How to Leave an Inheritance and Create a Legacy
You don’t have to be a billionaire or even a millionaire to leave an inheritance and create a legacy.
Welcome to the 64th post of The Aim and Soar Life, a weekly newsletter about faith, personal growth, and lifestyle that provides actionable, relatable, and biblically rooted content to help you live abundantly and GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Greetings!
Happy Sunday Fam!
This is the last post in the Minding Your Money series for this month.
A few years ago, I was looking through some pictures at my mom’s house when out of the blue my mom said, “When I die, I want you to keep all my pictures and make sure my great-grandkids and my great-great-grandkids know about me. Tell them about me and show them who I was. I want them to remember me.”
Of course, I agreed to her request; it was simple, yet heartfelt. And I know it will have a lasting impact on our family's descendants.
How many of us think about how we want to be remembered when it’s time to say goodbye to this side of heaven?
What legacy do you want to leave?
I know talking about our mortality can be a sensitive topic, but planning for it can be life-changing for ourselves and our family members.
A lot of times when people hear the words, inheritance and legacy, they think of rich people with trusts and big bank accounts. But you don’t have to be a billionaire or even a millionaire to leave an inheritance and create a legacy.
What???
I know. Stick with me.😍
Spiritual Inheritance
If you want to create a legacy, you must leave an inheritance that ensures that your memory and what you stood for will live on in the hearts of your family, friends, and others that will learn about you after you have gone home to glory.
Leaving your children and/or grandchildren an inheritance is essential to creating a legacy. I’ve had many disagreements with family members and others about this topic.
Before I share my side, let’s look at God’s side.
A good man leaves an inheritance to his children’s children,
Proverbs 13:22, NKJV
Although this scripture uses the word “inheritance” it’s more about good and righteous living than it is about money.
If we have nothing to leave our future generations in terms of money, we can still demonstrate righteous living to them.
We can show them what living for Christ looks like. We model this for our kids, and prayerfully they model it for their kids and grandkids.
When my mom asked me to keep her pictures and show them to her future descendants, it wasn’t about the pictures, it was about providing those who will come after her with the history of who my mom is.
The pictures tell a story of what ministries my mom has led and participated in, how she used her spiritual gifts, and how she trusted God. They also tell the story of what she loved to do, how she lived her life, and how she overcame challenges.
The first inheritance we leave is a spiritual legacy.
Financial Inheritance
Even if you are financially strapped, being fiscally responsible and preparing for your “departure” by making provisions for your funeral expenses can allow your children and grandchildren to inherit financial freedom from any debt caused by your lack of planning.
Too often, people use Go Fund Me and other charities as sources to bury their loved ones. Families are many times put in a position where they have to scrape together money to bury another family member, which creates a financial burden.
Ensuring that you have a life insurance policy in place can be a huge debt relief for your family.
In addition, if you can afford to have a larger policy that not only covers your burial, but also provides your children or grandchildren with money toward college expenses, business start-up funds, or a down payment on their first home, it can be life-changing for them and help them to build and sustain wealth.
Talking to your children and grandchildren about your wishes and your reasoning can start a legacy of financial literacy in your family.
You can also leave an inheritance by opening a small investment fund set aside specifically for your children, grandchildren, and great-grandchildren. Apps like Acorns, allow you to round up your purchases to the nearest dollar and invest the difference.
Money in this account accumulates fast! I’m not being paid to say this (I wish I was)😂. It’s just spare change that can be used toward creating a legacy.
I said earlier that I’ve had disagreements with some family members about why we should leave some sort of inheritance for our offspring. Some family members disagree with my philosophy, but the main reason I hold this belief is because it’s what God does.
Let’s look at 1 Peter 1:3-5
3 Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who according to His abundant mercy has begotten us again to a living hope through the resurrection of Jesus Christ from the dead, 4 to an inheritance [a]incorruptible and undefiled and that does not fade away, reserved in heaven for you, 5 who are kept by the power of God through faith for salvation ready to be revealed in the last time.
1 Peter 1:3-5, NKJV
If you read that with the same eyes that I did, you will notice that Jesus himself is our inheritance! Whoa! That is some awesome news!
Because JESUS died for us and rose from the dead, we have an inheritance with Him in heaven. Honey, I can’t wait to get my heavenly mansion.😉
God is our model.
If God provides us with an inheritance, then tell me a good reason that we shouldn’t provide our children/heirs/descendants with an inheritance.
It seems to me that this is the responsible thing to do as a good steward.
There may be someone reading this who is financially unable to do a lot. But I say to you, do what you can. Get with a financial coach or someone you trust at your church and see how you can make a money move to provide an inheritance for your loved ones.
Here are some links to other posts on generational wealth building and leaving a legacy.
https://theaimandsoarlife.substack.com/p/how-to-create-generational-wealth
https://theaimandsoarlife.substack.com/p/how-to-create-generational-wealth-92c
https://theaimandsoarlife.substack.com/p/its-time-to-tell-your-story
Catch up on all the posts in this series
https://theaimandsoarlife.substack.com/p/christians-on-fire-should-christians
https://theaimandsoarlife.substack.com/p/how-to-deal-with-money-guilt
https://theaimandsoarlife.substack.com/p/three-ways-to-survive-difficult-financial
Peace and Love
Until Next Time,
GROW YOU. GOD’S WAY.
Sherrhonda😍
P.S.
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