I came across an interesting article right before Father’s Day written by Matt Christensen: 12 Important Questions To Ask Your Dad Before He’s Gone. I think it caught my attention because my Dad died at the age of 53 when I was 19.
It was hardly the age to ask Dad any questions, plus I am one of nine kids, so quality time with my dad was never in the cards. I now find myself not only a Dad, but a Papa to 8 grandchildren. The questions he asked are thought provoking and would be difficult for me to answer. Here are the 12 Important Questions:
- What in your life has made you most proud?
- What made you select the career you chose?
- Who was most influential in your life?
- What about your father did you admire most?
- What was the biggest life lesson you had?
- What is your biggest regret in life?
- How do you think your father would describe you?
- What is a mistake you made that gave you a big life lesson?
- What world event impacted you the most?
- What was the most difficult moment for you as a father?
- What is it you enjoy most about being a father?
- What’s one story you’ve never told me?
Wouldn’t it be great to ask your dad some of these questions? I wonder if our dads would have answered them and what the answers would be.
Collecting Parents’ Stories
The website Storyworth.com can be a good place to start in your pursuit of gathering information from your parents. It’s a program that is set up with a database of questions that you select to ask your dad on a weekly basis for 52 weeks by email. Your Dad responds to the emailed questions and the responses are compiled and bound into a beautiful keepsake book. It can be used for either parent, both parents, or grandparents. The database of questions are insightful questions that give you the ability to understand more about your parents or grandparents and their lives.
You can also create questions of your own if you’d like to. It’s very eye-opening to read their stories and life experiences. It brings to life their hardships, experiences, joy, humor and how life was “back in the day.” It gives you an appreciation for who they really are and the experiences that shaped their choices and their lives.
Money Lessons from Previous Generations
It’s also very interesting to learn how parents and grandparents dealt with their finances throughout the years and their relationship with money. Most of our clients tell us they came from what they considered a poor family. Most remember a time in their childhood where there was a lack of money and they were grateful for a roof over their head and food on the table. Our Cristina Wiebelt-Smith CPA, Financial Advisor, wrote a blog, The Power of Money Memories that you may find of interest on this topic.
Your “Dash”
Getting insight from our parents’ and grandparents’ lives also gives us a reality check, because in many cases most of us are the parents and grandparents today. The Dash represents the years in between the life you are living right now.
We think financial planning is all about how you want to live your Dash and how you want to write your own story. It’s not about the numbers, it’s about the life those numbers can create and how they can help you live your dash to the fullest.
It’s a privilege when clients share their dreams for living their dash and it’s a privilege for us to help you create your dash. Maybe one day, your children and grandchildren will be reading the story of how you lived your dash.
Schedule a time so we can help you plan your “dash”!
Call 816-259-5060 or contact us online.
