Transfers of wealth offer unprecedented opportunities

Dr Bill Graves

McCook Community Foundation Fund

Over the next 10 years, more than $422 million will transfer from one generation to the next in McCook and Red Willow County as part of the “transfer of wealth.” That numbers jumps to $3.9 billion (yes, with a B) over the next 50 years. 

Those numbers are staggering. But more importantly, those amounts are transformational - for good or for bad in a community - depending on what happens with a person’s assets. 

Think about what happens when someone dies and leaves all of their assets to heirs who don’t live in their hometown. Most likely, all those assets leave the community - forever.

Alternatively, think about what happens if just a small amount of that money is designated to stay locally - it stays in the community.

Each and every one of us needs to make the decision at some point of to give or not to give, as well as where.

As a a retired dentist who moved to McCook with my family in June 1969, I went on to practice dentistry for 45 years and developed a deep love of McCook. Three days after I retired, I joined the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s Advisory Committee.

Over the past decade, I have slowly learned how this foundation-concept works and how I can be an asset to the foundation and the community.

MCFF benefits from being part of the Nebraska Community Foundation (NCF) network with more than 1,500 community volunteers from hundreds of communities across Nebraska, providing resources and connections. 

It was during an NCF training that I found my “why” I do this fulfilling work.

The values that MCFF represents are important to me. They are honesty, integrity and inclusivity. Our networking with NCF has accomplished so much and we are incredibly proud and grateful. 

But there is more to do.

Over the years, MCFF has invested more than $3.4 million back into McCook and Southwest Nebraska, through grants, scholarships and investments. But the biggest impact will come from the “transfer of wealth,” which has already began.

Over the next 50 years, Nebraskans will transfer billions of dollars to the next generation. This transfer of wealth offers an unprecedented opportunity if we count our communities among our heirs. Imagine what an investment of just five percent of this transfer of wealth could do for long-term economic development and qualify of life in McCook.

The opportunity is massive. The time is now.

We must act now to encourage charitable investment in the future of our community while the window is open. We must teach, encourage and inspire each other to give back today. And we must include our community in our estate planning for tomorrow. 

Regardless of your age, I recommend everyone to consider the following:

Talk to your professional advisor about including your community in your estate plan.

Give to the endowment of your community fund or favorite charity. 

Create a donor-advised fund to support charitable giving.

Learn how you can create your own personal legacy.

I have made two planned gifts to the McCook Community Foundation Fund and it has given me more joy and happiness that anything I have every accomplished. I was told that it is not how much you have earned and saved, but how much you have given back. It is funny that if you continually give, you will continually have given.

On a personal note, everything I have accomplished came from hard work and the grace of God. The one thing I most remember from Dr. Ralph Iceland, the dean of the UNL Dental College, was that we owed our “community service to our community.”

It should be noted that I am not wealthy but I have more than I need. The question everyone needs to ask themselves is: Are you doing everything to make your community the best it can be?

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Dr. Bill Graves is a member of the McCook Community Foundation Fund’s Advisory Committee and has been involved in a host of projects that have shaped McCook’s future from Heritage Hills Golf Course and the new YMCA to Hillcrest Nursing Home.