174. Legacy-Level Giving: How Aligned Generosity Shapes Your Family, Your Finances, and Your Future

Have you ever given—not out of pressure or obligation—but because it reflected who you truly want to be? In this episode, we redefine generosity at the legacy level and explore how aligned giving shapes your future, your finances, and the way your children learn to impact the world. This isn’t about cutting back or guilt-driven spending—it’s about building forward with purpose, margin, and meaning.

In this episode you’ll learn:

• The difference between reactive giving and legacy-level generosity
• Why giving from alignment deepens purpose instead of draining you
• How your children actually learn generosity (and it’s not from what’s under the tree)
• Practical ways to involve your kids in meaningful giving this season
• How stewardship and margin today create capacity for courageous generosity tomorrow

When generosity flows from identity—not insecurity—it doesn’t sacrifice your future. It seeds it.

🎯 Ready to align your money with your values and lead your finances with clarity and purpose? Schedule a clarity call at AccelerateYourLegacy.com/claritycall and start building forward—before the receipts hit.

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Transcript

Audio Only - All Participants-20: 0:00

Have you ever given, not because you had to, but because something inside of you said, this is who I really want to be. It's the kind of generosity that doesn't drain you, but actually deepens your purpose. Today we're talking about legacy level giving, how giving from alignment shapes your future, your family, and the way your children learn to impact the world. This isn't an episode about cutting back. It's all about building forward.

Laura: 0:28

hello and welcome to money and career mastery from overwhelmed to ownership. I'm Laura Sexton, your abundance and legacy coach here to help you navigate the world of money, debt payoff, and career growth with confidence and clarity. In this podcast, we'll tackle the financial and career challenges, holding you back, optimize your income and build the freedom that comes with true ownership. If you're ready to break free from overwhelm, create a budget that aligns with your values and design a legacy that empowers future generations. You're in the right place.

