses the three key areas of planning that most families aren’t doing but should be: emergency preparedness, wealth transfer, and establishing systems to prepare future generations. She delves deeper into the emergency planning aspect, sharing how she was inspired to write the “Family Emergency Handbook” after witnessing the impact of natural disasters and her own family’s medical emergency.Cindy’s mission is to help a million families create their own personal emergency preparedness plan, making this crucial information accessible through online programs, associations, and other strategic partnerships. She believes that by empowering families to be prepared for crises, they can not only protect their health, wealth, and loved ones, but also help their communities thrive.Whether you’re a senior orphan, a busy family juggling multiple responsibilities, or simply someone who wants to ensure your loved ones are taken care of, this episode with Cindy Arledge is a must-listen. Discover how you can take the first steps toward creating a generational legacy that will withstand the test of time.To learn more about Cindy Arledge and her work, visit LegacyFamilyRevolution.com, where you can find her book “Family Emergency Handbook” and sign up for her upcoming online program.Source: https://businessinnovatorsradio.com/cindy-arledge-preserving-family-relationships-and-ensuring-peace-of-mind

Welcome to Business Innovators Radio, featuring industry influencers and trendsetters, sharing proven strategies to help you build a better life right now. Hi, everyone. This is Dr. Tammy Patser, and I'm so excited because I've actually interviewed Cindy Arledge before, and it was maybe about six, seven years ago. but since that time, she's actually written five books. And at that time, I think she actually was participating in one of my women innovators chapter books. So think about how time has really flown, but how much Cindy has accomplished. So Cindy, she has an MBA, and she's dedicated to helping families thrive through the generations. Cindy's journey began from a deeply personal experience, which motivated her to create a unique process aimed at preserving family relationships and ensuring peace of mind about the future.

As the founder of Legacy Family Revolution, Cindy addresses the often taboo topics of inheritance and family planning with a sense of humor and practicality, making these important conversations easier to have. So we're really excited to dive into her insights and learn more about how families can better plan to thrive generationally, but more so in the now. So Cindy, welcome back. I'm so happy to see you. It's so great to spend time with you, Tammy.

And I just, I really appreciate everything that you do to help people like me that have a great idea to make it more accessible to, you know, the clients and the customers that we want to impact. So thank you for the invitation. Well, thank you. I'm glad that you decided it was time to get us all up to date. So many people, if they haven't listened to the interviews I did with you in the past, let's just tell everyone a little bit about your background and what led you to focus on helping families thrive now and then, of course, through the generations? Well, it's been almost 20 years since my parents passed away eight months apart. And I was unprepared, of course, to become an orphan.

But more importantly, the piece that I was totally unprepared for was the change in family dynamics when you lose a parent. and my dad knew that we were unprepared. He did the best he could, but he didn't know about the information that I found after they passed away. Because most people believe that when they are about to receive an inheritance, the person passes away and then they get their money, right? Well, that's not the way it works.

You know, for us, it was a fairly quick process, but it was two and a half years. most estates take even longer to settle. And so in that two and a half years, you know, having the relationship with my brothers, you know, going not the way that I thought that they would, I started researching families who inherited wealth, and I discovered that less than 10% of families are able to retain wealth past the third generation. And over 70% of them experienced what we went through, which is really the relationship issues.

And so in that discovery, I started studying the families that are successful. And unfortunately, until now, access to that type of information is limited to families with ultra high net worth because the family office industry is the industry that's providing those services. And my goal is to change that.

Well, I think you're right, because most of us, two and a half years, That seems like a long time. My father passed away, and I think it was six months to 10 months. But it wasn't like he had great wealth, and it was real cut and dried between, you know, the four kids, everybody is split equally. And there wasn't that much to really divide. So it probably went faster than it should have. But one thing my dad did that I think was really good was he actually told.

everybody the deal what he wanted. So nobody argued about his wishes. So I think that worked out. So what are the three areas of planning that most families aren't doing that they should be doing? Well, the first piece of it is being prepared for emergencies. You know, a medical emergency or any other type of emergency can actually tear a family apart. I wrote my last book, Family Emergency Handbook, when my ex-husband had a stroke. And I never considered him being in my inner circle anymore. But what I had failed to take into account is that he's still in my daughter's inner circle. And so when he had the stroke, they dropped everything to take care of their dad.

