Speaking the Same Language: Money, Family, and the Gift of Conversation This Holiday Season
Meet Mari Delgado
My grandmother Aura was a pioneer in Colombian banking at a time when very few women held a seat at that table. When I founded my firm, I gave it her name because her story reminds me that wealth is never only about numbers.
My grandmother Aura was a pioneer in Colombian banking at a time when very few women held a seat at that table. When I founded my firm, I gave it her name because her story reminds me that wealth is never only about numbers. It carries values, effort, and hopes for the people who come next. Today, much of my work is with families preparing to pass wealth from one generation to the next, and I have learned that moving the assets is often the simpler part. The harder, and far more meaningful, work is making sure everyone at the table truly understands one another.
For many adult children, this is where things become complicated. Your parents likely built their wealth with a particular approach, one shaped by their experiences, their era, and their comfort with risk. You may see the world differently. Perhaps you want your investments to reflect causes you care about, or you are drawn to strategies your parents have never considered. Neither perspective is wrong. But when parents and inheritors are speaking different financial languages, important intentions can be lost along the way, and decisions made in a hurry after a transition can lead to taxes and costs that thoughtful planning might have avoided.
“When parents and inheritors are speaking different financial languages, important intentions can be lost along the way.”
The holidays offer a natural opening. It is a season when families gather, reflect on what matters most, and often think about giving, which makes generosity one of the gentlest places to begin. Choosing a cause to support together, or exploring a vehicle such as a donor-advised fund that allows family members to recommend grants over time, gives each generation a practical way to share its values. These conversations can also bring tax efficiency into view: which assets might be gifted during your parents' lifetime, which may be better held and passed on, and how charitable giving fits into the larger plan. When these decisions are made together and with intention, they honor both the generation who built the wealth and the one who will carry it forward.
If you are not sure how to begin, start with curiosity rather than logistics. Ask your parents what they hope their wealth will make possible, what they want to see continue, and what concerns them. Share what matters to you, too. You do not need every answer before the new year; you simply need to open the door. When you are ready for the next step, a fiduciary advisor can help translate between generations, align your family's investment approach with the values you share, and coordinate with your CPA and estate attorney so the plan is as thoughtful as it is tax efficient. That is the work I love most, and it is the kind of legacy I believe my grandmother would be proud of.
My firm is named for my grandmother Aura, a pioneer in Colombian banking, because her story reminds me that wealth carries values, not just numbers. In my work with families passing wealth between generations, I see the same challenge again and again: parents and adult children often speak different financial languages. Parents may have built their wealth one way, while the next generation hopes to invest in ways that reflect their own values. Without conversation, intentions can be lost, and rushed decisions after a transition can create avoidable taxes.
The holidays offer a natural opening, and giving is a gentle place to start. Choosing a cause together or exploring a donor-advised fund lets each generation express what matters to them. It also opens the door to bigger questions about which assets to give now, which to pass on later, and how to do both tax efficiently.
If you will one day inherit, begin with curiosity. Ask your parents what they hope their wealth will make possible, and share your own hopes too. A fiduciary advisor, working alongside your CPA and estate attorney, can help your family align its values and its plan. This season, the most meaningful gift may simply be the conversation.
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MyAuraLegacy.com
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