# Uplift: Amber dedicates her career ensuring families leave behind not just wealth but also a legacy.

An episode of [Money Making Conversations Master Class](https://invisiblenetwork.ai/podcast/1264705641), 23 Nov 2024, 28 min.

Audio: https://podtrac.com/pts/redirect.mp3/traffic.omny.fm/d/clips/e73c998e-6e60-432f-8610-ae210140c5b1/b1db7263-d1a3-4d00-8976-af62012aab44/15993fbe-dbaf-4746-a5ce-b2b80108edf3/audio.mp3?utm_source=Podcast&in_playlist=35a10561-3e1b-4d05-a529-af62012aab6a

Listen and subscribe to Money Making Conversations on iHeartRadio, Apple Podcasts, Spotify, www.moneymakingconversations.com/subscribe/ or wherever you listen to podcasts. New Money Making Conversations episodes drop daily. I want to alert you, so you don’t miss out on expert analysis and insider perspectives from my guests who provide tips that can help you uplift the community, improve your financial planning, motivation, or advice on how to be a successful entrepreneur. Keep winning! Two-time Emmy and Three-time NAACP Image Award-winning, television Executive Producer Rushion McDonald interviewed Amber C. Saunders. An estate planning attorney and founder of The Saunders Firm, about generational wealth, estate planning, and financial literacy in the Black community. 🔑 Key Themes & Highlights The Importance of Estate Planning • Saunders emphasized that estate planning isn’t just for the wealthy—it’s for anyone who owns assets, including homes, jewelry, and even bank accounts. • She shared how her family’s experience with probate court inspired her to educate others on avoiding financial hardships. Generational Wealth & Legacy • Many Black families lose wealth due to lack of estate planning, leading to long legal battles and financial instability. • Saunders stressed that generational wealth isn’t just about money—it’s about education, financial literacy, and structured wealth transfer. Common Misconceptions About Estate Planning • Many people believe wills and trusts are only for the rich, but anyone with assets should have a plan. • She debunked myths about DIY estate planning, warning that generic online templates can lead to legal complications. Protecting Small Businesses & Entrepreneurs • Entrepreneurs must plan for succession, ensuring their businesses can survive beyond their leadership. • She advised business owners to structure their companies properly, so they don’t just create a job for themselves but build a lasting enterprise. 📘 About Amber C. Saunders Amber C. Saunders is a leading estate planning attorney, dedicated to helping families secure their financial futures. She founded The Saunders Firm, specializing in wealth preservation, estate planning, and business succession strategies. #BEST #STRAW #SHMS Money Making Conversations Master Class with Rushion McDonald is America's premier entrepreneurship, business leadership, financial literacy, and wealth-building podcast featuring successful entrepreneurs, executives, founders, celebrities, and industry experts sharing actionable insights for professional and financial success. Business Podcast Entrepreneurship Small Business Business Growth Financial Literacy Wealth Building Black Entrepreneurs Minority Business Leadership Executive Leadership Business Funding Marketing Strategies Personal Development Startup Advice Sales Training CEO Interviews Founder Stories Professional Development Economic Empowerment Business Success Networking Brand Building Innovation How to start a business Small business funding Entrepreneur success stories Business leadership podcast Wealth building strategies Black entrepreneur podcast Minority business development Marketing for small businesses Business growth strategies Startup funding opportunities Executive leadership training Financial literacy education Success mindset podcast See omnystudio.com/listener for privacy information.

## Transcript

[0:00] Speaker 1: Welcome, Welcome to my show. This is Rashaan McDonald. I
[0:04] Speaker 1: host the weekly Money Making Conversation Masterclass show. The interviews
[0:08] Speaker 1: and information that this show provides is for everyone. It's
[0:12] Speaker 1: time to stop reading other people's success stories and start
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[0:40] Speaker 1: small business owners, motivational leaders, influencers in the community. Now,
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[1:04] Speaker 1: will pop up. Submit your information. It'll come directly to me. Now,
[1:08] Speaker 1: let's get this show started. My guest is not just
[1:11] Speaker 1: an attorney, she's a visionary on a mission to transform
[1:14] Speaker 1: how families secure their financial futures. Give me on that futures.
[1:20] Speaker 1: Her personal journey, shape by our loss of a loved
[1:23] Speaker 1: one propelled her to dedicate her career to ensuring that
[1:26] Speaker 1: families leave behind not just wealth, but also a meaningful legacy.
[1:32] Speaker 1: Please welcome the Money Making Conversations Masterclass. Attorney Amber C. Sonders.
[1:37] Speaker 1: How you doing, Attorney Saunders.
[1:40] Speaker 2: I'm doing well. Thank you. How are you?
[1:42] Speaker 1: First of all, thank you for coming on the show.
