John L. Levy has over 25 years experience in private practice working with individuals and families on issues involving inherited wealth.  He has made presentations and led discussions for financial planners, estate planning attorneys, family office managers, bank trust officers, investment advisors and other professionals throughout the U.S. John is the author of Inherited Wealth: Opportunities and Dilemmas (2008), as well as numerous articles.  

John has also served in managerial positions with non-profit organizations devoted to psychological and spiritual health.  Organizations for which he has worked include Sequoia Seminar, the American Friends Service Committee, San Francisco Venture, the Association for Humanistic Psychology (as Executive Officer), the C.G. Jung Institute of San Francisco (as Executive Director), and the California Institute of Integral Studies (as Interim Provost).  Previously he worked in heavy construction first as an engineer and later as an executive.  John has a BA in Engineering and an MBA, both from Stanford University.

Consulting

For the past 25 years I’ve had a private practice working with individuals and families on issues involving inherited wealth.  I’ve made presentations and led discussions for financial planners, estate planning attorneys, family office managers, bank trust officers, investment advisors and other professionals throughout the U.S.

 I’ve written a number of articles on topics related to this subject; these are available on request.  Some of the services I offer are:

    *Helping affluent parents and children identify their needs and wishes in the inheritance process and become more conscious of their concerns and their fears

    *Counseling inheritors, parents and family groups around their own issues related to the transfer of wealth.  A central element in this is the preparation of inheritors to live fulfilling and rewarding lives.

    *Facilitating intergenerational discussion of estate planning and other sensitive, and often tension filled, issues.  Sometimes this involves mediating troublesome conflicts within and between generations.

    *Helping individuals and families to clarify their philanthropic aims and choices.

While I do share some of my own experience and thoughts with clients, my primary objective is to help them to discover and clarify their own priorities and to implement these in their lives.

My own experience as an inheritor, confirmed by my observations, research and consulting over the last 25 years, has convinced me that the inheritance experience need not be a negative one, but rather one which has exciting and fulfilling potentials.  My work with wealthy individuals and families is based on this conviction.

Some Comments from My Clients (unsolicited)

“….the time you spent with our family group was extremely productive, and provocative. I say provocative because you helped us challenge many of our long-held assumptions about how we should think, act, and how we should raise our children. Thank you again for your work, and for the gentle, yet professional way you facilitated our discussions.”

“I’ve been wanting to thank you again for the extraordinary help you offered the family.  Your acute sensitivity to each of us combined with your mastery at holding the reins lightly (but holding them nevertheless!) created the ideal framework within which each could express himself freely (as never before!). You were wonderful!”

“You said a lot about management of family assets, communication, “control”, and much, much more. But you also made us think and feel about the importance of things not so tangible and measurable.” 

“I want to keep thanking you!  You were so emphatically the right person at the right time for me.  It made all the difference.”

“We regard our (family) meeting to have been the most successful we have ever had, due in no small part to the knowledge and tone which you brought to our discussions.”

“What a wonderful experience last week! Everyone, as you know, felt this family meeting was the best ever.  Your centered presence was just the ingredient—people clearly felt safe, respected and carefully facilitated.”

“I am grateful to be able to trust working with you. My shame around money is definitely diminishing.”

“I want to proclaim your complete success in the _____family meetings last week. You led the way with masterful sensitivity, and you brought loving healing to a family which had been in painful disarray.”

“I can’t thank you enough for your help and brilliant counsel and caring involvement over the months that augurs well for a “new beginning” between (my daughter) and me. As a result of our meeting, in the best possible atmosphere, I am relieved and happy.”

“You clearly are a master at dealing with the complexities of family relationships, and I know that we all emerged form the experience with a new sense of our directions and relationships with one another.”

“Remarkable healing and growth took place that weekend, and your participation was crucial.”