猫咪社区

Over the next 20 years, a minimum of will transfer from the post-World War II generation to the next younger generation. Most of that wealth will flow in the upper canopy of the wealth forest, between family members in the world鈥檚 wealthiest 0.1%.  

This intergenerational transfer will only further entrench racial and economic inequalities, aided by a veritable army of financial professionals devoted to minimizing taxes and maximizing family inheritances within narrow bloodlines.  

But some beneficiaries of this system are working to disrupt it, with the help of financial advisers who have a very different outlook from the rest of their profession. They are redirecting this wealth to solve big problems, like climate disruption and racial inequity.  And this has created a new ethos among some of the elite and their financial advisers: 鈥渨ealth minimization.鈥�

Jody Wiser, an investor with inherited wealth from Portland, Oregon, saw a change in culture when her investment advisory firm went through a change in ownership. 鈥淚 was soured to them when their quarterly podcast began with a CPA who advises clients to move to states with no income taxes,鈥� she says. She told the firm that their anti-tax bias was why she was transferring her assets away from them.

鈥淪ome people inherit a 鈥榯rusted family wealth adviser鈥� along with money,鈥� says Nora Leccese, the high-net-wealth and family philanthropy coordinator at Resource Generation, a multiracial community of young people with wealth committed to the equitable distribution of wealth, land, and power. 鈥淭hese advisers show up with a bias for accumulation and against redistribution.鈥�

This puts some wealthy family members on a collision course with the 鈥渨ealth defense industry,鈥� professionals whose training is entirely focused on excessive accumulation and fostering inherited-wealth dynasties. As I wrote in my book, The Wealth Hoarders, this sector includes the tax attorneys, accountants, wealth managers, and family office staffers who are paid millions to hide trillions. They have a toolbox of tricks and dodges鈥攁nonymous shell corporations, offshore bank accounts, dynasty trusts, complex transactions鈥攖o sequester and place wealth beyond the reach of taxation and accountability. They are the accomplices to tax avoidance, wealth hoarding, and entrenched inequality.

That鈥檚 what makes it all the more amazing to meet Stephanie Brobbey, the founder of Good Ancestor Movement Ltd., a new U.K.-based wealth advisory firm devoted to wealth minimization. Brobbey spent a decade working as an attorney in London鈥檚 bustling private wealth sector; her new firm is now disrupting industry norms.

鈥淭here are two prevailing narratives that the wealth advisory profession has internalized,鈥� explains Brobbey, who was born in London to parents from Ghana. 鈥淭he first is that excessive wealth accumulation is completely acceptable if not desirable. The second is that taxation is synonymous with waste. That鈥檚 the water that our profession swims in.鈥�

Brobbey believes when it comes to taxation, we鈥檝e lost our way completely. 鈥淢any economic elites in society have cultivated this distrust in government so that we don鈥檛 associate tax with the public investments we depend on every day,鈥� she says. 鈥淥ur job is to be good ancestors, to redefine the notion of legacy beyond the Global North concept of bloodlines and toward a broader understanding of community.鈥�

Brobbey uses the language of 鈥渨ealth holders鈥� rather than 鈥渨ealth owners.鈥� 鈥淲e are pioneering a radically different path for wealth stewardship鈥攖o move from a system of wealth extraction to a regenerative economy where wealth is more fairly distributed.鈥�

There are examples of wealthy families redirecting their wealth to heal the harms created by the initial extraction of that wealth.

Good Ancestor has developed a program where clients move through three stages as they create an alternative wealth minimization plan. The first stage is to work with clients to understand their wealth story and 鈥渞eimagine wealth.鈥� This includes exploring their upbringing, the sources of wealth, and the values communicated along with the money. 鈥淭here are many forms of resistance to be navigated that are rooted in our socialization and how an individual鈥檚 wealth history has been shaped,鈥� Brobbey says.

鈥淭here are several critical questions that people with wealth should be asking ourselves but are afraid to consider,鈥� says Leonie Taylor, who is a lead organizer at Resource Justice, the U.K. cousin of Resource Generation. The work 鈥渋s so exciting precisely because it provides the intellectual grounding and space for these important conversations to take place, which can, through proactive shifts in our behavior, contribute to transformative and systemic change.鈥�

The second stage is removing barriers to change, which may include technical financial planning along with coaching or cognitive support. 鈥淲e have to build new neural pathways to rethink wealth and how much is too much,鈥� Brobbey says.

The third stage is identifying how to redistribute excess wealth so it is both reparative and regenerative. Brobbey says, 鈥淲e ask our clients, 鈥榃hat harm may have been caused in the process of the extraction or ongoing accumulation of this wealth? Were there groups of people [who] were harmed? Was there ecological harm? And what, based on this, is imperative for you to do?鈥欌��

In this process of redistribution, Brobbey aims to 鈥渄ecenter鈥� traditional philanthropy. 鈥淚t is a problem that excessive wealth accumulation is a prerequisite for embarking into the world of philanthropy,鈥� she says. 鈥淭oo much philanthropic activity reinforces the power and replicates the structural inequalities that led to the wealth inequalities.鈥�

Redistribution outside philanthropy can take the form of paying taxes鈥攁t the local, state and federal level. It can mean transferring assets into community-controlled ventures, forming partnerships with social movements and communities that have been excluded from wealth for generations. There are examples of wealthy families redirecting their wealth to heal the harms created by the initial extraction of that wealth. 

The Rockefeller Brothers Fund was established by the sons of John D. Rockefeller Jr. in 1940 from wealth that came originally from the Standard Oil Company. The fund in 2014 and redirected its $1.2 billion in assets to campaigns for clean energy. Recognizing the harms caused by oil extraction, Rockefeller family members took a powerful action to boost the divestment movement.

Resource Generation is rethinking how it relates to financial advisers, helping their members navigate a field that is biased against redistribution. To be included on their referral list, the organization is now inviting financial advisers like Good Ancestors to fill out a survey that includes how they would respond to various scenarios, including a client that wants to give away 10% of their wealth every year for 10 years to racial justice groups. 鈥淏elieve it or not, there is a growing market for anti-capitalist wealth advisers,鈥� says Leccese of Resource Generation.

More than 100 Resource Generation members have gone through 10-month-long 鈥減raxis鈥� groups鈥攑art study, part personal support鈥攖o move toward radical redistribution. Part of this is a session that Leccese frames as, 鈥淗ow much is enough for me? How much is enough for the world? How much is too much to keep?鈥�  

鈥淲hat really inspires me is the potential of the great wealth transfer,鈥� says Brobbey, referring to the trillions about to be handed off to younger generations. 鈥淲e want to be ready and optimistic that there will be people who want to radically redistribute this wealth for repair and regeneration.鈥�

The firm is helping to give 鈥渆arly adopters鈥� the support and oxygen they need to disrupt the system, says Brobbey.

鈥淥ur clients will be partners in pursuing a radically different vision of the world,鈥� she adds. 鈥淭his is a lifelong journey of healing for all of us as we try to recover a lost story鈥攐r write a new economic story of justice and collective liberation.鈥�

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Can Money Work for Justice?

Rethinking the role money plays in society.

Read the story by Oscar Perry Abello at yesmagazine.org/rethinkingmoney