Ethical Wills are an ancient idea that might just be what some families need to help them through the difficult times we face today.
We are the richest and most powerful nation in the history of the world.
Our people have a better standard of living than any people who came before us. However, in many other ways, people today are very worried about the future.
There are a lot of things that just do not seem to be right.
For some, it's political gridlock or rogue nations trying to get nuclear weapons. For other people, it's terrorism or groups of protesters clashing in the streets.
The biggest part of the problem might be that there does not seem to be anything most of us can do about any of the problems.
We feel powerless to change things for the better.
However, we all can do something to make things better with our estate plans, as the Rockford Register Star points out in "Leaving your heirs true and lasting wealth."
The idea is actually an ancient Jewish one.
Your estate plan does not just have to be a plan to distribute your wealth. You can also leave your family with an ethical will.
This is simply telling your heirs how they should live and what types of moral decisions they should make.
It lets you tell future generations what your values are and how you would like them to be carried out.
While this might not seem like it would make a huge dent in any problems we face today, if everyone takes this small step, the dent could be made eventually.
Reference: Rockford Register Star (August 11, 2017) "Leaving your heirs true and lasting wealth."