http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/ The latest Blog feeds from www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au en-us Sun, 08 Nov 2026 21:29:23 +1100 Rocketspark http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13521/the-family-rule-book/ Picture a family who has been on the same property for generations. The shed is still full of Dad’s old tools, the kids all learned to drive in the paddock, and Christmas lunch is still around the long table on the veranda. One son has worked the place every day for forty-three years. His sister lives in Brisbane and comes home for the holidays. Nobody in that family is a villain, and both of them love the land. But one day someone asks what’s fair, and suddenly a room full of people who ado... Mon, 02 Nov 2026 13:43:24 +1100 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13521 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13496/money-together-is-stronger-than-money-apart-facilitating-at-the-fba-insights-conference/ On the 13th of October I had the privilege of facilitating a session at the Family Business Association Insights Conference in Brisbane. Thank you to the FBA for the invitation, and for trusting me with such a meaningful conversation.  I sat on stage with Frith Hudson Graham of Hudson Investments and her siblings, Kate Munro and Lynton Hudson. The words that shaped our time together came from their father: “money together is stronger than money apart”. Simple, and strong. &nbs... Tue, 27 Oct 2026 13:07:38 +1100 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13496 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13346/what-the-law-cant-fix-in-a-family-inheritance-dispute/ Over the years, I've noticed something about families who end up fighting over money. The fight is almost never really about the money. It's about power. Control. Legacy. Who was chosen, who was overlooked, who was loved, and who was quietly expected to sacrifice. By the time a family reaches the point of dividing an estate through lawyers and courtrooms, the dollar figure is usually just the surface of something much older and much deeper. Courts are buil... Wed, 16 Sep 2026 09:53:23 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13346 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13324/the-gap-between-intention-and-action/ There is a gap that shows up again and again in families who are thinking about succession. I learned the name for it recently, sitting in on a session with Dr Dennis Jaffe, one of the leading researchers in this field. He calls it the succession gap. Families intend to plan. They know it matters. And yet, when it comes to actually doing something about it, very few take the first step. I found this both familiar and a little confronting. Familiar, because I have watched... Wed, 09 Sep 2026 15:31:56 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13324 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13313/to-the-fathers-and-the-men-who-hold-families-together/ Father's Day has me thinking about the steadiness some men bring to a family. Not always loud about it, not looking for thanks, just showing up year after year and doing the work that holds everything together. For a lot of us, that steadiness came from a father. For others, it came from a grandfather, an uncle, a mentor, or someone who simply chose to stick around when it mattered. However it showed up in your life, it's worth pausing for. Whether you're celeb... Sun, 06 Sep 2026 06:00:00 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13313 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13304/the-discipline-of-staying-sharp/ In nearly three decades of advising families, I have learned something. The moment you think you have seen it all is usually the moment before a family proves you wrong.Every family carries its own history. Its own version of what fairness looks like. Its own quiet tensions. Sitting with families, year after year, I have come to believe that experience alone is not enough. They deserve someone who is still curious. Still learning. Still willing to be surprised.There is a quiet assumption in this... Tue, 01 Sep 2026 12:24:07 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13304 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13249/what-a-musical-about-death-taught-me-about-family/ A few months ago I booked tickets to see Beetlejuice the musical. Not exactly typical reading material for an advisor, I know. But sitting with that story, a family upended overnight by sudden loss, scrambling to make sense of what comes next, I found myself thinking about the families I work with every day. Because that is actually how it happens. Not always dramatically. But often without warning. A health scare. A marriage breakdown. A parent who c... Mon, 24 Aug 2026 09:10:11 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13249 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13138/joining-sorella/ I am very pleased to share that I have joined Brad Scott as Client Director of Sorella, a specialist division within EWM Group  dedicated to women of influence, wealth, and legacy.Over the years, I have come to notice that the most meaningful changes rarely feel sudden. They tend to arrive after a long period of quiet consideration, a sense that something is ready even before you can quite name it. That is how this decision has felt for me, and what stays the same is the thing that has alw... Fri, 24 Jul 2026 17:45:46 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13138 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/13133/the-strength-that-learns-to-stand-alone/ Recently I met Janet, someone who was sharp, capable, and almost impossible to read. She was not overwhelmed. She was not looking for reassurance. She simply worked through her financial position with her adviser and accountant, ticking through what needed attention, giving facts, but never quite giving herself. It was not until a couple of quiet questions, asked at the right moment, that something shifted. A pause settled over the room. And slowly, in small pieces, Janet beg... Mon, 20 Jul 2026 15:55:13 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post13133 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/post/12975/my-nonnas-kitchen/ Some of my earliest memories are not of classrooms or playgrounds. They are of a kitchen table. My Nonna lived in the centre of town in far north Queensland, in a sugar cane community where everybody knew everybody, and where reputation and loyalty meant everything. From the time I was six years old, I would sit at her kitchen table and watch the world come to her. The table itself had a story. My great grandparents had arrived from Italy in the early 1920s, ma... Fri, 03 Jul 2026 16:04:29 +1000 http://www.helenrussoadvisory.com.au/blog/#post12975