[1:44] Speaker 1: In your introduction, I said shape by the loss of
[1:47] Speaker 1: a loved one? What did you mean by that?
[1:50] Speaker 2: Well, So I became an estate planner because of my
[1:54] Speaker 2: great grandmother, my grandmother, my mother. My grandmother came to
[1:58] Speaker 2: the US in the nineteen hundreds. My grandmother was born
[2:01] Speaker 2: here in nineteen twenty. They bought my grandmother was a
[2:05] Speaker 2: great grandmother, was a maid in Boston, Massachusetts, and bought
[2:09] Speaker 2: a couple homes. The last home that she purchased she
[2:12] Speaker 2: gave to my grandmother and my grandmother needed it over
[2:15] Speaker 2: to my mother and uncle. And when my grandmother got dementia,
[2:20] Speaker 2: she was the only one who did any planning. She
[2:22] Speaker 2: had a healthcare directive power attorney, she invested her stop.
[2:26] Speaker 2: She did all these things on her own, had long
[2:28] Speaker 2: term care insurance. So when she got sick, because she
[2:31] Speaker 2: had planned all of these things, it was really easy
[2:33] Speaker 2: for my mother my uncle to take care of her.
[2:36] Speaker 2: And within i'd say a three year period, everyone on
[2:40] Speaker 2: that side of the family passed away. We were going
[2:42] Speaker 2: to a funeral like every five months, and the last
[2:45] Speaker 2: person who passed was my uncle and my mother had
[2:47] Speaker 2: to go to court for three years some change. And
[2:50] Speaker 2: he didn't think he really owned a lot. The only
[2:53] Speaker 2: asset that they had was the house that he owned
[2:55] Speaker 2: with my mother. But my mother had to fight with
[2:57] Speaker 2: creditors and the irs and all of these things because
[3:00] Speaker 2: he didn't think it was important or he procrastinated on
[3:03] Speaker 2: his planning. But I saw the difference between not doing
[3:07] Speaker 2: anything and how easy it was when my grandmother transitioned,
[3:10] Speaker 2: and so eventually my mother was able to sell the home,
[3:14] Speaker 2: and the money from that house was able to help
[3:16] Speaker 2: her not work while she was battling cancer. And so
[3:20] Speaker 2: I'm sure that my great grandmother didn't think that the
[3:22] Speaker 2: house that she left to her daughter, that her daughter
[3:25] Speaker 2: left to her granddaughter would be able to help my
[3:27] Speaker 2: mother in twenty twenty four, and so you know, a
[3:31] Speaker 2: state planning doesn't have to be for wealthy people, it's
[3:33] Speaker 2: for all of us. And it was just the house
[3:35] Speaker 2: that was able to transform my mother's retirement and help
[3:39] Speaker 2: her while she was sick. And so because of that,
[3:42] Speaker 2: I think it's just extremely important for individuals to consider
[3:46] Speaker 2: what they have worked hard for valuable and to leave
[3:49] Speaker 2: it the right way to the people they care about.
[3:51] Speaker 1: Now, what is name of your firm, the Saunders Firm,
[3:55] Speaker 1: And give us a little education about your background and
[3:59] Speaker 1: why did you do you become an attorney. I know
[4:01] Speaker 1: you're inspired by a moment and that it happened. I
[4:04] Speaker 1: shouldn't s a moment of situation. You know that you
[4:07] Speaker 1: were able to see out and it's really amazing when
[4:09] Speaker 1: you're young, how those impressions can leave a big impression
[4:13] Speaker 1: on you, even though you you know I will tell
[4:15] Speaker 1: you just saw it and just stayed a part of you.
[4:19] Speaker 1: But what your educational background?
[4:22] Speaker 2: So my mother said, I told her I was going
[4:25] Speaker 2: to be a lawyer when I was in kindergarten. And
[4:27] Speaker 2: I don't know why. I think my favorite her favorite
[4:29] Speaker 2: show was Perry Mason, and maybe that's what did it.
[4:32] Speaker 2: But I was singularly focused my entire life. I always
[4:36] Speaker 2: knew I was going to be a lawyer, not a ballerina,
[4:39] Speaker 2: not any of those other things. And so in school
[4:41] Speaker 2: I took debate, did all of those classes. I went
[4:43] Speaker 2: to undergrad at Oakwood College and Huntsville, Alabama, John Marshall
[4:49] Speaker 2: Law School for my jd. And my Masters of Law
[4:52] Speaker 2: at Emirates. But I always knew I was going to
[4:55] Speaker 2: do this, and it is one of the most fulfilling
[4:59] Speaker 2: things in my life. I enjoy helping people figure out
[5:01] Speaker 2: what they need to be doing.
