With Grandparents Day approaching, I’ve been thinking about my grandfather, George, and what we really inherit from the generations before us.

Some of my earliest memories of investing came from summers with him in Alexandria, Louisiana. He would check the newspaper to see how Central Louisiana Electric Company had done and tell me his stock was up a penny or two.

As a kid, I couldn’t understand why he cared about two pennies. What I didn’t understand was how many shares he owned.

I didn’t know it then, but those were probably my first lessons about investing.

The Magnolia

My grandfather had a magnolia tree in the side yard of his home on Hill Street. I spent countless summer hours climbing it.

Years later, that tree helped inspire the name Magnolia Financial Group.

The connection goes back another generation. My grandmother’s father, Henry Mayeux, painted a magnolia that has been in our family for years. My parents had it after he passed, and we may have argued a little about who would eventually get it.

When Magnolia Financial Group became official, they gave it to me as an office-warming gift.

Today, it hangs in our office. Clients probably don’t realize the painting on the wall is connected to the name on our door. But I do. It’s priceless.

 

The magnolia painted by my great-grandfather, Henry Mayeux.

 

Four Generations

On my first Father’s Day as a parent in June 2012, we captured another priceless moment.

Four generations of Adams men were together: my grandfather George, known as “OG,” or “Original Grumps”; my father Charles, appropriately known as “Grumps”; me; and my twin boys, Hunter and Mason.

It was the only time my boys ever met their great-grandfather. They won’t remember it. I’ll never forget it.

 

Four generations of Adams men, Father’s Day 2012.

 

Giving With a Warm Hand

OG was pretty tight with money. Fortunately, my grandmother knew when to force his hand.

Every summer they brought our family together for a reunion. They had seven children, then came spouses, grandchildren, and eventually great-grandchildren. Come hell or high water, there was a reunion.

Looking back, I realize they weren’t just paying for a family gathering. They were buying time together.

I couldn’t tell you what those reunions cost. I can tell you what they were worth.

That’s something we talk about with families today: giving with a warm hand.

Leaving an inheritance matters. The assets we pass to the next generation can provide security, opportunity, and an incredible legacy. But we don’t have to wait until we’re gone to use our wealth to make a difference.

Take the trip. Rent the beach house. Help the kids. Bring everyone home.

Sometimes money can accomplish something today that it can’t accomplish from an estate. It can create a memory you get to be part of.

Invest in Your Memories

My mentor, June Walker, used to say: “Invest in your memories. Invest in your relationships.”

We talk about time and money in remarkably similar ways. Don’t waste it. Invest it wisely. Don’t run out of it.

But there’s one important difference. Only one is truly finite. Our time.

My grandfather probably never imagined that those pennies in the newspaper would influence my career. He certainly never imagined that the magnolia tree I climbed would someday help name a financial planning firm.

And I doubt my grandparents knew how much those summer reunions would mean decades later.

But that’s legacy. Sometimes it’s money. Sometimes it’s wisdom. Sometimes it’s a photograph, a family tradition, or a memory under a magnolia tree.

Plan carefully for what you want to leave behind. But don’t become so focused on leaving a legacy that you forget to live one.

 

You can make more money. You can’t make more time.

 

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