Remember our post last year on the Legacy Binder idea?
Where you put all the important details about your money/life/etc into one main spot in case someone ever needs it one day? After of course telling that special person where it’s located?? ;)
Well, Chelsea from SmartMoneyMamas.com just made this super easy for people to do, and just compiled a whopping 90+ page PDF where all you have to do is fill in the blanks the next time you have 100 hours and you’ll be all set to go, haha… (but at least they’ll be productive hours!)
Check it out –> Family Emergency Binder
(UPDATE: It used to be called the “ICE” Binder (“In Case of Emergency”), but looks like it’s since changed to the “Family Emergency Binder”)
It does cost money ($39.00), but if you actually follow through with this you’ll save your entire family thousands of hours – and probably dollars – trying to figure out where everything is on that fateful day you rise to the heavens. And if you hate it, you can just email her back and she’ll fully refund you no questions asked!
I have it downloaded and opened up on my laptop as I’m typing this, and every day or so I just go in and fill out a few new sections to slowly knock it out without killing myself (no pun intended).
It really is easy, and she really did think of everything. Mine would have been about 3 pages long if I tried to create something like this, haha…
Here’s a summary of what’s included:
- Over 90 pages of simple, printable worksheets to organize everything your family may need to know (type right in the PDF!)
- 15 easy-to-navigate subsections – no shuffling through drawers and file cabinets
- The perfect mix of cold-hard-fact and emotional legacy. Including your son’s favorite lullaby.
(It doesn’t come with a physical binder btw, but of course you can place it into one when you’re done)
And then here’s some sample pages so you can see what they look like (click to enlarge):
You can fill out a lot of the sections right off the top of your head, but a few of them do take a bit more time – mainly just figuring out WHERE all the info is in your house/records/etc. Which is even more reason to get something like this in place – if it takes you a while to find the things you need, just imagine how long it’ll take someone else trying to scrap it all together!
And it can double as a quick resource for *yourself* too, knowing that everything you need is in one spot from now on when you’re on the hunt for something ;)
UPDATE: Forgot to mention earlier – this PDF works whether you’re in the U.S. or elsewhere! As long as you can read English you can use this as it’s all open ended answers for you to fill in ;)
So yeah – J. Money approves! And is why it’s this month’s recommended product! A new series I’m thinking of starting here, unless you all hate the idea, in which case – welcome to the end of the series! Haha…
But what if I did something like give a few copies away of the recommended resources each month? Would that be something you might be interested in? (<– Entourage reference)
Let’s try it and see what happens…
Hi guys!!!
WHO WANTS A FREE COPY OF THIS KILLER ICE BINDER???
I have THREE to give away today – woo!
Answer the following question in the comments below or via email, and you’ll be entered to win. We’ll pick the winners tomorrow morning!
What’s ONE thing you really want to do before you die? And for bonus points: what’s preventing you from it right now?
This is gonna sound weird, but I personally just really want to die on the soil of my hometown whenever it’s time. It freaks me out to think of dying somewhere far away from friends and family, so to make this a reality I actually need to MOVE BACK to my hometown which is currently in the works – only 11 more months to go, I can’t wait!! (Unless I’m dying the second I get there, in which case – I can wait! ;))
Alright, so with those lovely words out of the way, haha…
- Check out that ICE Binder and see what you think!
- Try your hand at winning it, and if you end up being unlucky make sure to go out and scoop it up as it really is worth it. And again, only costs $39.00.
Good luck everyone! I’ll come back and update this post tomorrow morning with the winners… Let’s see who can fill out the pages the fastest! ;)
UPDATE: The giveaway is now over! Here are the 3 lucky winners –> Gregory C, Nikki G, and Jill L. Congrats guys!!
*****
Links to the ICE Binder are affiliate links, meaning I’ll get compensated if you end up purchasing it. Which also means I get to keep running this blog for y’all – so thanks! ;)
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One thing I’d like to do? Have a family. What’s stopping me? My income and savings are not even close to adequate to swing this as a single person. So I’ve either got to earn more or find someone to do it with me.
I hear you, Amanda! I struggled with that for years. I got a whippet a few months ago and while I’m completely aware a dog is not a baby (!!!) I love her so much and she has brought great joy to my life!