[5:03] Speaker 1: You know, it's state planning. That sounds like a wealthy term.
[5:08] Speaker 1: A state. You know, please explain to everybody when you
[5:11] Speaker 1: say the word a state, exactly what does that mean?
[5:14] Speaker 1: What does that mean?
[5:16] Speaker 2: Okay, So technically anything in your state is anything that
[5:19] Speaker 2: you own, So your shoes are a part of your estate.
[5:22] Speaker 2: The official estate does not get formed unless you open
[5:27] Speaker 2: up open up a case with the like when your
[5:31] Speaker 2: family has to go take your will to the court
[5:34] Speaker 2: and try and get it administered, then they open up
[5:38] Speaker 2: the estate of Amber Saunders, for example. But if they
[5:40] Speaker 2: don't open that up, then there's no official estate that
[5:43] Speaker 2: the court or the state has any jurisdiction over. But
[5:47] Speaker 2: it is everything that you own that is due to you,
[5:51] Speaker 2: even moneies that are owed to you, things like that.
[5:54] Speaker 2: Your debts can be a part of your state. And
[5:56] Speaker 2: when a probate a state is opened up, that's when
[5:59] Speaker 2: that transition happens. Those debts are paid off, those assets
[6:03] Speaker 2: are transferred to family, and then it's closed out and
[6:07] Speaker 2: everything that's associated with you and what you own is
[6:09] Speaker 2: closed at that point after it's done.
[6:12] Speaker 1: You know, when you hear the word is state, you
[6:14] Speaker 1: hear the word will. You know, we all think we're
[6:16] Speaker 1: going to live forever. We know we live forever. When
[6:20] Speaker 1: should one realistically start thinking about the process of first
[6:24] Speaker 1: of will and then their state. Are they hand in hand,
[6:28] Speaker 1: a one before the other.
[6:31] Speaker 2: Well, it all really goes together. I think that a
[6:34] Speaker 2: state planning includes a lot of things. So for example,
[6:37] Speaker 2: if you have a child who graduates from high school,
[6:40] Speaker 2: right and they turn eighteen when they go to school.
[6:42] Speaker 2: When I went to school, they would tell my mother
[6:44] Speaker 2: about my financial aid and things like that as far
[6:47] Speaker 2: as I remember. Now, you can't get information because your
[6:50] Speaker 2: child is an adult quote unquote, because they're eighteen. So
[6:54] Speaker 2: needing a healthcare directive and power of attorney, which is
[6:57] Speaker 2: a part of estate planning, is essential for them because
[7:01] Speaker 2: you're still probably making some decisions for that now technically
[7:05] Speaker 2: adult child. If when you start acquiring things, if you
[7:10] Speaker 2: have a home, when people get married, when there are
[7:12] Speaker 2: life transitions, just so that people know what you want
[7:17] Speaker 2: to be done with things. Now, you might not need
[7:19] Speaker 2: a will, or you might not need a trust if
[7:21] Speaker 2: you have things that have beneficiary. For example, your life
[7:25] Speaker 2: insurance policy doesn't have to go through probate court. You
[7:28] Speaker 2: can just say this goes to mamma or to whomever,
[7:31] Speaker 2: and then that's it. For bank accounts, same thing. But
[7:35] Speaker 2: if you want to do a little more and kind
[7:37] Speaker 2: of say what people can do with it if you
[7:40] Speaker 2: want to if you have children and now grandchildren, and
[7:42] Speaker 2: you want to leave a little something and make sure
[7:44] Speaker 2: that it's used a particular way, then you need to
[7:46] Speaker 2: do a little more in depth planning to make sure
[7:49] Speaker 2: that the plan is executed the way that you want,
[7:52] Speaker 2: because a will just gives things away, whereas a trust
[7:55] Speaker 2: can kind of allow you to put some guardrails around
[7:58] Speaker 2: how people use it and say, hey, you got to
[8:00] Speaker 2: go to school if you want to get access to
[8:02] Speaker 2: these funds things like that. So it just depends on
[8:04] Speaker 2: what your long term goals are. But I would say
[8:07] Speaker 2: everyone needs the essential things that healthcare, directive and power
[8:11] Speaker 2: of attorney because while we're living, those things can assist
[8:14] Speaker 2: us if we're unable to pay our own bills or
[8:16] Speaker 2: if we're in the hospital or things like that, so
[8:19] Speaker 2: that people know how to help us when we need it.
[8:21] Speaker 1: Okay, I'm talking to Attorney Amber Saunders. Let me ask
[8:25] Speaker 1: you this question about you said something about bank accounts
[8:28] Speaker 1: life insurance policies. You saying, Rashan, you can just assign
[8:33] Speaker 1: the beneficiary to that policy or to that bank account,
[8:37] Speaker 1: and everything's cool if you pass away correct.
