Reuters

July 31, 2005

 

Where there's a will, there's a way

Dave Brown, anchor

We say good morning to Mark Zesbaugh, president and CEO of Allianz Life Insurance.

Good morning, Mark.

MARK ZESBAUGH (President & CEO, Allianz Life Insurance): Good morning.

BROWN: You've done a new study. And what does it say about baby-boomers and their inheritance?

Mr. ZESBAUGH: Well, first of all, baby-boomers and parents of baby-boomers, it was indicated there's a big difference between the inheritance term of planning and what we define as the legacy planning.

BROWN: Now do the findings differ from one part of the country to another?

Mr. ZESBAUGH: No, they're no different from one part of the country. But what we did find is that when people want to talk about legacy, they don't put a high priority on financial assets and real estate relative to value and life lessons.

BROWN: So you're saying it's more-- they would rather inherit a legacy than money at this point.

Mr. ZESBAUGH: Yes. That's correct. Much, much more so. In fact, personal possessions of an emotional value are five times more likely to cause conflict when passing on than are the financial assets themselves.

BROWN: So are they worried about a conflict, or are they worried about actually inheriting something very important to them?

Mr. ZESBAUGH: Well, it's interesting. It's not necessarily about conflict. Because what we found, a lot of baby-boomers and their parents are just not talking about the whole aspect of legacy planning.

BROWN: What are the elders saying? The parents saying? Do they say the same thing, or they...

Mr. ZESBAUGH: Well, the only thing that differed significantly is elders-- elders are more concerned—more than four times more concerned about the passing on of financial assets and real estate than are the boomers.

BROWN: Now when you do insurance policies and wills, can you-- can you put down on paper the intangible things, like a legacy, and break it down and pass that along?

Mr. ZESBAUGH: I don't believe that you necessarily put down the legacy in a will, but I think it's important for a financial advisor to understand the other aspects of legacy planning so they can be that much more effective.

BROWN: And this is greatly differing from past generations. Is that true?

Mr. ZESBAUGH: I don't know that it's greatly differing, but what we did identify is that there is this legacy gap. When we talk to boomers and boomers' parents, they did say that both of them had a desire to speak about all these four pillars, but less than 1/3 actually did.

BROWN: Do you think it's all about the longing—having that family tree and knowing where you're from?

Mr. ZESBAUGH: Yes. Definitely. The four key pillars-- and they're in this order-- that they wanted to pass on were values in life lessons, instructions and wishes to be fulfilled, personal possessions of an emotional value, like grandma's china. And then finally, and very important, are the financial assets and real estate.

BROWN: Thanks for joining us this morning and passing along that information.

Mr. ZESBAUGH: All right. And thanks, and have a wonderful day.

BROWN: Mark Zesbaugh, president and CEO of Allianz Life.