Rising Well
Enhancing well-being
by helping the rising generation and their families more confidently and effectively engage in their financial world
Financial wellness requires not just an understanding of the technical side of wealth, but the human side as well. Neglect the latter and wealth risks getting in your way. Rising Well works with rising gens and their families to develop intentional and values-driven identities and relationships around wealth, opening the door to a more satisfying alignment between financial abundance and life well-being.
Working Philosophy
The Perspective
Behind Rising Well
In many ways, I find the journey of rising gens to parallel the journey of the teens from my clinical work. While themes of identity formation, individuation, agency and purpose mark the paths of both populations, adding wealth amplifies the opportunities and challenges along the way. Parents play a big role in how rising gens navigate their path and some of the biggest questions asked by HNW and UHNW families center around parenting amongst wealth.
In my clinical work, I rarely met a parent who didn’t desire a self-sufficient and resilient child. But these same parents would often take the path of least resistance, which alleviated the short-term stress or challenge, but worked against the skill development they desired for their children in the long-term. Wealth can make it easier to adopt a mindset that focuses on short-term outcomes at the expense of long-term goals; if financial abundance removes many of the limitations of “No,” there is less to stand in the way of “Yes.”
While many firms in the wealth advising space focus on financial literacy and education to prepare younger generations and address parents’ concerns, it is only half the solution. A tower of technical skills is at risk of collapse if it isn’t built on a healthy emotional foundation around money and wealth. When such a foundation is in place, technical skills around money and wealth are better understood, utilized with more confidence and aligned to support well-being. The human side of financial abundance, the important foundation, is where I do my work.
Services
Wealth in Support of Well-Being
Emphasizing the human side of money and wealth, my services address rising gen coaching and financial parenting amongst wealth. Below are examples of topics common to these service areas:
Rising Gen coaching:
Identity formation and financial well-being amongst wealth
Clarity around the purpose and use of wealth
Creating healthy mindsets around and relationships to wealth
Exploring and connecting values to wealth
Defining success beyond the financial
Relationships, community and connecting with something larger than oneself
Financial Parenting Amongst Wealth
Creating frictions that support the development of frustration tolerance and delayed gratification
Modeling, with consistency and accountability, the behaviors and outcomes you desire to see
Transparent and honest conversations around expectations and responsibilities
Framing definitions of success beyond the financial
Co-creating opportunities for engagement and practice around wealth
Imparting family stories that extend beyond the wealth creator
The intermingling of skill, effort and luck in the creation of wealth
Acknowledging and respecting differences in life experiences and perspectives
Improving comfort around uncertainty and the limits of control
Colin Lavey
About
My path to the family wealth consulting space developed from my clinical work. For more than 15 years as a licensed professional counselor, I worked with teens and their families in a short-term outpatient program. One thing that always made this work interesting was being able to witness the transition period of adolescence. My clients were on a journey of discovery, of trying on and experimenting with different identities, of asserting their agency and autonomy, of seeing where they fit in the world. They were working towards the version of themselves that they wanted to be. And I was able to come alongside and help them navigate.
When I transitioned away from clinical work, I still wanted to have fulfilling interactions with people trying to find their way, but in areas that held more personal interest. Several life experiences during my early adulthood sparked an interest in finance and a growing understanding of the breadth of impact money has on all areas of life. I learned that having access to financial resources and the knowledge of how money works doesn’t guarantee a fulfilling life; at this point, wealth can still be rather directionless. An emotional understanding of the self, along with a technical understanding of money, creates the best opportunity for having an alignment around wealth that is healthy and in support of life well-being.
From conversations with financial services and wealth management professionals, I heard a common concern: parents who are worried about wealth’s effects on their children. To address this concern and best serve families in exploring the human side of money and wealth, I obtained the Certified Financial Therapist™ designation, a credential that built off my clinical skill set and experience.
I live just outside of Milwaukee, WI in a multigenerational household with my wife, daughter and mother. I enjoy learning, self-reflection and expanding my perspective through reading, long walks and volunteering. Curiosity, openness and humor are values I bring to my work as a family wealth consultant and I appreciate working with individuals and families who value the same.
Credentials
Master of Arts in Counseling, Marquette University
Bachelor of Arts in Psychology, Marquette University
Licensed Professional Counselor, State of Wisconsin
Certified Financial Therapist™, Financial Therapy Association
Member, Purposeful Planning Institute
Let’s get started
Whether you are a parent of a rising gen, a rising gen yourself thinking about your own family, or both, I invite you to reach out. Together, we can work towards a more fulfilling alignment between financial abundance and life well-being.