By Karen Weisgerber, Ph.D. | Cambium Consulting Group

Inherited wealth is one of the least discussed personal experiences in American life. We celebrate

the builders and founders. What we don't talk about is what it's like to receive significant wealth

without having earned it: how that can impact a person's sense of self and one's ability to find a

personal, individuated sense of meaning.

One of the most common things inheritors say, across age, gender, family background, and financial

level, is some version of this:

“I feel guilty.”

“I'm in the lucky sperm club.”

“Even a lottery winner had to buy a ticket. I did nothing.”

The consistency of this reaction across very different pe...

By Katie Darnall

 It all started when I was 14 years old.

Well, technically, it started when I was born. But the first real milestone in my journey as a RisingGen happened when I was 14 and invited, as the eldest G4 family member, to attend our first ever Family Council Meeting.

At 16, I started working in the family business during the Summer.

At 19, our G2 family leader and Chairman assigned me the project of relaunching the Family Council, which had promptly died after that first meeting five years earlier.

At 24, after going straight from undergrad through a dual Master’s Program, I was recruited into the family business full time.

And by 26, I was a family member, an employee, lea...

By: Andrew Fay

Early in my career, I believed the technical side of wealth was the hardest part—and, frankly, the most important. For years, I watched wealthy families and family offices devote enormous energy to building the perfect wealth transfer plan, trying to anticipate every possibility and stay one step ahead.

After spending decades working with successful families, I've come to realize that families rarely struggle because of the technical aspects of wealth. Don't get me wrong—technical planning is essential. But I've found that families are more likely to struggle because they overlook the human side of wealth. Conversations about purpose, family dynamics, and preparing the ne...

By: Celine Fitzgerald

Let’s be honest, if you know me AT ALL, you don’t assimilate the title of this blog with MY name. Maybe it’s my type-A personality or constant need to keep moving that doesn’t allow me to sit and breathe very often. However, Summer 2026 will be different…or at least I am telling myself that. 

As a G3 family member, I have a strong desire to contribute to society. I have this need to prove I can do it all, literally. Like many readers, I am wearing many hats - parent, daughter, sister, wife, board member, coach, foundation director, and so on.  I am my father’s daughter [God Bless] and have adopted his entrepreneurial spirit and work ethic, which is unhealthy on occasi...

By: Guest Blogger and Respected Colleague, Dr. Shay Harris-Pierre, PhD, LPC, CFT

Every family has its own unique culture built over time. This culture shows up in the covert and
overt.

• The rules a family operates by
• The roles each member occupies
• The boundaries that guide relational dynamics and
• The hierarchies that shape the family structure overall

Family cultures shape relational dynamics within the family, structures and governance, and can
also shape your identity. That is, the story of who you are in this family, what is expected of you,
and what your life is probably going to look like. For some people, that story is fully aligned. For
others, it fits well enough on the surface,...

 Written by: Torri Hawley

https://www.linkedin.com/in/torri-hawley/

The pressure of my daunting task looms heavy - my nervous system revs up as if a bear is approaching. But I’m not trekking in the wilderness, I’m simply gathering the right mix of bills from the ATM machine to pay my housekeeper.

"Hurry up! There’s someone waiting behind us…” my husband urges, just as my watch notifies me of my rising heart rate—with the deeply unhelpful suggestion: “Take a break!”

Surely, I — the confident and self-assured leader in my family, my job, my home life — can manage this task without a nervous breakdown.

I punch in the bills hastily and walk away from the ATM. I will not be admitting to my h...

By: Celine Fitzgerald 

When Kristen first suggested our RisingGen Collective group read The Art of Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life by Morgan Housel I was nervous! I had a fear of being shamed with each chapter for my past lavish spending [I’ve gotten better], so I put it off for a bit. With our call fast approaching, I knew I had to face my fears and read the book.

To my surprise, once I downloaded it on my Kindle, I could not put it down! I was enthralled with each passing chapter. I was shocked at how I was feeling, but guilt was not the word that came to mind. Alignment, justification, and memories resurfaced as I considered how my past spending habits reflected a particular tim...

By: Guest Blogger & Respected Colleague, Emily Bouchard

In over twenty years of working with enterprising families, I often help them navigate issues that arise when love and money become intertwined. Consider the following real-life scenarios (identifying info changed):

A Next Gen family member who is away at university finds himself picking up the tab for his friends, feeling guilty about having more money than they do. But in time his friends begin taking advantage and expect him to pay for everything.

A newly engaged couple finds themselves in gridlock when attempting to negotiate their prenup. She resents feeling like he is being greedy and fears that this relationship may be about h...

When families steward significant wealth, whether through a formal single-family office (SFO) or a looser, informal “family office” ecosystem, one of the hardest challenges isn’t investment strategy, legal structures, or tax planning. It’s people.

Finding advisors who can serve with skill and are aligned with your values - particularly in environments where personal dynamics and long-term family legacy are on the line - is a persistent struggle for families and their advisors alike.

The Human Capital Challenge

In traditional institutional settings, clients interact with clearly defined teams, processes, and performance expectations. In contrast, family offices (including those coordina...

If you’re part of the Leading Generation in a successful family, you’re likely juggling two massive jobs at once.

Job #1: Running the Enterprise
You’re leading the business, the investments, and/or the family office. You’re the operator, the decision-maker, the one everyone counts on to keep the engine running. 

Job #2: Shaping the Future
You’re also the visionary - responsible for preparing the next generation, clarifying the family’s long-term purpose, and imagining what your family enterprise may need 10, 15, or 20 years from now.

Most in the Leading Generation are doing both of these roles simultaneously… and quietly wondering why it feels so heavy.

It is heavy.

Why These Are Two D...

If you haven't tossed this book in your shopping cart yet, it might be the best thing you do today.

Build an Enterprise Family To Last: Proven Strategies to Thrive Across Generations, by Sara Hamilton and Margaret Vaughan Cox, feels like a text book, but in the very best way - not that it will put you to sleep or that it will weigh down your backpack, but rather that is overflowing with practical wisdom and beautifully offers the best of the thinking about family enterprise planning between its covers.

With, eye-catching frameworks and charts on seemingly every single page, the authors have offered readers an easy to use guidebook to help them apply the concepts they've presented so logica...

By Celine Fitzgerald
Inspired by the RisingGen Collective Call – Q3 2025: “Earning Your Influence Before You’re in Charge”

“Are They Just Letting Me Watch… or Am I Welcome to Speak?”

Have you ever found yourself in a meeting with family members, wondering:
Am I here to observe or to participate?
Should I speak up, or just stay quiet until invited?

If you’ve asked yourself these questions, you’re not alone. Many of us in the Rising Generation feel unsure about when (and whether) our voices are welcome - especially when the decisions being made impact our future too.

Echoes of the Past: “Children Should Be Seen and Not Heard”

Does the above quote resonate with you? I remember hearing it qui...