The Cycle of the Gift: Family Wealth and Wisdom

Chapter 3

Becoming a Wise Giver

In practice, givers and their advisors often give much of their attention to the mechanics of giving: the strategies, plans, and nuts and bolts of various transactions. All of these mechanics belong to the question of “how,” as in How can I minimize taxes? or How can I protect my assets? Such questions are usually in the service of quantity: getting the most bang for the buck.

But before the how questions come the who questions, which focus on quality. And the most important who is the recipient. If you are a parent or grandparent, you probably already have a pretty good idea of those people to whom you wish to give. But who are these people really? Who are they as individuals? What are their individual strengths ...