Why Visionary Planning Matters
I have always been a proponent of visionary planning. You wouldn’t think of drawing up plans for a new deck for your home without knowing exactly what you want it to look like when you are finished. So how can you make plans regarding your life without a clear picture of what you want your life to look like?
A clear vision combined with a well-crafted plan can move your life to the next level. Bruce Wright explains this idea well in The Wright Exit Strategy, drawing on the work of psychologist Abraham Maslow.
Maslow believed we have tremendous potential for personal development, and he developed a “hierarchy of needs” triangle that demonstrates the different levels of human needs. Certain needs have to be satisfied before we reach what he called “self-actualization” – the point at which we become the best we can be. His hierarchy is directly relevant to understanding the estate planning process and developing advanced wealth management strategies.
The Three Levels of Estate Planning
Level 1: Distributing your assets
Level 1 estate planning is limited to answering the question, “When you are dead, how are you going to divide up your stuff?”
Level 2: Maximizing Wealth During Your Lifetime
Level 2 asks, “You have an estate while you are alive, so what can you do to make the most of your money to benefit your family now and during your lifetime? And after you die, to whom and where will it be distributed?”
Level 3: Building a Lasting Legacy
Level 3 is far more valuable than “estate planning” because it leads to self-actualization. Self-actualization goes way beyond taking care of yourself and leaving assets to your heirs. It involves creating a legacy while you are alive and continuing that legacy after you are gone.
To do this effectively, you need to create a big-picture, 100-year plan. Your 100-year plan details what you want to accomplish during the rest of your life, and what you want your wealth to accomplish after you are gone. This process will elevate you above the day-to-day, moment-to-moment existence that absorbs most of our attention.
What Is a 100-Year Plan?
A 100-year plan encourages you to think beyond your own lifetime.
It defines:
- What you want to accomplish during your lifetime
- The values you want to pass on
- How your wealth can continue serving your family and community after you’re gone
- The legacy you hope future generations will inherit
Thinking on this timeline helps shift your perspective from short-term financial decisions to long-term purpose. Instead of reacting to today’s circumstances, you begin making intentional choices that support the future you want to create.
Questions to Help Shape Your 100-Year Plan
Here are a few of the many questions worth answering as you develop your plan:
- What am I passionate about that gives meaning to life?
- Am I missing anything in life right now that is important to me? What is not happening that I want to happen?
- Do I spend my time, talents, and resources doing what I really want to do?
- What realistic changes can I make in how I run my business so I can experience more freedom?
- What do I want to be remembered for?
The answers often become the foundation for financial decisions, business planning, charitable giving, succession planning, and estate strategies.