Awww, haha…
I do see a dog in my future as well…hopefully. Whippets are beautiful.
Wow! A big question for my 11am (made in the office kitchen) coffee break! Mine is small but it’s something I think about all the time…
What’s ONE thing you really want to do before you die?
Learn to ride a bike around my busy city (London)
And for bonus points: what’s preventing you from it right now?
Fear of cars and of injury!
I’d agree! Haha… Fun challenge to try to complete one day though! :)
Kate,
Triple M has an article about bikes. You should check it out. “You don’t need a sidewalk or a bike lane to ride a bike. You don’t need a street with no other cars. Drivers are statistically very equal in skill…”
What a great idea! Thanks for sharing, J! For me, I want to see the birth of a grandchild.
Love it :)
One thing I’d like to do? RV or camper travel across the US. what’s preventing you from it right now? Thankfully not money but I’m a caregiver right now so someday it will happen.
So it’s really just a matter of *when* then, and not *how* – that’s pretty good!
I really want to travel around the US in a camper and see our beautiful country before I die. Right now work and raising children are holding me back. That’s why I am working towards fire! So I can do it when I am still young enough to enjoy it!
Love it!! Or you can get hardcore like other FIRE people who travel the country/world with their kids and homeschool, but that takes a whole other breed haha… I don’t think I’d survive it ;)
One thing I want to do before I die is make someone else’s life better by helping them achieve their dream. I want to be able to contribute more financially, but feel like i’m not quite able to afford to give money away yet.
AHHH LOVE THIS ONE!!!! And the beauty of it is that you can still offer your *help* and *skills* to fulful others’ dreams!! Every now and then I ask on Twitter what people need help with and then spend a couple of hours trying to fulfil as many requests as I can… It’s not always super life changing, but it’s fun to help out in bits and still makes a difference! :)
I am a mental health nurse and I want to volunteer to help in areas where disasters (hurricanes, fires, floods, etc) have occurred. My only obstacle at this point is finding the time to complete the training, but I am hoping to accomplish that in the next month or two, so I will be ready to deploy the next time the need arises.
Excellent one!!!! I hope you do it – we need more angels in this world!!
Hmmm… There’s lots of “me” stuff. Im married, so there’s lots of “we” stuff. Its hard to pick just one.
I’d like to drive (and I don’t mean to go by in the slow lane) an F1 or a real Baja Buggy (truggy). For me and the missus Id like to take her overseas to Italy or Ireland or a dozen other places.
What’s preventing me/us? I just haven’t gotten serious enough into looking at it. We’ve been focused on other things.
Maybe since the kids are grown, we should….
I would concur ;)
All sorts of travel goals are my dreams before I die. One big one is volunteering with the orangutans in Borneo and making a positive difference environmentally. Time and money are my biggest barriers to do this type of global work but I’ve got targets (elephant sanctuary trip in Kenya this February). Thank you for the chance to win.
Love how specific that is! Much easier to attain when you know exactly what you want :)
What a fantastic resource! Fingers crossed on winning a freebie, but will consider purchasing if I don’t win. I’ve wanted to through-hike the Appalachian Trail since I saw a documentary about it in college 20 years ago. Life has gotten in the way, and I’m currently focused on eradicating school loans (I went back to school). But once my loans are paid off (December 2019, baby!) I do intend to make this happen.
The AT holds a special place in my early retirement heart. It’s actually the original thing that drove my interest in early retirement, since it is kinda hard (but not impossible) to take 6 months off to hike. Now I’m hoping it will be a mix between my retirement party and a cleansing of corporate life while I figure out what I’d like to do when I grow up.
I really want to go travel, but yeah, the income is an issue :)
I like the idea of recommended products. You’ve spent a long time in this space and you’ve got a great blog so I would give a thumbs up to a section on that.
What to buy, who to trust, whose advice to follow is hard in today’s hyper-connected world so getting recommendations from someone trustworthy is priceless. Especially from someone who has proven experience and knowledge in the sector.
Hey, thanks!! I’ll continue to keep my eyes open then and *only* share the stuff I think is the best :)
One thing I really want to do? Wingsuit base jumping…aka flying squirrel suits. Only things stopping me are my wife and fact it looks extremely dangerous.
