Wealth in Families

by Charles W. Collier

Wealth in Families, a book by Charles W. Collier, Harvard's former senior philanthropic advisor, addresses many of the questions of concern to families of wealth, including ways to teach values to your family through philanthropy. In this book, he writes about the role philanthropy can play in helping families to convey both assets and values from generation to generation.

Genres: Business, Nonfiction

124 pages, Paperback

First published May 22, 2012

Reviews

[Rob · Rating 5 out of 5]

This is the second book I read in my Chartered Advisor of Philanthropy coursework. This book excited me about the path I'd chosen to study further into this field. It is an easy read, and I found it to be very exciting. I recommend it to anyone whose family has enough funds to consider a perpetual family trust, or a perpetual family foundation. It is also excellent for those who, like me, may not be in that situation but are excited to help those who are.

[Mark Matos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Charles Collier’s Socratic style is very refreshing. He really gets to the point about how elite advisors should act. Its a reminder its good advisors who deliver the answers, and the great ones who deliver more questions.

[Birthe Lauchengco]

The real Secret.

[Delway Burton · Rating 2 out of 5]

This book was recommended by a friend as a guide to estate planning. Unless you are wealthy, which I define as someone who is not bothered by material concerns, this book has no real use. It overly stresses philanthropy (the author raises money for Harvard), which again is not of concern to the non-wealthy. It does focus to a minor degree on family values, but again every point is spoken to those who have large, large amounts of disposable income which they seek to preserve across the generations. Giving back for most of us is a yearly check to the Red Cross or a weekend spent driving nails for Habit. The message is directed not toward the 1%, but rather the .01%.

[Teri · Rating 5 out of 5]

If you are looking for some ideas on how to think about your legacy as you age and/or ways to talk to your children about planning for the next generations, this book is a great tool. Lots of interviews with very wealthy and Harvard families but still can apply to other levels of wealth.

REREAD 12/24/23

[Craig · Rating 4 out of 5]

This book suggests how wealthy families might develope their own set of positive values (culture) with regard to the management and preservation of wealth, focusing on an opportunity to use wealth as a means to benefit individual family members and society.

[Ambfolibrary · Rating 2 out of 5]

2 copies