[8:41] Speaker 2: Correct, as long as there's a beneficiary name that does
[8:44] Speaker 2: not have to go to court. I mean, you've got
[8:46] Speaker 2: to notify the person because sometimes people don't do that,
[8:48] Speaker 2: but let them know that they may be beneficiary, or
[8:51] Speaker 2: if you put their address and things like that on
[8:53] Speaker 2: the policy, the insurance company might send them a letter
[8:56] Speaker 2: to notify them that they're the beneficiary. But then that
[8:58] Speaker 2: won't have to go to court. All they have to
[9:00] Speaker 2: do is provide whatever the insurance company asks for to
[9:04] Speaker 2: verify their identity and then they'll get a check for
[9:07] Speaker 2: whatever the balance is or whatever you left to them
[9:09] Speaker 2: on that policy.
[9:10] Speaker 1: Okay, Got that sounds very simple. Got that? And this
[9:14] Speaker 1: when you get into the physical things like cars, jewelry, houses,
[9:20] Speaker 1: land is where you really need to have a will
[9:24] Speaker 1: and an estate, plannings, plans set up. Am I correct?
[9:29] Speaker 2: Correct, because it's you can tell people this is the
[9:35] Speaker 2: thing that I think we are hopeful that people will
[9:38] Speaker 2: act right. But often when people get a divorce and
[9:42] Speaker 2: when someone passes away, you see characteristics come out in
[9:46] Speaker 2: people that you don't expect. And so when you don't
[9:48] Speaker 2: have it in stone, and when you don't have it
[9:50] Speaker 2: written down that this is who gets what, it can
[9:53] Speaker 2: really make people argue and tear families apart. I've seen
[9:56] Speaker 2: siblings not speak to one another because of something that
[10:00] Speaker 2: the mother did not have a will or anything like that,
[10:03] Speaker 2: and so when they went to court there were just
[10:05] Speaker 2: huge fights. And I'm sure she wouldn't have wanted the
[10:07] Speaker 2: family to be torn apart, but nothing was written down.
[10:10] Speaker 2: It's kind of hard to argue when something's on paper.
[10:13] Speaker 1: Well, you know, my mom, she kind of had a will,
[10:16] Speaker 1: which is the worst thing. Kind of had a will,
[10:18] Speaker 1: you know, kind of had the information in there, so
[10:21] Speaker 1: that left us kind of debating what she really wanted
[10:24] Speaker 1: to do. And that's what we're talking about here. That's
[10:27] Speaker 1: why this is a popular subject on my show, Wills
[10:31] Speaker 1: and the State Planning because of the fact that, you know,
[10:33] Speaker 1: people of color, we never think about legacy. We never
[10:37] Speaker 1: think about tomorrow. We just think about today. We think
[10:40] Speaker 1: about the first in the fifteenth When when you hear
[10:42] Speaker 1: me talk like that, what frustrates you most? And why
[10:45] Speaker 1: are you on this show today to discuss what you're discussing, attorneys.
[10:49] Speaker 2: Artists, Because even if we're thinking about today and we
[10:54] Speaker 2: I mean generational wealth of the conversation that people, you know,
[10:58] Speaker 2: they love that word. By definition, it means that you
[11:01] Speaker 2: have to leave something for the next generation in order
[11:04] Speaker 2: for you to have generational wealth. It's not just building
[11:08] Speaker 2: up amassing a lot of money if you are not
[11:11] Speaker 2: thoughtful in how you transition it, thoughtful and how you
[11:15] Speaker 2: educate the next generation to make sure they know what
[11:17] Speaker 2: to do with it and how it is transitioned. So
[11:21] Speaker 2: we can't just think of the first and the fifteenth
[11:24] Speaker 2: because we're going to leave people with a mountain of
[11:28] Speaker 2: debt or something that they don't necessarily know what to
[11:30] Speaker 2: do with. And it is, in my opinion, one of
[11:35] Speaker 2: the While it's a protracted struggle changing the wealth or
[11:39] Speaker 2: minimizing the wealth gap, it is a significant way that
[11:42] Speaker 2: black people can change the trajectory of our people. If
[11:46] Speaker 2: everyone leaves a little bit to the next generation, and
[11:49] Speaker 2: then that next generation builds upon it and leaves more,
[11:52] Speaker 2: then we can make strides. But if we don't do it,
[11:54] Speaker 2: and each time we're losing assets and education, knowledge and
[12:00] Speaker 2: all of these things because we didn't think about how
[12:02] Speaker 2: we were going to pass it, then we're doing a
[12:04] Speaker 2: disservice to all of us. There's no point to making
[12:07] Speaker 2: all that money if we can't sit there and lay
[12:09] Speaker 2: a blueprint for the next generation on how to use
[12:11] Speaker 2: it and grow from there.