Haha yeah, I’d imagine so.
I want to move to the mountains and hike everyday. What’s stopping me? I’m not FI yet, and I just embarked on a new business venture that requires me to be in person meeting clients.
LOVE the Entourage reference!
Before I die, I want to have seen as much of this world as possible. I’ve been a few places, but the list of unseen places is longer.
What’s stopping me currently is my family’s financial goals; saving up an emergency fund, retirement planning…once we have a handle on those things we’re going to add a decent travel sinking fund to our budget, start travel hacking, and take some trips!
Glad you knew what that was!! One of my wife and I’s favorite lines to repeat in our household :)
One thing I’d like to do before I go is see every child I taught Kindergarten I taught in 2015-2016 graduate high-school and give a certain amount towards their college as a gift at that time. My thought is $1000. What is stopping me is time (They have to grow up) as well as the continued guidance of a teacher to children where most will be the first in their families to graduate. Lost of ongoing tutoring and emotional support to keep them in school.
Wow – I’ve never heard that idea before!!! I really like it!!
Use travel hacking to visit all 7 continents on the cheap, 5 down and 2 to go… what’s slowing me down, work…
One thing we want to do before we exit this world is to travel the United States in an RV. Free wheeling across the country on our own schedule. There is so much to see.
What is preventing us from doing it right now? My wife continues to fight Stage IV cancer and our lives revolve around a 3 month cycle of testing and waiting on results. Faith, Family and Friends are getting us through this very challenging time.
ugh, i’m sorry to hear man :( such a horrible thing to go through.
I really want to open a restaurant and a tap house before I die. What’s preventing me from doing it right now? My career choice and financial situation. I’m an engineer, 27, getting married at the end of the month, and paying off student loans. I want to be on a more sound financial footing before doing something as drastic as quitting my job (or my wife quitting hers) to run a business. But at the rate us DINKs are going, it won’t be too long!
I want to travel to Egypt, see the pyramids the Sphinx and all the impossible things they DID.
One thing I would like to do before I die is take a road trip East of the Mississippi and visit as many Underground Railroad stations as possible. (I am a history teacher.) I have not done this yet because of time and money. I would like to take a couple of months to do the trip and I do not want to go into debt to make it all happen.
That would be awesome :)
Selfishly, I want to retire and travel before I die, immersing myself in all the cultures of the world. A little less selfishly, I’d like to enter the craft of whisk(e)y distillation and aging. Work is standing in the way; I’m 16 years in and need to put in at least another 9 years to reap those valuable retirement benefits.
At the top of my bucket list is riding my bike from coast to coast, 100% unsupported. I have a few friends that have done it and I think it would be a blast! My main roadblocks right now are family and work. I’m hoping once the kids get out of school I’ll have the time and resources to make it happen.
That would be impressive! When you say “unsupported” do you mean no sponsors, or not supported by use of cars or other stuff during stretches?
I would love to go on a family road trip! We have 2 little boys and then a medically fragile little girl, so the biggest holdback is money (of course!) and then just planning what places can accommodate my daughter’s needs. It will take work but I know it will be worth it!
I want to help my kids with the down payment for their first house. They are only 10 and 7 right now so that is why I have not accomplished this goal yet. But we are working in that direction. We will have our house paid off in the next year and will start aggressively saving that payment each month so one day we can step in and bless our kiddos!
Lucky kids!! :)
I would love to take a year to travel all around the US in an RV. With three home schooled kids, it would be an awesome experience for them to learn about this great country of ours. What’s stopping me from doing it now? Money mostly, but also the thought that I don’t want to have the experience of a lifetime at age 37. What could I possible follow that up with? We could maybe swing it with our savings, but the bigger risk is not being able to find a job quickly when we return. If I could take a one year leave of absence from my current job and fall right back into it when I return, I would probably do it. Maybe I should go have a conversation with my boss…
I want to go to the Netherlands and see the places where my parents were born and spent their childhood before immigrating to Canada many years ago. Paying for European vacations never seemed to be feasible.
With children all out of the house now, and vacation money easier to fit into the budget, this coming spring I am planning on going, with my parents (who are in their mid/upper 70s).
