Pitch Night
For most people, their entire working life, they hear: save more, invest, stay disciplined, and don’t touch it.
Then retirement arrives. And someone (maybe us) starts to say, do the exact opposite! Start spending, draw down those assets, go on vacation.
For clients who have more than they are likely to need, it can mean giving some away now, while they can watch the impact. We find one of the easiest versions is the Family Trip. We’ll bet there is one from childhood that comes to mind. Maybe it was Disney World, the Smoky Mountains, Up North, a national park. This time it could be the same place, or somewhere nobody has ever been.
Here's a thought, don't pick the trip yourself. Make them pitch it.
The Family Vacation Pitch
Start with the Gold Rule, whomever is paying defines the playing field. Maybe the budget is $14,000. Maybe five nights. Must be within eight hours of home. Flying is fine, but no passports. And no, Drew, first class is on your dime. The guidelines will be different for every family. The important thing is that everyone knows them before hand.
Then turn it over to the kids. Depending on their ages, the grandkids too.
Each person (or household) develops a trip proposal. Not "I vote for Nashville." A pitch.
Put together a presentation or video. Where are we going? Where would everyone sleep? What activities? Are there interesting stops along the way? Is it kid/grandparent friendly? Restaurants, golf, hiking, museums, amusement parks or other adventures? And yes, they need to show it fits the budget.
Pick a night, ideally in person to get together, order some food and let the presentations begin. At the end, everyone votes. Winner get to decide who books it.
More Than a Vacation
The gift starts long before anybody packs a bag. Pitch night is part of it. The grandkids learning that $14,000 does not, in fact, buy twelve first-class tickets to Hawaii and a pony. By the time anyone leaves home, the family has already gotten something out of the gift. Everyone discovers places they may never have considered. There will almost certainly be some lobbying, alliances and trash talk along the way. Most importantly, the people providing the gift get to experience all of it.
Estate planning necessarily focuses a lot of attention on what happens to assets someday. That's necessary. But if a financial plan shows we can give today without jeopardizing financial security, there can be tremendous value in seeing family enjoy that generosity during life.
Watching grandkids try to convince everyone why their trip is clearly superior to Uncle Mike's. Laughing during the presentations, looking forward to the winning trip together and, a few months later, sitting around a dinner table somewhere with the people we care about most. Those are memories stack up well against any returns.
Give Thoughtfully. Spend Purposefully.
None of this works without the plan behind it. The plan answers the easy question. Whether you can afford it has an answer, and that answer is knowable. Whether you let yourself does not, and that is the one people talk themselves out of.
Once you have the answer, the rest is only timing. That money is going to reach them eventually. The part you get to decide is whether you are in the room when it does.
A few years from now somebody is going to bring up the pitch night. Probably whoever lost.
Take “The Trip.” You’ll have it forever.
We Enable Dreams.
The opinions voiced in this material are for general information only and are not intended to provide specific advice or recommendations for any individual.