The Wow Factor: Richard Watts: Founder and President of Family Business Office | How to Best Serve Your Family with Thoughtful and Transitional Wealth Planning

Richard Watts: Founder and President of Family Business Office | How to Best Serve Your Family with Thoughtful and Transitional Wealth Planning

Sep 29, 2021

Richard Watts was admitted to the California State Bar to practice law in 1982 and is an alumni of the Harvard Business School. He is a renowned speaker and contributor to national publications such as Forbes, Huffington Post, NPR, Variety Magazine, Washington Times, and CNBC, PBS, and has appeared on national television programs to spread his positive message of making your family strong. He is also the author of Fables of Fortune: What Rich People Have that You Don’t Want and Entitlemania: How Not to Spoil Your Kids, and What do Do if You Have. A resident of Laguna Beach, California, Richard is the proud father of his three sons; Aaron (wife Rene), Todd (wife Stephanie), and Russell (wife Natalie), and has three granddaughters; Maclane, Lucy, and Chandler, as well as two grandsons; Bennett and Ford.

Richard Watts, founder and President of Family Business Office®, joins me on The Wow Factor podcast today to share his valuable insights into why he moved away from a traditional lawyer role and started a company with a real mission connected to it. He describes the key differences between those who have worked hard to make money and the subsequent generations who have inherited it. He emphasizes the value of thoughtful transitional wealth planning. Richard also discusses the need to have a spiritual connection to the world around you.

“The behavioral fork in the road begins early. You can choose the easier path and placate your children but, but pay the price later. Or you can choose the bumpier road now and use every opportunity that presents itself to teach your kids that taking the shortcut now will cause their life to be rougher as they mature.” Richard Watts, Entitlemania

“There comes a time in your life, and often more than one time, where it's really important to exercise the control over your life that you believe your faith has. If you really say I'm a man of faith, then at some point, you have to exercise that faith.” - Richard Watts

"People that are wealth creators will spend their entire lives being considerate of building wealth. But when it comes to their estate plan, they're not going to be here to worry about it. So, they don't put the same amount of effort in looking at and recognizing what the ramifications may be of a poor plan.” - Richard Watts

“Often the wanting turns out better than the having. If you can teach yourself that the wanting is often more enjoyable than having; that the journey is more appealing than the destination, you have taught yourself a most valuable life lesson that your kids will learn without words. Teach them not to confuse wants with needs...there are few things more rewarding than needing less.” Richard Watts, Entitlemania

This Week on The Wow Factor:

The goal behind Family Business Planning and how they help clients with comprehensive family office services
How Richard grew the business from six initial client families
Why a sense of value tends to fade away when money is no object
What ‘option fatigue’ is and why it can prevent you from feeling positive about your life
Why newly wealthy people, famous or not should practice not having the things that they want
How to encourage people to maintain a servant mindset even when they achieve material success
The Importance of clever, forward-thinking wealth planning
Why drone parents who are strategic in ensuring that their kids don’t fail or struggle are doing their kids a disservice
Why Richard feels that it’s important to stay sharp in terms of your spiritual capital and how he maintains his faith

Richard Watts’s Words of Wisdom:

The spiritual muscle is one that most people don't take the time to exercise, so it can get a little atrophied — but when those spiritual muscles begin to be used and exercised, we begin to recognize spiritual connections all around us and that’s such a key element of an optimistic and fulfilled life.

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