The Aimless vacation: pick a direction and go — mostly keeping me from doing it is problems driving for an longer period of time. Needs a willing cohort with time, and don’t have one of those right now.
One thing I’d like to do before I die is learn how to sail. Not competitively, or anything, but just learn how to sail a little boat, and spend lots and lots of time on the water. Keeping me from this endeavor is how expensive boats are, and my giant law school student loans, unfortunately.
I would love to be able to own a house on a lake, with a boat, Jet Ski, and all the fun water toys. While we probably could afford it financially now, it would definitely move us back in the FIRE department.
Travel, more travel and yeah more traveling!! Money, work, family, life in general.
Definitely travel more. Need to see more of the U.S. What is stopping us? One kid still in college and trying to wrap up all loose ends before retirement in 5-7 years. Really need the ICE binder because it is something we should have done YEARS ago!!
I want to spend my summers in Canada with my family (currently in US). Bills are preventing me from doing so.
I want to live some place that has seasons and is scenic. Currently living in Houston which has neither of those things. Plan is to relocate to the north east early 2019, so nothing really stopping us, just need to get things in order to move!
I want to home school my children. I need to work full-time for 18 more months before I could move to part-time, at which point home schooling may be possible.
As an older parent, the ICE binder sounds like a great idea!
Be Debt Free… so that maybe I can retire one day!! There’s nothing to keep me from working on it. But what’s stopping me today is lack of $$, poor decisions/circumstances from my past, and getting a late start on this goal.
This ICE is a great idea. My Dad passed away about 3 years ago. He was a good planner and my Mom didn’t have to worry about anything while he was in the hospital for 8 weeks because he had everything automated for her. But it was difficult after he passed trying to get everything set up on her accounts because we didn’t have the passwords. Even down to trying to get her NEST thermostat to work (it was set up on his phone, but what’s the password??) I’m a single mom and my kids are all late teens to early 20’s. Hopefully nothing will happen to me soon, but if it did I know they wouldn’t know where to begin. My mom would help them, but she doesn’t know anything about my personal finances either.
This binder has all that stuff in it!! I hope you pick it up even if you don’t win! Amazing how a password or two can completely change the game.
I’m definitely going to buy this anyway, it looks fantastic! But I figured I’d try a shot at winning first. ;) My before-I-die goal is to backpack multiple nights on the Appalachian trail. What’s preventing me? Physical fitness and preparation knowledge. But I’ve been taking my toddler out in a hiking backpack for sections of trail, and I know if I can hike with his squirmy 20lb self on my back, I’m pretty close!
haha… that’s the truth.
The one thing that tops my list right now is spending a couple weeks (or months) in Yellowstone. The thing preventing this from happening right now is this dang ol’ J.O.B.
I would love to visit Greek islands. Santorini is tops.
We just have to budget & get our lives in order beforehand.
I am FI at this point and am looking to retire but need something to retire to. Just started classes with my dog to become a therapy dog. Just started participating in a bell choir. So am moving baby steps in the right direction.
Yeah you are!! Helluva position to be in too – congrats on achieving that :)
First off, great topic, very timely considering this is important for emergencies besides death, like Hurricane Florence. Spouse and I recently started review of important documents as oldest has flown the nest and is now a Marine. Ooh Rah! One thing I’d like to do before I die is see both my children successfully launched as adults, with positive and supportive family and friends around them, an understanding of how to mange money ;) and a passion for their life. Not really something being actively prevented, just time!
As a son of a marine myself, Oorah right back!
I want to go skydiving. We don’t have splurge money for stuff like this but I’m turning 40 soon! Treat Yo Self!
My wife and I would love to travel the world and visit all of the historic hotspots. Right now we are focusing on growing our family and knocking out debt!
Like so many others, I would like to do a lot more traveling before I die. The list is so long – US and international places. I would love to be able to do months long road trip/traveling out West in the states and visit all of the national parks. There is so much to see in the states that I feel it would be a shame to miss out on what is in my own “backyard “.
Thanks for passing along this information- reinforces the point it’s always better to be prepared just in case. (Guess it’s the realist in me that knows we will all have to face this some day. Although I’m hoping to be around for quite some time still, I’m trying to prep this stuff and my mom just in case I go before my parents.).
