Serious Coin

Self-made multi-millionaire Derek Bullen discusses the purpose of wealth and managing family wealth responsibly. He shares his epic founder's story and insights on preparing children for wealth. The podcast also explores the challenges and growth in entrepreneurship, lessons in family wealth management, the importance of taking breaks for business success, challenges of wealth preservation, and impacting communities through wealth.

The Rockefellers, like many of the oldest, wealthiest families in the world, give away a lot of money.  But whether it’s starting a foundation or donating to the arts or supporting climate change initiatives, philanthropy isn’t as simple as just writing a cheque. And as someone whose come into his money more recently, even Elon Musk has admitted that philanthropy is a challenge for anyone who is more concerned about achieving outcomes than the mere optics of doing good. So how can we do good, better? How do we achieve greater impact and gain more satisfaction from our charitable giving? My guest, Danielle Oristian York has some answers.  She is President & Executive Director of 21/64, a New York-based not-for-profit organization that helps the world’s wealthiest families find their philanthropic footing; these are people who give away millions of dollars year, and some, hundreds of millions. Danielle she says there’s a lot we can learn from these families, regardless of your current level of giving. In this episode, Danielle offers a Masterclass in how to discover your own philanthropic identity – and how to get your family members on board with you. If you’ve ever wanted to get more focused in your philanthropic giving, to move beyond cheque-writing and charity balls, you’ll want to listen to our conversation. Serious Coin host, Kelly Willis Green brings a personal and professional perspective on wealth -- having spent two decades working in wealth management as a marketing executive and as someone who came into affluence through marriage.

Could the security cameras that guard your home increase your vulnerability to a cyber-attack? Why are high-net-worth individuals more at risk of being hacked than the average person? What can you do to protect yourself even if -- especially if -- you are not technically savvy? In this episode, we’re talking Cyber-Security with Chris Walker, Senior Manager of the Forensic Technology Practice at KPMG. When my husband and I decided to be proactive about understanding our own online risks and security gaps, we turned to Chris and his team to conduct a cyber-health check-up. In this episode, I share what we learned, and Chris gives us a lesson in being cyber-smart. He talks about the most common attacks and how they occur, the little-known risks of everyday household devices along with some surprisingly simple fixes to keep you safe.  Spoiler alert: the most important security controls aren’t technical but behavioural!

Family Offices are increasingly becoming the wealth management vehicle of choice for the wealthy – with a third of ultra-high-net-worth families reportedly using one. Still, they remain something of an enigma for many people. My guest in this episode is Carolyn Cole of Cole and Associates, one of North America's leading experts on the subject. She designs custom Family Offices for ultra-high-net-worth families.  Carolyn and I do a deep dive into Family Offices: What are they? Who’s using them and why? How do you know if you need one? We’ll give you some thoughts to consider if you’re hiring a third-party Family Office or setting one up yourself. We also discuss why some Family Offices succeed and some fail. Carolyn is warm, generous in sharing her knowledge and super interesting. She comes to this work authentically. She has more than two decades of experience advising enterprising families. She also has the personal experience of marrying into wealth and, as a young mother, attending family office meetings, diaper bag in tow as she learned first-hand the complexities that families experience when managing an enterprise.  

Why does new money so often strain old friendships? Research shows 39% of wealthy people have let a friendship with someone of lesser financial means fade because their lifestyles became incompatible. Today my guest is psychotherapist to the mega-rich, Clay Cockrell who helps us navigate the sometimes-awkward interactions and options when there’s wealth disparity between friends. We go deep into questions like: If I am generous with my friends, will this create dependence? Envy?  Or embarrassment? How should I handle requests for money? And are the new people who are coming into my life there for the right reasons? As economic and financial conditions worsen around the world, honesty and sensitivity are needed more than ever and Clay gives us some ideas about how to broach the subject with our closest friends and family members. An expert in the subject, Clay is founder of Walk and Talk Therapy in New York City serving a clientele of multi-millionaires and billionaires, many of whom are new to wealth themselves.  Clay is a frequent media spokesperson on the subject of mental health and wealth. He’s been featured in the Wall Street Journal, The Times of UK, The New York Times and Good Morning America.

In 1971, as a 17-year-old university student, Greig Clark founded College Pro Painters, which he grew to 600 franchises throughout North America before selling the business at age 37. In addition to financial freedom, Greig’s early success age brought accolades – he was named one of the Top Ten Entrepreneurs of the Decade by Profit Magazine in 1992 – and gave him a blank slate on which to write his next chapters. In this episode, we chat with Grieg about the emotional struggles of selling his company, his subsequent gig as venture capitalist and how lessons from that experience prepared him for his current work as a venture philanthropist – which he is says is the most rewarding work of his life.

Ever wonder what it’s like to grow up with extreme wealth? Danielle Saputo, wealth legacy coach and third-generation member of one of the 500 richest families in the world, sheds light on her experience growing up a Saputo. In Part One of our wide-ranging two-part interview, Danielle reveals what her grandfather told the family about their wealth and how she describes living in the shadows of that legacy before discovering her own identity apart from, and yet strongly rooted in her family tree.

Will talking to my family about our wealth create a sense of entitlement? It’s a concern that lingers in the minds of many wealth holders, according to Danielle Saputo, wealth legacy coach and third-generation member of one of the 500 richest families in the world. In Part Two of our wide-ranging two-part interview, we talk about the importance and the challenges of continuity planning within multi-generational families. Danielle shares the four most common ways families transfer wealth, the one piece of advice she has for anyone setting up a family trust, and what she’s doing to ensure her daughters grow up feeling empowered, not entitled around money.

For over 500 years, London has been one of the top cities in the world for the very rich to live, play and invest. But since 2014, property values have been in a slump. Beset by tax increases, Brexit, and most recently, the pandemic, London real estate prices are down 20 per cent from their peak. But with signs the pendulum is swinging back, could this be an ideal time to buy? In this episode, we chat with property consultant Caspar Harvard-Walls of Black Brick Property Solutions. Caspar gives us an insight into the London market; the biggest bargains, hottest locations and what international buyers need to know before investing in property in London today.

Is money a hot button in your relationship? For many wealthy couples, it is. Especially in heterosexual relationships when the female partner brings substantially greater financial assets than her male spouse. It’s something that wealth psychologist, researcher and coach Dr. Jamie Traeger-Muney has spent years studying – and living as a married woman and inheritor of significant family wealth. In today’s episode, we talk with Dr. Traeger-Muney about her research into Financially Diverse Couples, the gender differences around wealth and how to have healthy money conversations in any relationship.