Book Review
The Destructive Power of Family Wealth by Philip Marcovici 296 pages Published by Wiley
Philip Marcovici is well known in the fiduciary/tax/legal world having worked for many years in Hong Kong and subsequently Geneva (now recently back in Hong Kong). Philip’s book is an excellent guide to the essentials of wealth planning for families with many examples of what can go wrong and what constitutes best practice. Among the points Philip makes:
- Any amount of wealth can cause family tensions – this book is not just about the super rich
- The days of simply hiding cash and assets offshore and hoping they would not be discovered are well and truly over given Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act, Common Reporting Standard and anti-money laundering laws
- Lengthening life spans, globalisation of family relationships and the prevalence of divorce and gold-digging spouses bring challenges to wealth preservation
- Advisors are not always to be trusted – they may have agendas at odds to the best interests of families – checks and balances are always desirable
Philip’s remedies are essentially to think about things carefully; to plan properly and hold open discussions within the family. He is very conscious of the cultural constraints facing families in Asia in particular.
This is a book that is recommended to both practitioners and families. It can be purchased through Amazon.
James C Sutherland
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