Both my fiancé and I have lost our mothers this last year. Her mother past first and it was a nightmare for her children that all lived far away from her to settle her life. I pleaded with my parents to get something like this for me. I live over 600 miles from them. Unfortunately it never came and we went through a fair amount of hard conversations with my Dad to settle my Moms affairs that were completely unnecessary. It’s my dream to get a document like this in my hands from my father. What’s stopping me? His willingness. I guess the old man is just too much of a stubborn mule and is struggling with the thought of dying. A few months have passed since my mother left us and the fog of the loss is starting to lift. I’m going to get him this book and have another really tough, demanding conversation. Adulting at any age is never easy. : ) Hopefully this helps. Thanks JMoney!
Good luck with it all!!! You’re right that it’s never easy!
I want to see my child grow up into a happy, healthy, independent adult. Hopefully with a child of her own. What’s stopping me? She still young. I am willing to wait.
One thing I’d like to do before I die is travel to every continent. What’s stopping me from doing that right now, well aside from all the cash it would take to travel to every continent and the time off work, I am a new mother to a beautiful baby girl. Right now is just not the time to travel around the world BUT I am looking forward to traveling with her and my hubby once she is older.
I want to go see a launch at Kennedy Space Center. Hopefully I will do this when NASA launchs the next Mars rover in July 2020.
I would love to be as materially and financially free as possible. After (or while) raising our kids, my husband and I could jump up and travel, invest time into family, help friends, and volunteer with Samaritan’s Purse, Wounded Warrior Project, disaster relief, etc. I was really inspired by your friend Jeremy of Go Curry Cracker and how materially light he and his family live!
And personally, I LOVE when you share resources with us! It’s powerful and life-changing to be exposed to just the right thing at the right time. Love the ICE binder and so timely, as our aging parents are, themselves, not quite as prepared as we’d like them to be. Maybe us sharing a resource like this with them can rejuvenate the conversation:)
I’m so glad you found this helpful :) I don’t like doing too many reviews/product sharings cuz I hate marketing stuff, but every now and then I come across something I really love and believe in and then have to share. So I will def. keep my eyes open for more! (And yes to being financially and materially free!!)
I would love to publish successful novels, and have some of them made into movies. I also want to publish my poetry, regardless of what I make income wise with that. What is stopping me, is TIME!! My current FT occupation, which I am slowly leaving behind. Going to PT in a few weeks and slowly work out of it from there. Another thing stopping me is not writing enough! I have learned to write, write, and just write because something is better than nothing. **One thing that helps with a writers lifestyle before making it big or making income at all, is a bunch of money wise choices, moving to a smaller/cheaper house, and having a kind of old truck lol. I still travel, and spoil my doggos thanks to all the time i spent working and also my husbands income. If you put your mind to something and stay determined..amazing what happens :)
YES!! Writing every day gets you so much closer to it – even days you suck at it! :) I find doing it first thing in the early mornings makes it easier too fwiw.
Visit Europe (esp. England, France, Italy). In my 30s now and I’ve never been abroad. What’s stopping me…we might go later this year, but it’s tough to make the time between my job and my husband’s business. No time like the present, though!
What’s ONE thing you really want to do before you die? And for bonus points: what’s preventing you from it right now?
Learn a language somewhat competently! What’s keeping me from it now? Everchanging schedule and 12 hour workdays….
The one thing that I would like to do before I die, is getting my financial life in order, such as planning a will. The reasons why I never did it was the cost of planning it and not being motivated to do it.
I would love to spend time traveling in Africa. What’s keeping me? A child still at home who doesn’t want to go, and too many things sucking up our disposal resources.
I really want to go back to Belgium. What’s stopping me? I haven’t been able to convince my spouse yet! He’s a work in progress, but I’ll get there. If I can get him to eat broccoli (only took 30 years) I can get him to Europe : )
Hilarious.
It’s like me and Indian food, and now I CAN’T GET ENOUGH!!!!
Write a book, what’s stopping me, writer’s block … I’m not sure yet what I want to write about.
