Investment advisors normally advise us to modify our investment “risk profile” as we get older, putting an ever-increasing emphasis on preserving our capital versus aggressively growing it, so that we will more likely have the money we need for income, as well as “fun and frolic” during our retirement years. But it also is sound and pertinent advice when it comes to overall legacy planning.

It has the effect of helping to limit volatility, improving the predictability of returns and improving liquidity - all very important means to assure our retirement funds are both accessible and not exhausted prematurely and there will be “leftovers” for our beneficiaries to inherit. And, if this thinking were also to tag along with the inheritances themselves, it could function as a predictable anchor for our beneficiary’s portfolio, thereby helping to assure that our legacy might continue. I’ll have more on this in the coming chapters.

But, switching to a more conservative investment risk profile still does not assure that our assets will endure as we hope. We need to understand and address our other two “legacy adversaries” – government regulations and tax policies. And for these, we will need a more innovative strategy