And then I stepped in to help them. And so that's when I discovered that related and connected to more people than we know. and so that's that emergency piece that if we can be prepared for emergencies in advance, we can reduce a lot of unnecessary stress. I can't hear you. So the planning in advance, why is it that most people are not having these conversations or doing this planning? Well, it's a multi-fold, right? Number one, this is where the humor comes in.

I don't know about you, but people try to avoid the topics of aging death and money for as long as they can, right? I say, if you want to clear your party, just invite me and I'll come talk about all the things that I want to talk about. So these are taboo topics that we don't know how to talk about them and they make us uncomfortable. And so that's the number one reason. And number two, as we've already discussed it, is that, you know, this type of planning is only available or until, like I said, it used to only be available at the family office level. And then number three, it's that we don't know what we don't know. So, and I think that third one, the fact that we don't know what we don't know and that concept, they don't want to talk about it. last year I talked the father of my children into going and getting a will because he didn't have

one. And as we did that process, of course, that brought up a lot of different issues with inheritance and money and medical things. But it would, for me now, at least I know that everything is taken care of. So I won't face that. You know, oh, oh, there's no will. So now. what do we do situation. So what do you think is the most important step that a family can take so that you can ensure that you're able to make these decisions now and then, of course, thrive into that multi-generational legacy plan that where you're hoping to get to in the future? Well, you mentioned earlier, you know, we talked to, you asked me a question, what are the three areas?

And I kind of scurled into just the emergency piece of it. The second piece of that is the transition of wealth. And your father did in a very important step that most families don't take and that he held a family meeting or a family connection. He shared what his plans were. And he actually asked you to honor his wishes. So that piece that your father took is very. usual, but I found that it makes all the difference in the world. And then the third piece of this, which I discovered, you know, after my mom and dad passed

away and I was in that waiting period of waiting to settle their estate, is that the difference between thriving generationally and not thriving generationally is that the families that thrive generationally have a plan or a system in place for transferring wealth, wisdom, and a process so that each generation doesn't have to start by scratch. And so those are the three pieces. Emergencies, well transfer, and systems to prepare, you know, to help future generations. So because we have such a limited time, you want to focus on telling me more about that emergency planning piece and how you're helping people.

today with what you're doing. I know you mentioned that you wrote a book just specifically on that aspect of all of this legacy generational planning that needs to happen. So can you kind of hone in deeper on that? Yes, and thank you for asking because this is the first piece of the puzzle that I work with on my clients. And it gives you such peace of mind and confidence to know that you're prepared for an emergency. And the way I came up with this idea, we were talking before the show started about how you've

been through a couple of hurricanes. Well, actually, when the hurricane hit Texas back, I was six years ago, that's what actually inspired the idea behind this book. Because I was watching the emergency responders in rowboats delivering water. to the community to try to lessen the damage to the community. Because, you know, emergency responders are there to help the community through this tough time. And that was right as my ex-husband had a stroke. And by the way, he's doing great now.

And I thought, wow, wouldn't it be great if every family had their own emergency response team that was able to step in an emergency and have access to the resources that they needed, we're trained and knew how to help the person that needed help and we're empowered to do so. So basically, that's what the emergency family handbook is how to create, I call it a personal emergency preparedness plan and to have a response team that can help you minimize the damage of whatever crisis you find yourself in. So who's on this emergency response team? Well, it depends on what your family is, right?

