Building a Lasting Legacy: Retirement, Taxes, and Family Wealth

Rebecca Irey (0:00)

I have seven children, I home schooled them all. And one of the reasons that I home schooled them is because we don't teach in schools anymore basic accounting, right? We don't teach balancing our checkbook because we don't balance the checkbook anymore. We just tap, we tap, we tap until the tap doesn't work, right? We don't teach basic finance even. And as parents and families, even business owners, as a family, I'm busy with soccer practice and football practice and baseball and writing and all the things that parents do and working the job and making sure the house is clean. I don't think about these things.

And then, you know, by the time you get to retirement, you're almost like, okay, well, I'd saved as much as I could. Is that good enough?

SPEAKER_2 (0:46)

Welcome to Legacy Blueprint, Plan It Forward, the podcast where top thought leaders in law, finance, and wealth planning come together to guide your future. Hosted by distinguished estate planning attorney, Mike Bascom, each episode highlights industry experts who bring clarity, innovation, and proven strategies to the table.

Because building a legacy isn't a solo act, it's the result of a team of professionals working in harmony. Join us weekly as we showcase the leaders shaping tomorrow and give you the tools to plan with confidence today.

Mike Bascom (1:24)

Joining us today is Rebecca Irey, founder and CEO of Blue Sky Financial, who has spent more than 25 years helping individuals, families, and business owners build financial independence and create lasting wealth for future generations.

Rebecca brings a values-based approach to everything from retirement and tax strategies, to social security, Medicare, and estate planning with a powerful belief that true wealth is about more than money. It's about building a life and legacy you're proud to pass on. Welcome to the show, Rebecca.

Rebecca Irey (1:56)

Thank you so much for having me, Mike. I appreciate it.

Mike Bascom (1:59)

Rebecca, you've said that your mission is to change the financial trajectory of families. What do you believe is fundamentally wrong with the way most American families are taught to think about money, retirement, and building wealth?

Rebecca Irey (2:13)

You know, here's the thing. I, so I have seven children. I homeschooled them all. And one of the reasons that I homeschooled them is because, you know, we don't teach in schools anymore, basic accounting, right? We don't teach balancing our checkbook because we don't balance the checkbook anymore. We just tap, we tap, we tap until the tap doesn't work, right? We don't teach basic finance even. And as parents and families, even business owners, we're so as a family, I'm busy with soccer practice and football practice and baseball and riding and all the things that parents do and working the job and making sure the house is clean. I don't think about these things. And then, you know, by the time you get to retirement, you're you're almost like, OK, well, I'd saved as much as I could. Is that good enough? And what I hear so frequently across the Zoom screen or across the desk is that I don't even know the right questions to ask. All I knew to do was save as much as I could. And that is not the trajectory for wealth.

That is the trajectory for survival.

So we're taught to survive. Be a good worker, be a good worker. And even as entrepreneurs, right, working with business owners, what do we do? We make money, we sure do. And we plow it all back into our business. Entrepreneurs are the worst savers ever because we don't plan. We make money. That's what we do. Just work a little longer because we love what we do. And it's fine until the day the universe pivots you and you're like, oh, I can't or I don't want to or I'm tired now.

So I think changing the mindset towards not survival, not just I got to pay the bills, but I'm building. I have a framework for wealth for all of us, average American families like me, right? Like you. That's a different, it's a mindset shift.

Mike Bascom (4:06)

Now I know you talk about moving families away from dependence on systems like debt and Social Security and towards true financial independence. What does financial independence actually look like for the average family and where should they begin?

Rebecca Irey (4:18)

I think it looks like options, right? When I was a very young woman, my husband and I actually lost a child when I was 22 It's amazing how that'll change your perspective. All of a sudden you're doing all the things a 22 year old shouldn't be doing. And I met with a financial plan. It's funny because I was probably the only 23 year old you'd ever know with like burial plots and estate plans because I was like, you cannot grieve and do those things. And I knew that even then. But when I met with a financial planner to handle my own stuff, we were in, we were in consumer finance. And then I moved into corporate finance. I was a CFO for 20 years. The financial planner said to me, what do you want for retirement? And I thought he was asking me how much money.