10 Ways to Build a Meaningful Legacy for Your Family
What you choose to do today will affect the future. By being deliberate about what we choose to do during the more productive phases of our lives, we can create a better world for the next generation. This next generation may hopefully be inspired by our example to make an even better future for those that come after them.
It all begins with us. Here are just some of the ways you can build a purposeful legacy that may benefit your family and the community at large:
Build a Family Home
A house can be more than just a refuge for your family—it can be a visible reminder of your legacy. A roomy family home, in particular, can provide family members with ample space for their storage needs and for their favorite activities not only individually, but also as a unit. Because of this, a big home can become a conducive environment for each family member and for nurturing relationships between each member. This is how a home can become a place where families can share countless valuable experiences and memories, which are of themselves of great importance.
Thankfully, spacious homes are not as expensive as you’d think, especially if you’re willing to live in an up-and-coming city rather than in a crowded metropolis. For instance, a large house and lot for sale in Lipa, Batangas is likely to set you back less than half of what you’d need to buy a similar property in Metro Manila.
This means you won’t have to settle for less in case you’re looking for the best property that your money can buy. If sustainability is one of your family’s core values, for example, Periveo’s Mira House Model by Golden Home Realty Development, Inc. should fit the bill. Surrounded by nature, this integrated community features spacious contemporary houses, commercial and retail establishments, and various active lifestyle amenities. The best part is that all of these are a stone’s throw from each other.
Choosing a property in a regional city close to a major urban center has other advantages as well. The property rates of these locations tend to steadily go up together with the continuing expansion of urban centers. This means that your descendants will also have a valuable asset that they could use for recreation and business. The property could even be sold at a profit should the family ever need the cash later on.
Periveo’s Mira Model House Unit
Invest in Appreciating Assets
Wealth makes it much easier to effect a positive change for the next generation. And the best way to build it is to think in terms of generations rather than merely focusing on the next big payday.
We already mentioned real estate as a path to generational wealth. However, real estate is not the only thing you can invest in to accumulate wealth.
If you have some funds to spare, you can get in touch with a trusted stockbroker or fund manager to help you invest in relatively safe assets and commodities that are highly likely to appreciate over time. You can also consider investing in farmland, rental properties,bonds, and other relatively stable asset types. Real estate investing remains as one of the safest and most stable investment options because of the historically, steady property value appreciation.
If you have an appetite for the finer things in life or simply want to diversify your investments further, you could consider investing in assets like rare art, antiques, collectibles, fine instruments, gemstones, and other similar assets.
Periveo Aerial View
Build a Sustainable Family Business
Starting and running a family business where the goal is long-term stability can help you accumulate the wealth you need to build and maintain your legacy. It may also be a better path to sustainable wealth compared to being an employee.
Of course, this is easier said than done. Family businesses are often fraught with drama and conflict. Fortunately, most of these issues could be avoided or mitigated through honest communication and frequent get-togethers to reassess and realign the business.
Maintain a Good Reputation
Your family’s legacy is partly shaped by perceptions of the people you and your family members interact with. By raising your children well and remaining an upstanding member of your community, you can ensure that your family name becomes an asset that everyone can bank on.
Don’t Spoil Your Children
While you might be able to build a family legacy by accumulating wealth, managing a successful business, and even building a home, this legacy could be tarnished by children who do not appreciate it. This makes it important to avoid spoiling your children.
Spoiling your children is, more likely than not, going to result in them having poor social skills. This will make it more likely that they will lose their drive and ambition and, in the long run, undo their years of hard work.
This is quite a common fear among the wealthy. Indeed, many of us may already have had run-ins with unpleasant people who have come from generational wealth. To avoid this issue, make sure to encourage ambition in your children so that they can leverage the wealth you create into something productive and positive.
Create New Traditions
While it’s important to uphold existing traditions, there is no reason to not start new ones. Whether old or new, traditions serve to strengthen family ties by giving all its members shared experiences. These shared experiences can help keep a family’s bonds close, even if their lives diverge later in the future.
Talk to Older Family Members
Sometimes, building a legacy is less about your own achievements and more about ensuring that your forebears live on in some way. For this reason, it’s important to take time to talk to your older relatives, particularly those from preceding generations.
Taking the time to talk to your antecedents should give you insights into how you came to be. Your older relatives may also have stories and wisdom that may be of interest to younger generations who may not be around to talk to them in person. By recording and recounting these stories, you can ensure that your family enjoys a richer understanding of its heritage.
Create a Personal Mission and Vision Statement
Mission and vision statements are important for businesses and individuals alike, as they serve to clarify and contextualize one’s place in the world. They are more than just declarations of intent and purpose. These are the foundations on which legacies are built.
Creating a personal mission and vision statement and sticking to it will allow you to be more decisive and purposeful when you build your legacy. They will help prevent you from making choices that go against your values, even if these bad choices may seem harmless at the time. Ultimately, they can help you lead a meaningful life that’s full of integrity, making you an example to emulate for your family.
Create Art
Art is a means for its creators to live forever. If you have a talent for the visual arts, music, writing, or any other creative endeavor, your works may become your lasting legacy. Do not let the realities of life completely extinguish your urge to create, as future generations of your family may even find inspiration and meaning in the work you’ll eventually leave behind.
Fund a Scholarship
In some ways, leaving a legacy of patronage for education, culture, the sciences, and the arts can be more significant than merely accumulating wealth.
Even if you do not end up funding a family member’s education, your individual contribution to knowledge will be key to human advancement. More importantly, it will become something that the world at large may remember you and your family for.
Aspire to Make a Real Difference
Every journey starts with a single step. Even seemingly inconsequential things like buying a house and lot outside of town or starting a business can make a huge difference in the lives of your descendants 20 or 30 years from now. By thinking beyond yourself and taking action now, the next generation may not have to struggle as hard to achieve better things. At the same time, they may also have a better appreciation for everything that came before them.
