A Lesson in Estate Planning

In 1840, Dan’s great grandfather left the Whiting farm in Webster, MA were he had been in service since his parents had died. He walked to Hartford, CT and got a job at Colts firearms where the normal workweek was 12 hours a day, 7am-7pm, and Saturday he worked half a day, Sunday he attended church. He formed Bullard Parsons in 1858 to rebuild and sell used machine tools. The civil war broke out, and they were in the right place at the right time. The business evolved into the Bullard Machine Tool Company and moved to Bridgeport, CT. During World War II the Bullard Company employed over 2,000 people. In its heyday the Bullard Company employed over 1,600 employees and had sales approaching 60 million inflation adjusted, and profits of 3.3 million inflation adjusted. Their advisors included among others, Arthur Anderson, Chemical Bank, New York Trust, Bankers Trust, and Merrill Lynch. As various members of the Bullard family died, their stock in the Bullard Company was sold to pay estate taxes resulting in the business being publicly traded and listed on the NYSE. By the early 1960’s the stock was widely held and a tender offer was made by White Consolidating of Cleveland which eventually lead to the demise of the company.

At this point in time Dan Bullard was introduced to the concept that estate planning, tax planning and the efficient use of life insurance could be used effectively in helping family held businesses pass from generation to generation. This seed has been and is the genesis of the previous Bullard Financial, now known as Sound Generational Wealth.