[12:12] Speaker 1: That leads to misconceptions. Common misconceptions that people have are
[12:16] Speaker 1: the big myths about mistakes when it comes to state planning,
[12:20] Speaker 1: because of the fact that, like I said, you know
[12:23] Speaker 1: you can there's a simple way, and there's a difficult
[12:27] Speaker 1: way to live your life. Difficult way is you and
[12:29] Speaker 1: you don't plan it out, you don't leave a paper
[12:32] Speaker 1: trail that people can follow and accurately, you know, divide
[12:36] Speaker 1: your assets once you left this earth. But a lot
[12:39] Speaker 1: of people want to be cheap now attorney something. They
[12:42] Speaker 1: want the cheap route. I can go online, I can
[12:44] Speaker 1: go on line. I can print a document, tell us
[12:47] Speaker 1: about some of that those scams or those uh those uh,
[12:51] Speaker 1: I guess I call them an internet lawyers, right.
[12:55] Speaker 2: I mean I just had to talkigh some money about
[12:57] Speaker 2: that today. They're you're gonna pay or somebody is going
[13:00] Speaker 2: to pay either way, right, either gonna pay upfront or
[13:03] Speaker 2: somebody's going to pay on the back end. And maybe
[13:06] Speaker 2: and if you don't care, then you can just say
[13:08] Speaker 2: up front, hey, I don't care what happens to them.
[13:09] Speaker 2: I've heard someone say, you know, I'm going to be
[13:12] Speaker 2: gone anyway. And if that's what you you know, if
[13:14] Speaker 2: that's the mindset you have, then I'm not the lawyer
[13:17] Speaker 2: for you. You know, people can't and this is not
[13:20] Speaker 2: the show for them because you don't really care. But
[13:22] Speaker 2: I don't think most people feel like that. I think
[13:25] Speaker 2: sometimes people are scared to just face their mortality. But
[13:28] Speaker 2: then you listen to people online who are trying to
[13:30] Speaker 2: sell products, which fine, you know, there are strategy people
[13:36] Speaker 2: want to put do this infinite banking and things like that,
[13:40] Speaker 2: and without realizing, yes, you can build up cash value
[13:44] Speaker 2: and insurance policy, but you're paying into it. You have
[13:46] Speaker 2: to pay the premium, or you have to overfund it
[13:48] Speaker 2: and put money in there. But they think, because they're
[13:51] Speaker 2: only listening to a snippet, that I buy this policy
[13:55] Speaker 2: and then I can go borrow money. The insurance company
[13:57] Speaker 2: will go out of business. Like that's not how any.
[13:59] Speaker 1: Of it works.
[14:00] Speaker 2: And so without actually digging a little deeper, you know,
[14:05] Speaker 2: people want to build these big trusts that they don't
[14:08] Speaker 2: have the assets for or things like that without getting
[14:10] Speaker 2: a real or just let me go to this website
[14:14] Speaker 2: and get a template. Well, the template or the AI
[14:17] Speaker 2: or whatever this is doesn't know your family. Dynamics doesn't
[14:20] Speaker 2: know the situation, and it is it does a disservice
[14:25] Speaker 2: to our families without really thinking about it to try
[14:27] Speaker 2: and be cheap, because if we valued it, we'd spend
[14:32] Speaker 2: the time to do it. And sometimes we value that
[14:34] Speaker 2: bag or that vacation or that car, but we don't
[14:37] Speaker 2: value what happens to our family after we're gone. And
[14:41] Speaker 2: so that's a you know, maybe an existential question. You know,
[14:45] Speaker 2: it might be too much, but it's essentially what's more
[14:47] Speaker 2: important to you.
[14:48] Speaker 3: Please don't go anywhere. We'll be right back with more
[14:52] Speaker 3: money Making Conversations Masterclass. Welcome back to the Money Making
[15:01] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass hosted by Rashaan McDonald. Money Making Conversations Masterclass
[15:06] Speaker 3: continues online at Moneymakingconversations dot com and follow money Making
[15:11] Speaker 3: Conversations Masterclass on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram.
[15:15] Speaker 1: But one thing that really bothers me a lot is
[15:17] Speaker 1: three words that you said before the work, building generational wealth.
[15:21] Speaker 1: I hear that so much in the financial literacy and
[15:25] Speaker 1: the motivational game. It just annoys me. Building generation It's
[15:30] Speaker 1: almost like it's a scam. Words that people use to someone,
[15:33] Speaker 1: like a trick move people that branding, marketing, and building
[15:37] Speaker 1: generational wealth. Those are three words that are so popular
[15:41] Speaker 1: on the web of Internet, social media, motivational speakers. That's
[15:47] Speaker 1: all they use. Now when you talk about from an
[15:49] Speaker 1: entrepreneur's perspective, you know, from a person, what role does
[15:54] Speaker 1: estate planning play and creating generational wealth? Especially attorney Saunders
[16:00] Speaker 1: in the black community, I.
