Financial Wealth v Legacy Wealth
At Evahan, we believe that Financial Wealth outcomes are not more important than Legacy Wealth outcomes, and vice versa. While the two often work hand in hand, they do not always have to.
Financial Wealth
Financial Wealth is typically more openly pursued and easily defined and measured from our clients' perspective. It usually focuses on combinations of:
- Increases in net assets, value, gross profit, net profit, EBITDA
- Customer growth rates, new customer acquisition costs
- Production capacity, labor efficiency
- M&A attractiveness, company value, and personal financial position
Legacy Wealth
Legacy Wealth encompasses the positive values, knowledge, traditions, principles, ethics, memories, human relationships, inspiration, innovation, ideas, spirituality, beauty, human health, compassion, planet health, and community spirit that our clients pass down to future generations. Legacy is about enhancing the lives of others and leaving the world a better place, creating a chain reaction that can span generations.
It is about the impact and enduring contributions that our clients, their companies, or the organizations they are involved with leave behind for future generations. "Future generations" can refer to personal descendants or society as a whole.
Individuals, Companies, Charities & Government
Almost every Individual, Private Company, Not-for-Profit, or Government pursues both Financial Wealth Outcomes and Legacy Wealth Outcomes. They just might not realize it.
Not-for-Profits and Government organizations are generally more heavily weighted toward Legacy Wealth. However, if they are not financially sustainable, even the highest intentions of passing on a generation-spanning legacy can quickly dissipate. Organizations cannot meaningfully and sustainably help people, communities, and the environment if they are financially unstable.
If you are an individual, private company, or public company entirely focused on increasing financial wealth, it might be time to ask yourself the question, "Why don't we have any Legacy Wealth goals?" In 2024, there were 2,781 billionaires worldwide. I challenge you to name 81. This does not count those billionaires whose physical presence has left the earth.
There is no Dilemma
At Evahan, we do not see Financial Wealth versus Legacy Wealth as a dilemma. The balance between assisting our clients in pursuing increases in both Financial Wealth and Legacy Wealth manifests itself in the following ways:
Individual Clients
For our individual clients, financial outcomes can relate to intergenerational asset protection or assistance with the financial aspects of estate planning, directly impacting Legacy Wealth.
Private Company Clients
For our private company clients, we often provide strategic and operational improvement advice that allows the aging generation to extract themselves from day-to-day activities, build redundancy for family members, and maximize the chances of succession success.
Government Clients
For our government clients—whether they are local, state, or federal government departments, or government business units (GBEs)—we work with Boards, senior management, and democratically elected custodians to improve stakeholder outcomes. We do this in a financially sustainable way, ensuring that these outcomes are available for future generations while being economically responsible for today's generation.