Audio Only - All Participants-20: 1:02

Hey, accelerators, let's dive in. Generosity gets complicated this time of year. There's so much pressure, pressure to match what others are doing. Pressure to prove something through what we give the pressure to make up for the chaos of the year. But legacy level giving isn't reactive. It's not everybody's buying this, so I should too. No, no, no. It's, I want them to know I love them. It's identity and action. Legacy giving. It says, this is who I am. This is what we value, and this is how our family shows up in the world. When you give from fear, you sacrifice your future for a moment, but when you give from purpose, you invest your moment into the future. Let's talk about our kids for a minute and how they learn to give, because let me tell you, their eyes are always watching. Kids don't learn generosity by what shows up under the tree. They learn generosity by watching how you respond to their needs. They learn it when they watch you give something to someone who can't return the favor. They learn when they see you say, we're not buying extra this year because we're giving intentionally. Instead, sometimes I have to tell my kids, look, we're not getting another thing today because someone else needs something more. One thing that we are doing this year is we are participating in a toy drive that our church is doing. Our church is wonderful and they focus a lot on children with special abilities. A lot of people would say their children with special needs, and we choose to look at them as VIPs. They're very important people, and they're people that their parents probably spend a lot of money on medical care. Their parents are probably really stressed and stretched. We have a lot of kids in the special Ability ministry who come from foster care put out into the world and feel very unloved on some level, which is why our church focuses on them a lot. It's very much the least of these that we seek to serve. And we're having a toy drive because every year we have a giant Christmas shop where these kids with special needs get to come in and pick whatever they want, or their parents come in and pick for them and then put them underneath the Christmas tree. Our kids this year are participating by taking some of their own money and buying a present for these kids. We've been given wishlist and suggestions, but we're gonna let our kids, at least the big three, who kind of understand, right, we're gonna let them go and shop not for something for themselves, but for something for someone else. And I really wish that they could go and be a part of the Christmas shop. Unfortunately, they're not old enough to participate in the actual shopping endeavor with the VIPs. But we wanna make sure that they see the people that they're helping and we wanna make sure that they understand. So we are asking them to spend some of their own money that they have worked hard for to give, and we, of course, are coming alongside them and doing the same leadership. Isn't just providing, it's modeling your priorities, which is why they are going to be doing what we are doing and for kids grow up believing that generosity is normal, even when it costs you something. That is a legacy that will outlast every gift you ever buy. Let me pull the curtain back for a second. This time next year, my family and I are launching a nonprofit with one Central mission to help pay off debt that is housed for Children's Medical to help pay off children's medical debt because no family should face financial catastrophe simply because their child got sick. This is something that is very near and dear to. Our family's heart. My husband lost a child in a previous marriage and they spent a lot of time about a month at the Ronald McDonald House. We give to them very specifically and intentionally because it did serve our family so strongly. And I want to do more for the people that are in those situations that are stressed and struggling and they're in a catastrophic situation. And they not only have to worry about will their child get better, but they have to worry about how are we gonna pay for this? When my son had surgery, he was five weeks old and he had a severe staph infection, which would be, I'm five foot eight, and on me it would be about the size of a basketball, the pocket of staph, and he's five weeks old and it's just. A full on insanity that we're having to do this at five weeks old that the medicine isn't helping and we have to open up his body to drain this septic infection. And the nurses would come to me and they're like, you are the only person on this floor who has peace. And I said, well, I don't. I only have to worry about him getting better. That's the only thing I have to worry about. My husband has my older kids. We have plenty of money in the bank to cover this. My only focus is whether or not he gets better, and that was stunning to them. So of course, having health insurance and having an emergency fund makes sense. But when I think back on so many people that have a child with a catastrophic event, that debt goes to collections because they can't handle it all. And what I would love to do is take some of that stress off their shoulders. Collection agencies go to, say a hospital and they buy the debt for pennies on the dollar. The hospital decides, we're gonna charge this off. It's no big deal. We'll sell it to you for 20 cents on the dollar. The collection company thinks that's a great deal because they get charged 20 cents on the dollar. They can settle it for usually 80 to 90 cents on the dollar, and so they're making a pretty nice spread. What I would wanna do is create this 5 0 1 C3 that operates as a collection agency. We will go to the hospital and we will buy that medical debt. So if we as a community, as a community of legacy builders can come together and put a hundred thousand dollars into an account, we can then take it down to the hospital and pay off$500,000 of outstanding medical bills. And this is gonna happen because right now in this season, we are practicing stewardship. We are practicing discipline. We are building systems that create margin and margin will fund your generosity. I'm not interested in being comfortably generous. I wanna be courageously generous. I wanna be outrageously generous, and that has to begin today with the small act of purpose that later enables big acts of generosity. Let me tell you how legacy level giving feels. Let's be honest. Giving generously can feel risky. There will be times that you think that money could have come to something more practical. What if I need it later? Yes, wisdom matters, but so does willingness. Generosity does not make you weaker. It roots you deeper. So when you give from an aligned identity, you don't lose. You anchor. Anchor into purpose, anchor into values, anchor into peace. That's why we focus on identity first, because giving risks something emotionally, but aligned identity that's gonna return something spiritually. Practically speaking, legacy building means involving your kids in the giving. I, when I challenge you to choose one moment this week to involve your kids in giving, not just in the receiving, I know it's that time of year. So here are three simple ideas that you can do even just this weekend. Sit around the table and choose a person or family to bless intentionally. Have every child pick a way to contribute, be it money, a handmade card, a special delivery, whatever's gonna fit your family. If your family likes to give to an organization, let's explain to them why. Tell'em this is how we help another family, the way that we'd want someone to help us. It's not about just going and putting money in the Salvation Army tins when there's a Santa outside ringing a bell. Explain why we give two different organizations and do it intentionally. And the third example, give them a role. Have them wrap the gift. Choose the type of cookies. Draw something for the child. Write a note. Don't just give to someone. Invite the kids to give with you because legacy isn't taught through lectures as much as I really wish it could be, because boy do I do a good job at giving out lectures. It is transferred through participation. When we go out to eat at restaurants, my favorite thing to do is to bring cash for the tip and have the kids take it to the waitress or the waiter. That is so fun for me to let the kids go, give money, and I will tell you the problem with this is my 2-year-old thinks that money is for her and she puts it in her pocket or she runs around or she won't give it back. So my two year old's not currently allowed to do this anymore. When we had our sitter, we paid her for Thanksgiving week knowing that she wasn't gonna be here, but wanting to make sure that she was paid for that time. And my 2-year-old made it rain in my living room and just throwing$20 bills everywhere. I was like, oh my lanta, that's not helpful. Back to the meat of the show. What generosity does for your future is giving from alignment. When you give from alignment, three things are gonna happen immediately to change your future. Your heart expands. Oh, the more your heart expands, the more comfortable you become with giving your kids, they're gonna witness your purpose and your future. It becomes clearer because giving isn't the sacrifice of your future. It's the seed of it. Think about this, if I steward well this season, if I live on purpose, if I operate from identity and not insecurity, then a year from now, our family won't just give differently. We'll lead differently, and I want that for you. Here's the legacy challenge, guys. Decide who you want to become and how you give. Make one choice this week, that future you would be proud of. Maybe it's choosing meaning over quantity and gifts this year. Maybe it's sending$20 with your child to surprise their teacher. Maybe it's taking a hundred dollars and quietly covering a bill for a single mom. It doesn't have to be big, but it has to be intentionally aligned. Make generosity normal in your home. Make it light, make it joyful, and make it part of your legacy. This is exactly what we do in coaching. We build from identity. We align your money with your values. We create a plan that gives you not just financial stability, but capacity for your purpose. If you're ready to lead your finances from alignment, not exhaustion, schedule a clarity call with me. Accelerate your legacy.com/clarity call. Don't wait until January to start leading differently. Start now before the receipt hits. Next week we're closing out the year with something. I think we all need a money reset and renewal for the new year. It's gonna be calm, grounding, and exactly the pause. Your nervous system will be craving after the holidays. That's it for this week. Accelerators go out and make a difference.

Laura: 13:02

thank you for spending time with us today on Money and Career Mastery from Overwhelm to Ownership. Remember, your legacy isn't just about financial freedom. It's about living with purpose, taking action, and building a foundation that lasts for generations. Don't just listen, implement what you've learned and share it with someone who could use a financial or career breakthrough. If you found value in today's episode, help us grow by rating, reviewing, and sharing the podcast. I'll be back next week with more strategies to help you master your money and career. Until then take ownership of your future and build your legacy with intention.