[16:03] Speaker 2: Mean, it's the key. It's the only way that you
[16:05] Speaker 2: can really do it. It guides the transition from one
[16:10] Speaker 2: generation to the next of the assets. But if you
[16:14] Speaker 2: do it right, you can also put tools and guidance
[16:19] Speaker 2: in there to ensure that it's not wasted. Their statistically
[16:23] Speaker 2: out there that show between one generation to the next,
[16:27] Speaker 2: I think the second generation the money. By the third generation,
[16:31] Speaker 2: the money is gone generally, and so there are reasons
[16:35] Speaker 2: for that because the knowledge that we have that the
[16:37] Speaker 2: first generation who made that money has it hadn't been
[16:41] Speaker 2: passed on in a structured, systematic way. And you can
[16:45] Speaker 2: use a state planning to do that to ensure that
[16:47] Speaker 2: the money lasts for generations and the knowledge lasts for generations,
[16:51] Speaker 2: so that your grandchildren can benefit and your great grandchildren.
[16:54] Speaker 1: Now, so let me move over to entrepreneurs and small
[16:58] Speaker 1: because entrepreneurs and small business owner that's the rage, you know,
[17:02] Speaker 1: especially African American women or Black women. They're the leading
[17:06] Speaker 1: small business owner developers. If you can look up any
[17:10] Speaker 1: stat nobody's starting more small business than black women. So
[17:14] Speaker 1: what legal steps should they be listening to. I'm talking
[17:16] Speaker 1: about people in general about how to protect their business
[17:19] Speaker 1: long term, not short term, because a lot of people
[17:21] Speaker 1: want to just look at like they said that first
[17:23] Speaker 1: in the fifteenth my door's opening thirty days one won't
[17:26] Speaker 1: be But you have to feel if you're starting something,
[17:29] Speaker 1: you want to hold on to it. What are some
[17:31] Speaker 1: ways they can protect their business long term?
[17:35] Speaker 2: Well, I think they need to first think about whether
[17:37] Speaker 2: or not they really mean created a business or created
[17:40] Speaker 2: a job for themselves. So when I say that, you know,
[17:44] Speaker 2: if the business can if you can't go on vacation
[17:46] Speaker 2: without the house burning down or the contracts and everything
[17:50] Speaker 2: is dependent upon you as the owner or as the
[17:53] Speaker 2: leader in the business, then it can't operate no one.
[17:56] Speaker 2: You can't transition it to someone else it because it
[18:00] Speaker 2: is dependent upon you as an individual. Now that might
[18:03] Speaker 2: be what you want. If you don't and you want
[18:06] Speaker 2: it to grow and become a business that is self
[18:08] Speaker 2: sustaining without you, that can operate, you have to look
[18:12] Speaker 2: at systems. You have to look at secession. If I'm
[18:15] Speaker 2: not here, who takes it over? And so succession planning
[18:19] Speaker 2: is a process figuring out the transition of power if
[18:21] Speaker 2: you're not there. If in the long term you want
[18:24] Speaker 2: to retire or sell the business or transition it to children,
[18:30] Speaker 2: then you have to think about that. I mean ten
[18:33] Speaker 2: years ahead and start making the plans and start putting
[18:37] Speaker 2: the structures in place. Think about insurance. If your partners
[18:42] Speaker 2: with someone and one of you passes away, do you
[18:46] Speaker 2: really want to be in business with their spouse? You
[18:49] Speaker 2: might not, So then that means you need to buy
[18:52] Speaker 2: sell agreement and maybe some key man insurance that would
[18:55] Speaker 2: pay out the interest that you had in the business
[18:59] Speaker 2: to your or loved one so that they are no
[19:01] Speaker 2: longer a part of it. And so how what you
[19:05] Speaker 2: ultimately want to do. You might be planning for an exit,
[19:08] Speaker 2: but an exit can also be retirement, and an exit
[19:10] Speaker 2: can also be a sale or transitioning the company to employees.
[19:14] Speaker 2: But you have to begin or operate the business with
[19:18] Speaker 2: the end in mind so that you are always going
[19:22] Speaker 2: down that path to make sure that you can harvest
[19:25] Speaker 2: the most wealth that you can out of the business.
[19:28] Speaker 2: You can just be out there like it's the wild
[19:30] Speaker 2: wild West. Sometimes that works in the beginning, but it
[19:33] Speaker 2: doesn't work long term.
