Andrew Dodson is CEO and Founder of The Wealth for Life Partnership. For Remember a Charity Week 2021 he explains the concept of 'Social Legacy' and how to leave a legacy that is consistent with your values and wishes.
"What does ‘Social Legacy’ mean to you and are you currently as engaged with your own as you would like to be? You may not have heard this term before but a Social Legacy is a fundamental component of the Legacy you are creating every day and will one day leave behind.
A Social Legacy is based on your attitudes and approaches to charitable giving, capturing your desire to help others and defining how your wealth can make a positive difference in the lives of others. A Social Legacy also consists of the donations and other contributions you have made to the charitable causes in which you believe, either in your lifetime, as part of your Legacy Planning or both.
While we often feel reluctant to consider or identify ourselves as particularly ‘wealthy’, wealth is more than a monetary amount. Our true wealth consists of both our emotional as well as our financial wealth, encompassing the lessons we have learned, the successes we have enjoyed and the experiences we have shared throughout our life and it is for this same reason that when we come to identify our ‘assets’, we are often surprised at how ‘wealthy’ we realise we actually are.
Your passions, values, and beliefs will fundamentally drive your Social Legacy, which can incorporate several meaningful causes, such as relieving and preventing poverty, promoting and facilitating healthcare provision, advancing animal welfare, education, the arts or environmental protection. For many, the personal connection driving our Social Legacy is a family member or a friend who has been affected by a particular health related issue. Your Social Legacy should absolutely reflect what is important to you and can be linked to a local or national charity close to your heart.
Here at the Wealth for Life Partnership, we believe that everyone is entitled to leave a meaningful and lasting Legacy, regardless of the amount of their financial wealth. With this in mind, The Wealth for Life Partnership and I are pleased to introduce Hereditas®, the first dedicated Legacy Planning process of its kind in the UK, providing a clear and effective strategy for anyone wishing to leave not only a financial inheritance but a Legacy that is consistent with your values and wishes.
The Wealth for Life Partnership and I are proud to be working with the British Liver Trust, to promote and develop our mutual understanding of Social Legacy and the immeasurable benefit that Legacy Planning brings to our charitable giving journey. Together, we believe that Legacy Planning is about learning from the past, living in the present, and building for the future.
We will all leave a Legacy of some kind, whether we intend to or not and by engaging actively and thoughtfully in the creation and development of our Social Legacy, we can make our Legacy both meaningful and lasting for generations to come."
This blog has been provided by Andrew Dodson and reflects his personal views.
The Wealth for Life Partnership cares about helping you to understand your own giving intentions and preferences – to find out more please visit www.thewealthforlifepartnership.co.uk
Hereditas is the first and only Legacy Planning process of its kind in the UK – to find out more please visit www.hereditasuk.co.uk
The British Liver Trust always recommends you take independent financial advice.
