U.S. Trust today announced the expansion of its Financial
Empowerment Program to include comprehensive online educational
resources, interactive learning modules and self-assessment and planning
tools. The program is designed for tech-savvy Generation X and Y young
adults who are beneficiaries of wealth to help them develop financial
skills to manage their financial futures as well as the responsibilities
of family wealth.
The U.S. Trust Financial Empowerment Program, created to help the
next-generation heirs of its clients, offers educational materials that
address:
-
Investing basics and leveraging credit wisely.
-
Financial considerations of major milestones, such as marriage, buying
a home, having a baby, and changing jobs, the heightened risk of
identity theft and reputation risk that families of wealth often face.
-
The practical aspects of sophisticated estate planning and wealth
management tools, such as insurance, trusts and gifting, as well as
the complex, multi-dimensional considerations of charitable giving and
legacy planning.
The expanded program has been developed based on client feedback and the
preference for online access and communication cited by younger clients
and next-generation heirs. The 2011 U.S.
Trust Insights on Wealth and Worth study found that high net worth
parents are concerned about raising children of wealth. Only 34 percent
of high net worth parents surveyed strongly agreed that their children
will be able to handle the inheritance they plan to leave them.
Two-thirds (67 percent) of parents agreed that their children would
benefit from discussions with a financial professional.
"With the Financial Empowerment Program, we're able to provide clients
with a powerful tool to pass along the values that helped them acquire
and preserve their wealth," said Chris Heilmann, U.S. Trust's chief
fiduciary executive.
Clients and their children and grandchildren can get started in the
Financial Empowerment Program through their U.S. Trust specialist who
will work with them to identify values and goals and diagnose gaps in
financial knowledge.