[19:34] Speaker 1: I got it. I want to drop a question, but
[19:36] Speaker 1: you brought up something I need to transition to the
[19:38] Speaker 1: family conversation. We were talking for secession. We're talking about
[19:42] Speaker 1: especially when you're talking about running a business. I know
[19:45] Speaker 1: for a fact, three people, unfortunately in my life, have
[19:48] Speaker 1: been handed to the business and guess what, the business
[19:52] Speaker 1: is closed today. And because one they didn't respect the
[19:56] Speaker 1: business one part of it a way, one didn't spend
[20:01] Speaker 1: time there. I thought it was, you know, showed up
[20:04] Speaker 1: after the customers showed up. And the third one just
[20:12] Speaker 1: you know, when you when your parents or your loved
[20:14] Speaker 1: ones build something, that's the word legacy comes in. If
[20:19] Speaker 1: you don't want to do it, don't do it. So
[20:21] Speaker 1: that's where their family conversation that you're talking about coming
[20:24] Speaker 1: in and something and that's to start with the parents,
[20:26] Speaker 1: especially when they're looking at their kids. Are these the
[20:30] Speaker 1: kids that are going to move my business?
[20:32] Speaker 2: Loan?
[20:33] Speaker 1: Or you may need to develop somebody within the company
[20:37] Speaker 1: that can run your business and guess what keep sending
[20:39] Speaker 1: checks to the kids and give that person part of
[20:43] Speaker 1: the partnership. But I don't want to get too deep
[20:45] Speaker 1: in this conversation when I bringing an expert in, I'm
[20:48] Speaker 1: just a storyteller. Talk about that family conversation, Attorney Saunders.
[20:53] Speaker 2: The conversation has to be had when you're deciding how
[20:56] Speaker 2: you want to what your exit strategy is. But also
[21:01] Speaker 2: the reality is you know your children, right, so you
[21:05] Speaker 2: know if they're really going to be able to do it.
[21:08] Speaker 2: And we like to be hopeful and we like to
[21:10] Speaker 2: have faith, and all of that is wonderful. But if
[21:12] Speaker 2: this person has not shown an interest or has not
[21:15] Speaker 2: been at that business as an intern, as a child,
[21:18] Speaker 2: when you were as a child, or in college showing
[21:21] Speaker 2: an interest, they might not be interested in taking it over.
[21:24] Speaker 2: So their behavior will tell and you have to look
[21:27] Speaker 2: at it like a business and not think about it
[21:30] Speaker 2: like this is my child and oh I want to
[21:32] Speaker 2: give them a chance to do it, because what you
[21:35] Speaker 2: worked hard for will be gone if you don't look
[21:38] Speaker 2: at it from an unsentimental eye. What is going to
[21:42] Speaker 2: make this business valuable and operable? Who are their employees
[21:46] Speaker 2: that you can transition it to. Just like you said,
[21:48] Speaker 2: there are ways that you can still make sure that
[21:50] Speaker 2: your family reached the benefits of what you're built without
[21:53] Speaker 2: letting them burn it down.
[21:55] Speaker 1: Oh my goodness. And that's that hard conversation because sometimes
[21:59] Speaker 1: your kids ego because step in and then you can
[22:03] Speaker 1: like not value their skill set or overvalue their skill set.
[22:07] Speaker 1: And next thing, you know, but I always tell people too,
[22:10] Speaker 1: if you want your child to be a part of
[22:13] Speaker 1: the business after you're gone. Bring them into the business.
[22:17] Speaker 1: Watch them. Is their sincere effort? Are they showing up
[22:21] Speaker 1: to work on time? Are they trying to be leaders?
[22:24] Speaker 1: Are those traits are not going to change? If they
[22:27] Speaker 1: are bad, they're not going to change when you leave.
[22:29] Speaker 1: They're only going to get worse. So, if you have
[22:32] Speaker 1: a dream that you start as a restaurant, your child
[22:34] Speaker 1: don't want to work in a restaurant. They don't want
[22:36] Speaker 1: to cook chicken or cook whatever you're doing. Don't want
[22:39] Speaker 1: to be a matre d don't want to wash dishes.
[22:42] Speaker 1: If they don't want to do the small things, the
[22:45] Speaker 1: dirty things. I always tell that child right there is
[22:48] Speaker 1: not going to be a good owner of your company
[22:51] Speaker 1: once they leave. I'm just going to tell you right now, now,
[22:54] Speaker 1: early in that conversation, you've always mentioned the word legacy,
[22:57] Speaker 1: Attorney Sonders being more valuable than money. Explain that to us, Well.
