Croatian music teacher Frane Selek is perhaps the world’s luckiest man. He’s been in a train wreck (the train plunged off a cliff into an icy winter river), an airplane crash (all passengers were killed except Selek, who was sucked out of the door on the descent and landed in a haystack), a bus crash, two car explosions (one of which caused flames to pour into the interior of the car), a collision with a city bus while he was crossing the street, and a 300-foot plummet into a rocky ravine (his car burst into flames but he managed to jump out of the window and land on a tree on the side of the cliff). Then in 2003, he won $1 million dollars in the Croatian lottery!
If someone were to ask Selek, “Why you?” an easy response would be, “I’m just lucky I guess.” But instead, Selek feels blessed. He was blessed while so many others were not. Today, he’s given away most of his fortune and moved back into his original modest home, thankful to still be alive and with his wife.
Have you asked yourself how you became so successful while many around you didn’t? Did you become affluent because of your skill set? Do you just have a “gift” for making money? If you consider yourself blessed—and not just lucky—then planning is something that goes beyond what you can preserve for yourself.
When you understand your life is bigger than your accomplishments, then typical estate-planning questions like, “How much money do I give my heirs?” or “Should I leave anything to charity?” simply fall short.
Traditional estate planning doesn’t include enough of the right questions that transform planning from a self-seeking exercise into a magnanimous passion. You didn’t get to where you are today riding 100% solo. Therefore, your responsibility in planning is far greater than simply making decisions about how to divide your assets.
Wealth is more than money. Don’t just plan for your future, live it right now. Pass it on and share the insights like this that you find valuable.
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– Ralph Waldo Emerson