Goals-Based Wealth Management. Jean L. P. Brunel

trust structures; but it certainly no longer applies when these financial assets were created by the current senior or immediately preceding generation.

       Multiple Interactions 9

      Now, if the challenge was simply to recognize that the problem is more complex and has more dimensions than initially thought, there would be little need to make dramatic change. Yet, just as is the case in a corporation, all these various “divisions” within the family structure do not exist in isolation. They have both their own issues that have to be addressed directly and a variety of tentacles that extend toward and into other dimensions. This is what makes it impractical for any service provider to the wealthy to argue that he or she can serve the family by simply focusing on a single aspect. I vividly remember the time when we first introduced the concept of tax-aware investment management to J.P. Morgan's clients: I could be my own wealthy client if I had a penny for each time I heard people tell me that “the tax tail should not wag the return dog.” Most individuals who were raised in a world where taxes did not matter simply could not understand that there was a need to change the traditional investment process if one was going to focus on maximizing after-tax returns or terminal after-tax wealth at some future point in time.