Dear Banking Industry,

Scandalous, illegal, or immoral Wall Street activities can happen anytime, anywhere. Take heart! Not one of you is alone. We took a look at some of Wall Street’s dirty laundry ourselves. It seems these days it is not shocking. Yet, the brand messaging of some of our “most trusted institutions” seems to be directly at odds with your actual practices–and that should not be.

When wealth is passed down through generations in a family, the long-term prognosis generally isn’t very good. Research shows that in most families, 70% of inherited wealth is lost by the second generation and 90% by the third.

“There are a lot of very fine financial advisors out there, but there are also financial advisors who receive backdoor payments or hidden fees for steering people into bad retirement investments that have high fees and low returns. So what happens is these payments, these inducements incentivize the broker to make recommendations that generate the best returns for them, but not necessarily the best returns for you… the truth is most people don’t even realize that’s happening.”

Since publishing our Huffington Post.com blog which mentioned only a small fraction of what occurred at banks and Wall Street firms last year, not much has changed. Why do perpetrators of financial crimes choose to commit them?

Why do smart people make bad financial decisions? More importantly, why do they keep making them? Perhaps they study stocks, market fluctuations, or market indicators. Only a fractional percentage of investors, both professional and amateur, manage to “beat” the market.

What exactly is a family bank and what are its applications? Mainly used to pay for education, buy a home, or start a business, (though it certainly can have other applications, depending on its rules) the Family Bank is not a brick-and-mortar lending institution, partnership, nor is it a corporation. It does, however, operate as an entity formally independent of the family.

Nearly every country on the planet has its own aphorism to reflect the all-too-common trend of rags to riches and back to rags again. In our culture, this phenomenon is described as “from shirtsleeves to shirtsleeves in three generations.” And it affects many affluent, intelligent families. So when fortunes are built by industrious, bright, innovative individuals, why is their wealth often destroyed in just a few generations?

Can a person rise to the very top of their game in more than one area of life?  Is it possible to be both brilliant and rich? The Irony of Intelligence addresses that very question. Exploring various interests to enhance our personal development is generally considered admirable. While it may not get the average Joe to be brilliant and rich, such pursuits might offer the average Joe knowledge and experience in diverse areas.

Preparing and saving for your children’s education can be an overwhelming, and sometimes daunting, task. Most parents don’t even know where to begin and many think the best way to prepare for paying tuition expenses for their child in college is by simply stuffing money into a savings account.

Family wealth planning (estate planning) is becoming an increasingly necessary service to ensure that governments do not tax away all the value of family assets. Discover the tax benefits and increased cash flow you can achieve with family wealth planning.