[23:07] Speaker 2: Money can be spent and it's gone, and even after
[23:10] Speaker 2: it's gone, who you are, how you made people feel,
[23:13] Speaker 2: what you built, what you did, the memories of those
[23:16] Speaker 2: things that are still there, and that is what I
[23:19] Speaker 2: considered legacy. What people remember about you, what you did,
[23:26] Speaker 2: how you made people feel, all of those things, and
[23:28] Speaker 2: those are things that we have control over. We have
[23:31] Speaker 2: control over, you know, we can make as much money
[23:34] Speaker 2: in the world, but you can. Your legacy can be
[23:36] Speaker 2: you were a jerk and you didn't treat people well,
[23:39] Speaker 2: and you didn't leave anything to anyone, and that is
[23:42] Speaker 2: what people remember. The thing that is lasting in people's
[23:45] Speaker 2: memory about you and what the impact that you had
[23:49] Speaker 2: on them. To me is what your legacy is all about.
[23:53] Speaker 2: And that includes what you lead to your family because
[23:55] Speaker 2: essentially your estate plan is the last love letter you
[23:58] Speaker 2: get to write them. That is what even though they're
[24:01] Speaker 2: going to remember all sorts of other things, if the
[24:04] Speaker 2: last thing you did was not plan and they have
[24:07] Speaker 2: to try and sort through all the mess that was
[24:09] Speaker 2: there because you didn't think enough of them to plan
[24:11] Speaker 2: for it, they're going to remember. That's going to be
[24:13] Speaker 2: a part of your legacy too. And so you want
[24:18] Speaker 2: to think about holistically, what's a part of your legacy
[24:23] Speaker 2: and it could be I mean, I wear my uncle's
[24:25] Speaker 2: wedding ring every day. I wear my grandmother's necklace every
[24:28] Speaker 2: single day. It helps me remember them. It is sentimental
[24:32] Speaker 2: to me, and it is just a piece of jewelry,
[24:35] Speaker 2: but it is a part of their memory and it
[24:37] Speaker 2: makes me feel like I carry them with me all
[24:39] Speaker 2: the time. When you're gone, people are going to miss you,
[24:43] Speaker 2: not just oh the five dollars you might have left them.
[24:45] Speaker 2: They're going to be thinking about you, and so what
[24:48] Speaker 2: impact are you having on them is a part of
[24:50] Speaker 2: the conversation as well too.
[24:52] Speaker 1: Attorney AMBVERSI Saunders. How can we in touch with you?
[24:57] Speaker 2: My website is the Saundersfirm dot com. I am often
[25:01] Speaker 2: on Instagram at at ask Amber Saunders and then our
[25:06] Speaker 2: offices in Atlanta, but we help people everywhere, but we're
[25:10] Speaker 2: We're located in Buckhead and our number six seven eight
[25:13] Speaker 2: six eight zero four three three suits.
[25:15] Speaker 1: I appreciate you. I got one minute left. Can just
[25:19] Speaker 1: just a quick cliff note of someone listening, What action
[25:23] Speaker 1: should they take right now? We gave you a contact information,
[25:26] Speaker 1: what action should they take right now? When we talk
[25:28] Speaker 1: about taking their first step, I.
[25:31] Speaker 2: Think they should sit down and make an asset inventory
[25:34] Speaker 2: of everything, every account, every piece of crypto, everything they
[25:39] Speaker 2: have because what's very difficult if something happens is for
[25:42] Speaker 2: people to figure out where all your things are and
[25:45] Speaker 2: they have to search through your things, so make it easy.
[25:47] Speaker 2: Just get on an Excel spreadsheet, put everything in there
[25:50] Speaker 2: and what the account numbers are and that is a
[25:52] Speaker 2: great start and then you can go talk to somebody
[25:54] Speaker 2: after that.
[25:54] Speaker 1: Wow. Thank you for taking the time and the passion.
[25:57] Speaker 1: I love that passion. That's what the Money Making common
[26:00] Speaker 1: master Classes all again. I want to invite you back.
[26:04] Speaker 1: And you know for my style now, it's all about winning.
[26:07] Speaker 1: It's all about the uplift, it's all about giving people
[26:10] Speaker 1: information to win. Thank you, Attorney Amber C. Saunders. This
[26:14] Speaker 1: has been another edition of Money Making Conversation Masterclass posted
[26:17] Speaker 1: by me Rashaun McDonald. Thank you to our guests on
[26:20] Speaker 1: the show today and thank you our listening to the
[26:23] Speaker 1: audience now. If you want to listen to any episode
[26:25] Speaker 1: I want to be a guest on the show, visit
[26:27] Speaker 1: Moneymakingconversations dot com. Our social media handle is money Making Conversation.
[26:33] Speaker 1: Join us next week and remember to always leave with
[26:35] Speaker 1: your gifts. Keep winning.

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