I would like to live in a little house with just my husband. We’ve been married 36 years and raising children for 34 years after birthing two in the 80’s and then adopting four newborns from 1995-2000. Being parents is wonderful, but we’re ready to live as a couple in our own space. What’s stopping us? Youngest two are 18 and nearly 20 so a little longer until they leave the nest. We are currently purging and preparing our too-large-for-us home to sell so we will be ready to begin the next season of our lives.
I want to go on more vacations with my husband and kids. Finances are stopping me right now; we are paying for private school (for religious reasons) and are saving for a couple big things right now. Also, my husband started a new job and doesn’t have much leave.
But we went to the Great Smoky Mountains this past summer and everyone had a great time (and it was really cheap!). With all of the stressors of daily life, it was nice to step out of that for a while and just enjoy being together. So I really need to make family vacations a bigger priority!
Our family goal right now is to visit all 50 states with our daughter before she leaves home. After this year, we’ll have 12 left. We have to go during school breaks so that limits our time. Hopefully I won’t kick the bucket before we finish!
The other thing I always say is that I’d like to live near the ocean before I die. We are too established with work and school where we live now to make that a reality but maybe someday.
My wish is to live long enough to become a grandpa and spend many quality years with my grandchildren. The only thing stopping me is that neither of my kids are even dating anyone right now! My daughter is 3 months into her first job after college and my son is a sophomore in college yet. They are not in a big hurry and hopefully I’m going to be around for awhile.
I want to live in a small house with land for a couple of large dogs playing,a garden, and rescued wildlife. I can’t leave my current job because I need to save money. For now I have 1 cat and a very economical living situation.
One thing I would like to do before I die?! Start an in-person personal finance training program for underprivileged parents and families that they don’t have to pay for, which could help them get out of poverty and into a better position financially, emotionally and physically. What’s stopping me from doing it now?! Time and resources, but one day I’ll be able too and it will be great!!!
I’d like to be able to either retire early, or take a mid-life retirement to travel around the country to the best parks and roadways where I can park with my family, get out and into nature, and run, hike, or bike to see all the best that America has to offer. What’s stopping me? Enough money to sustain. I do believe it will happen in my 40s though. Just gotta keep on truckin and workin that sexy budget!
The one thing I want to do is play roller derby! And I started on this past Sunday. :)
Give a paid speech to an organization/group.
Unconfident I could get someone to pay for a presentation.
Spot on, I’ve been dreaming of putting something like this together for my family, what a great resource, thank you !
As for what I’d like to do before I die, I’d like to know that I have “really” lived !
What’s prevented me so far is that I haven’t been consciously choosing how to live and what to spend my precious time on. Well no more ! Partly thanks to you J. Money
Love to hear that :)
What do I really want to do? Travel to New Zealand with my hubby for a couple of months of explorations.
What’s stopping us? We have two elderly dogs that fill our home and hearts with lots of love. We don’t want them to spend an extended period of time in a kennel or even with another family member. We’re fine waiting for them to live out their last days in the comfort of their own home.
One thing I want to do before I die is hike and sight-see in Alaska. What is stopping me right now? Being able to leave our dog behind for as long as we’d want to be gone. ;)
We did an expedition cruise with Uncruise – so we got to hike, kayak, explore – and it was incredible. Saw bald eagles, otters, orcas, humpback whales, bears and the food was superb. We didn’t want to leave. Can’t wait to do it again someday. Highly recommend to anyone who wants to see Alaska
I would really like to see the Northern Lights in person. What’s keeping me from it? Well, I live in Texas and hate the cold! Really, I think it’s a matter of planning and saving for the trip. I need to change my thinking from the random “that’s something I would really like to do” to “that’s something I AM GOING to do.” With a plan of how I’ll make it happen.
You know, this was an exercise worth doing, even if I don’t win the planner!
Thanks!
Do an Alaska cruise! (Small, expedition boats are more fun than the big cruiselines) It isn’t cold in July/August and you have a good shot of seeing the Lights!
Thanks, Chelsea!
That’s a great idea. Also appreciate the small boat suggestion. The big cruise ship concept does not appeal to me. I think I need to do some research!
Hi JMoney!