Right. So I work with a lot of senior orphans. They've outlived a spouse. They don't really have any family members. They never had any children. And so who they have on their team is vastly different than, you know, a family that has five children that all live in the area. So your team depends on what's in your life. If you're retired and you're not running a business and you're basically, you know, just have a very simple life. Your team can be very simple. And the idea is, is that you're to protect your health, your wealth, and your loved ones. And for some people, a loved one may be a four-legged, a cat or a dog. And because my ex-husband had a herd of cattle in another state, I actually include how to take care of farm animals in this plan. Because, you know, their dad was in the hospital, and they were trying to run his business, pay his bills, work with the medical, you know, making life and debt decisions,

take care of a herd of cattle in another state. So this plan helps you protect your health, wealth, and loved ones, right? But if you're running a business, you may need to have someone to help you keep your business going. So the plan is totally customizable to your needs and your lifestyle. That's really interesting because my brother, in my case, my brother, he was the main person doing all of those things. making sure that my dad was getting everything he knew because I was 3,000 miles away. So I really, and it was COVID. So I was limited to what I could do in that one-on-one space of helping my dad when he was actually going through.

He had a stroke. And he was, you know, had to go through rehab and everything. So that makes a lot of sense. And when you talk about, you're absolutely right. A lot of people, they have their family, which could include pets, or in this case, farm animals, living things, and a business. So that makes a lot of sense that that would be part of this bigger plan. So you originally were talking about. this how to transfer your wealth and everything into the generations because there's something

very interesting that I guess that the transfer of wealth that that you said something in our pre-talk but you said like only um by the third generation the money's normally less than 10% of families had the skills of the planning to be able to retain wealth past the third generation, which to me is a shocking number. It truly is. There's a saying in every country across the globe has a saying for shirt sleeves to shirt sleeves, rice paddy to rice paddy from the stable to the stars to the stables. And it tracks historically and worldwide. of a family creating wealth, the second generation receiving it, and by the end of the third generation, the money's already gone. So the difference between those families

and the ones that retain it is that third piece that we talked about is having a system that's repeatable and scalable to prepare the family generation after generation after generation. So where do you come in with what you do, it's legacy family revolution is the umbrella of what you do. So where do you come in to help these people, you know, with parts one, two, and three? Well, and I appreciate you asking, you know, since the last time we were together, right, which is, gosh, I don't know, I think it's been longer than, I think it may have been 2017 or 2018.

team. And I've been working with private clients one-on-one, and I recently joined a mentorship and basically to 10x where you plan to be. And I recently decided that I want to be able to help a million families. Well, I can't help a million families one-on-one. So the team, I've got a team, and we're working on an online program for this family emergency handbook. And my goal is to get it into every HR department, every organization, every church, every family. Because, you know, our communities are built by families. And when you can, you know, help a family thrive, you can help a community thrive, right? And when you help your inner circle and then your ecosystem create one of these plans,

well then automatically the people around you can thrive as well. So I guess my plans have changed in that, you know, I'm wanting every family to have one of these plans. And really, instead of worrying about the generational wealth, just really, let's start here. Let's get a million families to create a personal emergency preparedness plan. Then I'll figure out what I want to do next. So now the goal is a million families to have this. emergency family preparedness handbook. What is the plan to get it into those places?

You know, you said human resources. Are you doing trainings like webinar courses or brick and mortar where people go out into the community and teach this? Are you training other people? How are you going to get this into? to the hands of those millions of families? Well, and eventually, yes, I will. I teach other people how to do what I do.

Right now, my goal is to be able to reach people from the comfort of my own home. And I'm reaching out to associations. You and I, again, in our preview, we talked about a film coming up that is a documentary that includes Bradley Cooper called Caregiving. and there's, you know, there's association of the National Domestic Workers Association that has 2.5 million members.

And so I'll start there. And then, you know, my goal is to how many associations with large groups of people can I reach, introduce this idea? And who knows? Maybe I can reach my million people before the end of the year. That's possible. I actually know at least two different podcasts where their topic is caregiving because it's so huge. And also, when you think about it like AARP, it sounds like it would be something that a group like that would be interested in educating their people or even insurance companies, anybody who deals with people, just like what you were saying. saying about human resources and churches.

And obviously, financial education is really important now. So that would go into even the high school level where they need to learn about this financial education because it seems like I remember vaguely, maybe I remember a class where we might have talked about how to make. a budget and how to write a check, but nobody ever taught us about anything else, about money management other than the formal budgeting and how to have a bank account so that you could buy groceries and do things like that. But it's quite a mission that you have developed since, I think it's like 2016 or 17.

