Leaving a legacy – sounds like something only wealthy people can do, right? Like making a giant bequest to a university or passing on a significant estate to your children.
Actually, though, a new Bank of America Merrill Lynch/Age Wave survey and the new book by Canadian sociologist and researcher Lyndsay Green, The Well-Lived Life: Live With Purpose and Be Remembered, suggest that leaving a legacy is not necessarily about money.
“We are all leaving a legacy, whether we like it or not,” said Green. “Our legacy is a combination of the way we live every day and the impact it has on our friends, our family, our community and the world, as well as how we prepare others for life without us. Leaving a legacy is a way to let others appreciate our love and our consideration for them because we took the time to plan ahead for the impact our absence would have on them.”
There are plenty of smart, thoughtful, easy ways to leave a legacy for your loved ones – a personal legacy and a financial one.