Friday Reading Club: The Inheritance Playbook
Interview with Chad Holmes of Formula Wealth
In the Friday Reading Club, we sit down with authors of articles and books about wealth transfer planning to share resources and ideas that can benefit you and your practice.
Interview
About The Author and Book
In this interview, Chad Holmes, a financial planner/CPA and founder of Formula Wealth, discusses his recent book, The Inheritance Playbook: Helping Your Parents Pass The Torch, Not The Tax. Chad’s book has recently reached the milestone of 6,000 copies sold or distributed.
Often, estate planning is discussed in a vacuum between parents and their professional advisors. Children may know some of the high-level details of a plan, but they are often surprised not just by the substance of the plan but also by their sudden appointment to fiduciary roles such as agent under a durable power of attorney, executor of a will, or successor trustee of a revocable trust. Taxes often come as a surprise as well, and while estate tax exemptions are at an all-time high, those holding wealth in IRAs, qualified plans, and annuities can have significant deferred income taxes both for themselves and their heirs.
The Inheritance Playbook is just part of the broad resources assembled by Chad to assist children and caregivers with these conversations. Above, we discuss how Chad’s successful conversations with his own parents and extended family members about their estate plans led to a broader call to serve individuals who assist, or who will assist, older generations.
Chad has put together a landing page where you can not only learn more about the book, but also access additional checklists and resources - including insights from Sassy St. Peter who cautions entrants to the pearly gates about flawed charitable giving strategies! You can find these resources at theinheritanceplaybook.com
To purchase a copy directly from Amazon, visit https://www.amazon.com/dp/B0CMFFLXDN
Chad’s firm, Formula Wealth, is a fee-based financial planning practice which he operates virtually from Montgomery, Alabama. To learn more about Chad and his firm, click here to visit his website.
My call to action is to consider this book not just as a read for yourself, but also as a resource you can provide to your own clients. The common ground Chad and I share is an appreciation for the greater voice and role that children can have in their parents’ estate plan in order to reduce later friction. This friction is often thought of as relating to inheritances, but it also extends to the burdens placed upon the rising generation to track down and marshal assets - including digital assets, logins, passwords, etc.
I hope you enjoyed this week’s Friday Reading Club. If you have an article or book you would like to share, please reach out.