Mar 23, 2022
Mark Weber is the founder of the consulting firm Legacy Planning Advisor, LLC. He has spent his career working with individuals and families to craft financial, estate, and legacy plans designed to achieve a wide variety of objectives. He leads the Omaha Chartered Advisor In Philanthropy® Study Group—a group he founded in 2012 with the support of the Omaha Community Foundation. Mark is currently working with The American College of Financial Services to create legacy planning tools and micro-courses designed to reach beyond high-net-worth individuals and families.
Mark joins me on the show to discuss the turning point that made him transition out of the life insurance business and into helping people pass on their wealth with thought and meaning. He shares why he decided to take the Chartered Advisor in Philanthropy® (CAP) designation and encourage a group of colleagues to join him, and how that turned into ten years of sharing the course with others. Mark also explores the three major themes in his book The Legacy Spectrum, including the psychology of feeling that you have enough money to commit to helping others.
“A lot of people want to pass as much wealth as they possibly can to their families, but they don't think about what happens when they get it.” - Mark Weber
“A moral autobiography talks about the money you leave, it talks about who you were as a person, and what your legacy is going to be.” - Mark Weber
“I felt if I could change how advisors talk to their clients about philanthropy, I could have an impact.” - Mark Weber
This Week on The Wow Factor:
- How Mark’s parents instilled a work ethic in him as a young man
- Why Mark decided not to pursue a legal career after finishing his law degree and how he got the experience to develop a career in the insurance industry
- Key skills that Mark learned from his years working in high-end life insurance
- The distressing experience that really highlighted the importance of taking out life insurance
- The typical focus of estate planning and where Mark saw the gaps to expand people’s understanding of how they can help the wider community
- How a chance encounter with Warren Buffett changed Mark’s perspective
- How Mark’s book, The Legacy Spectrum, helps estate planning professionals to consider how to initiate a conversation about philanthropy with their clients
- The aim of a moral biography and how it acts as a legacy for your children
- The importance of teaching your heirs to be good stewards of the money you leave behind
- Why Mark wants to make Omaha a more generous and gracious city and what he’s doing today to continue to push towards that
Mark Weber’s Words of Wisdom
It’s important to educate your kids about the value of money. If you’re going to leave them an inheritance, prepare them to be good stewards of the money, and train them to use it wisely.
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- I Like Giving: The Transforming Power of a Generous Life by Brad Formsma
- Words of Wisdom Website
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