A Florida-Grown Family Legacy
Jill Ciccarelli Rapps, CFP® | èBella Magazine | March 2018
As residents of Southwest Florida, we enjoy a vibrant, growing community of people who hail from all across the country.
Amidst the sea of transplants and snowbirds who have relocated to the Paradise Coast, you will occasionally encounter one of the native Floridians of Collier County – someone who called Naples their home long before the community developed into a tropical haven for retirees and tourists.
Deeply Rooted in Naples
Meet Beatrice, a retired Florida native who has spent her entire life in Southwest Florida. Her family has been cultivating the land as subsistence farmers since the late 1800s!
In the late 1950s, her husband Bob took the risk of expanding the family vegetable farm to an entrepreneurial venture; and they were the first people to commercially farm citrus in Collier County.
As Beatrice and Bob developed their business and started their family during the 1960s, they were always cognizant about saving money consistently and carefully prioritizing their spending needs.
They also knew that the need to diversify their assets and develop multiple streams of income was paramount and could be necessary for the survival of their business. Farming is a risky industry, with the potential for huge fluctuations in income from year to year. One powerful storm could destroy a large swath of the crop, so Beatrice and Bob were always preparing for the worst.
While Bob handled the business decisions and operations of the family farm, Beatrice was hard at work raising their children and instilling the values of hard work, perseverance, love of family and faith within the next generation.
Of course, once their children were old enough to work, Bob introduced them to the challenging yet fulfilling profession of farming.
Bridge to the Next Generation
As Bob continued to succeed in his entrepreneurial pursuits and the family continued to build on their farming tradition throughout the 1980s and 1990s, he and Beatrice were adamant about leaving a lasting legacy – both financial and intangible – that would be preserved for posterity during the new millennium.
Our CAS team began working with Bob and Beatrice in the early 2000s. Although they had a great track record of saving and a clear vision of their goals, they knew very little about investing. Their financial records were totally disorganized, with stacks of papers and statements stashed around their home – making it difficult for them to see their full financial picture and nearly impossible for their children to piece together.
We helped them to open trusts, educational savings and other investment accounts for themselves and their children, organize and simplify their financial documentation, and facilitate consistent communication about money between their family members.
Fortunately, they were able to establish these sound financial practices before a heart-wrenching transition began to unfold.
A few years later, Bob’s health and mental capacity began to decline as he battled Alzheimer’s disease. Beatrice was devastated. Not only was her beloved starting to deteriorate, but she also found herself in the immensely difficult position of managing the farm.
Although she had never managed the business aspect of the family farm, she was forced to step up and make more of the decisions – much to the surprise of their children, who were unaware of their father’s struggle during the early stages of his Alzheimer’s.
Fortunately, Beatrice and Bob had dedicated several years to developing a strong succession plan and system of family communications. In addition to annual family meetings with myself and the CAS team, Beatrice organized monthly meetings with a psychologist to help the family come to terms with the emotional trauma and communication difficulties associated with their father’s dementia.
Without this foundation, Bob’s illness could have seriously jeopardized the family’s financial security – and their ability to carry on the farming legacy.
They continued these meetings for more than five years, with Beatrice and Bob sharing their financial knowledge, farming insight and wisdom with the whole family. If not for their advance planning, clear goals and time commitment, the children may not have been able to build upon their lifetime of progress.
Bob passed away peacefully in 2010 with the peace of mind that their children would continue to serve as good stewards of their land and their wealth. The next generation has certainly stepped up to continue the tradition, with three of their four children working as independent farmers in Collier and Lee counties.
However, Beatrice and her children were not finished with their work.
The Tradition Lives On
Beatrice’s four children have blessed her with 12 grandchildren and two great-grandchildren; and in the same way she instilled her values and knowledge within her children, the whole family is eager to follow her example of pursuing education, hard work, and always maintaining open communication.
Beatrice and her children are providing the grandchildren with the opportunities and support to lead successful lives – regardless of which profession they decide to pursue. They have established and funded 529 education savings plans, Roth IRAs and other investment accounts.
Above all, the whole family is continuing the tradition of family meetings – providing the youngest generation with effective channels of communication, comprehensive financial education and sage guidance, so they may remain good stewards of their legacy.
