Do you have a Game Plan?
Forgive the sports analogy, but most football coaches develop a “game plan” that includes strategies for their team that, they hope, provide the best chance for winning. I am sure the Kansas City Chiefs and San Francisco 49ers had very detailed game plans for the Super Bowl. But if you watched that game, it would appear that the Chiefs were more successful in following their coach’s game plan than the 49ers, resulting in a Chiefs victory.
So what does all this have to do with your family’s cottage plan? Well, I have noticed that as the weeks, months and years go by and the number of cottage plans I complete for families increases, a common problem has occurred.
Many families don’t know “how” to follow the plan! There is a disconnect between “knowing” what the plan is and actually doing what it says to do.
One client put it best in explaining his failure to follow up by simply saying, “Life got in the way.”
As I think about it, a family having difficulty implementing or following a plan they contributed toward putting in place shouldn’t be a surprise. The problem is what oftentimes seems simple to experts, is not simple to even the most conscientious and savvy clients. For years I experienced something similar when doing estate plans for clients. A client would come in and we would review the documents, and I would provide written instructions on what next steps needed to occur to complete things like transferring title to assets to their trust. I’d carefully review the written instructions with the client to make sure that they understood what to do. Then, years later, I would either see the client again for a follow-up appointment or, in some instances, children of deceased client would come to see me, and I would find that none of the instructions had been followed.
So, having thought about the situations I’ve seen where families have had problems taking the necessary steps to implement and follow their cottage plans, I return to my earlier sports analogy. Football teams have game plans to help them win the game, and it’s the coaches who assist the players in going out and following the plan and playing the game.
So, I have now started my “coaching career” for those families who have found it helpful to have a coach help them implement their plans. Since some families need more help than others, the menu of coaching services I provide is flexible and designed to meet each family’s specific needs.
I will continue to follow up and provide more information regarding matters for which I can “coach” your family, as well as offer more and better strategies that you can apply that will ensure that the cottage plan that you so carefully put together actually keeps your family in the family cottage.