So that is such a huge mission that you've actually created. You mentioned to me that, so this handbook is, is it available? How do people get it now if they're listening? They go, wow, I want that handbook. How would they get it? Well, then go to Amazon.com. I have a Kindle version and a print version. and it lends itself to the print version because it's got some forms.

And I've been working like night and day to get the online program up to support the book. And so you might, if the book's available, why would you need an online program? Well, what I've discovered, and this is the key with my clients that I was working with one-on-one, I was their accountability partner. You know, because the first step of the programs is just to organize all your important documents. Well, I found that my clients could spend months and months and months getting bogged down just trying to get their papers, you know, organized because our lives are so much more complicated than we know until we go trying to get it organized. So the online program offers

an eight-week accountability support piece to it. So we've designed it where you can get in, get all the documents you need anytime, immediately, and we've added this accountability guilty piece, which I think is going to be very strong. It should be ready to go. I say should. I'm going to say it was supposed to be ready June 1st, but you know how that goes. And I think it'll be up by June 20th. I really do.

I mean, we're this close. Very excited about the program that we put together to allow, you know, you can go online and print exactly what document you need. That's really phenomenal because, again, you're right about people gathering up information and trying to keep up. I mean, sometimes I'll be working on something and I'll look up and all of a sudden, four or five hours have gone by because I've been so busy, you know, organizing something or looking for something.

But that is really phenomenal. So they can go and they could get the book on Amazon, a Kindle version or a paperback version, is that right? The print, yeah, it's not a hard back. It's just a super simple. I'll show you. I've got it right here. Okay.

So like a workbook. And then the beautiful thing is they can go to your website and sign up to work with that accountability, which because a lot of people, you're right. They'll get the book and they'll start. But then it's kind of like if they have a question or they get stuck, they need to talk to somebody to help them to have that confidence to move forward. So that sounds perfect to have that eight-week accountability program because it's not too short and it's not too long.

And it just would help you to complete such an important part of your financial planning as you go on because like you said, you mentioned caregiving. and the caregiving is so interesting because not only are people finding their caregiving for the younger generations like me, I'm a grandmother caring for grandchildren, but then there's also people caring for other members of their family. Just like you said, your family was much larger than you thought because you didn't count your ex-husband as someone who was in your inner circle. but he certainly was in your daughter's life as a prime person in her life.

So you had to step up to be that support system. That's right. So I can see that. So what is the best website for people to go to or the best way to reach out and speak with you or to make a consultation appointment? Yeah, it's just a legacy family, Revolution.com. Legacy Family Revolution.

Okay, before I let you go, is there anything else that you'd like to share? You know, I would say over and over and over again, I hear people say, someday, I'll get around to that. And I cover this information in the book, Someday is the day after you needed to have done what you needed to have done. someday is a day too late. And I would just say start now, just begin. And once you get it done, it's a magical piece of mind and confidence that comes from getting this step done. I agree because think about it. Once you have that and you know that you have a plan and you know that you have a plan and

you know that you've thought about your family and you've thought about all of the possible contingencies and you get that done and it would be like this big weight would be lifted off of your shoulders because then people know what to do if anything happens. So Cindy, it was so great catching up with you and everyone, make sure you go to Legacyfamilyrevolution.com. Cindy Arledge. You can find her on all different social media. I found her on LinkedIn and Facebook and other places. So go to her website, Legacy Family Revolution. Thank you so much, Cindy. Thank you for having me here, Tamara. Everyone? Tammy, Tammy. Yes. At the end of the day, is Tamara your,

is Tammy short for Tamara? Yes. I'll see. Okay, good. I thought it was I know you go by Tammy. I was like, I know I've seen Tamara. So thank you so much for having me. And, you know, my goal is just do this for yourself and then invite other family members to do it with you. Everyone, take that good advice. This is Dr. Tammy Pitzer. Go make it a beautiful day. Thanks for listening to Business Innovators Radio. To hear all episodes featuring leading industry influencers and trendsetters, visit us online at businessinnovatorsradio.com today.