Wealth: Grow It and Protect It, Updated and Revised

3. Start with Your Family Purpose

“I believe that every right implies a responsibility; every opportunity, an obligation; every possession, a duty.... I believe in the sacredness of a promise, that a man’s word should be as good as his bond; that character—not wealth or power or position—is of supreme worth.”

—John D. Rockefeller, Jr.; excerpts from a quotation inscribed in granite in front of Rockefeller Center

Have you and your family taken time to discuss what, specifically, you want to do with your lives and your wealth? Have you talked about how you want your values to shape your future and that of your loved ones? Are you even able to discuss issues of money with other members of your family?

For most of us, discussing money and wealth ...