I LIVE for organization and this little ICE Binder is right up my alley. Thank you so much for hosting a giveaway!
What’s ONE thing you really want to do before you die? – I want to be an active Muay Thai practitioner again. I grew up in martial arts with my family (TaeKwonDo) and took on Muay Thai in my early 20s.
And for bonus points: what’s preventing you from it right now? – A recent jaw injury/disorder has prevented me from sparring or doing it at all (fear of someone breaking my jaw). Hopefully I can find a way (or maybe a doctor/scientist will invent something?) to repair the cartilage on my jaw hinge so I can go full throttle once again :)
One thing I really would like to try is be the personal assistant to a CEO at a Fortune 500 company. I want to learn how they run the business, how they handle finance, how they maintain relationship, etc. I think it will be eye opening and I can learn so much from them. What stopping me is that I don’t even know where to find a temporary role like this.
I heard people who deliver the internal mail at large companies also learn and see a lot too :)
Before I die, I would love to stay at the Ice Hotel in Sweden and take a dogsled into Lapland at night to see the Northern Lights. I attempted to convince my wife that would be a great honeymoon destination, but she didn’t buy it so we ended up somewhere a little warmer! The two obstacles in the way right now are the usual suspects: time and money. If I have enough of one, I usually don’t have enough of the other…but it’s a goal I’m working toward so sooner or later I’ll make it happen!
Just started reading this blog yesterday (already set up my net worth spreadsheet!) and thought I would chip in.
This is more like what do I want to do before my mother dies…which is take her on a trip (maybe a long weekend) just her and I. I have 5 brothers and I live abroad and never seem to have any one on one time with her.
What’s stopping me? Absolutely nothing but my laziness. I just need to do it.
Thanks for asking the question.
Thanks for giving the blog a shot :)
I’ve had a long standing goal to visit two new states per year until I’ve been to all 50. I’m leaving for 1,400 mile camper van trip in a giant loop from Salt Lake to the Grand Canyon in a few weeks and I am so darn excited.
So, want to hit all 50 before I die, nothing standing in my way, just trying to take it in manageable chunks/draw out the experience for maximum enjoyment!
Love this! We got both our boys the state quarter books and are giving them the quarters to put in their books as they visit each state. We can’t wait to do a cross-country trip with them when they are older.
I’m a poker geek. The one thing I’d like to do is play in the WSOP Main Event in Las Vegas one day. What’s preventing me? $10K buy-in. For now, any spare $10K I have lying around is going towards savings and investments. Maybe one day though…
Ooooh so all it takes to play in the event is $10k?? You don’t have to qualify or anything? That would be an amazing experience!
Nope, just show up with your cash :)
Otherwise, you can win a seat by playing other satellite tournaments as well.
I’d like to distill my own whiskey, but I do not (yet) have the faintest clue how to get started.
No more excuses ;)
https://www.thrillist.com/vice/how-to-make-homemade-whiskey-a-step-by-step-guide
Trying to decide the one thing I want to do before I die is not an easy task. My husband lost his mom & sister to cancer within 2 years of us getting married. We make time to spend with family and prioritize that above all else, so, I don’t feel that there is one thing I must do. except to get all my info together in this handy dandy binder so that he/I will know what to do if one of us goes. we are both so independent that we have separate everything, so there would be total chaos if one of us passed soon!
The one thing I want to do before I die is scuba dive on the Great Barrier Reef! The one thing holding back? I’m scared I’ll get eaten by a great white shark!
That’s on my bucket list too! It’s one thing we wish we did BEFORE kids, especially with all the bleaching and damage that is happening to the reefs :( Don’t let fear hold you back – Go now, while it is still there to see!
When I was on the great barrier reef, the first thing I saw when I went under water was a reef shark. It was more afraid of me than I was of it! We both freaked out a little!
It has been a life goal of mine to travel around and dig up one each of the 4 major gemstones myself (Diamond, Ruby, Sapphire, Emerald) . Found out recently that there are places in the U.S. where you can dig for all of them. So before I die I plan to take some vacations to each of these spots and dig dig dig!!
VERY COOL!!
I would like to own a dog before I die. What’s stopping me is my husband has allergies so we have to decide if he wants to pursue allergy shots (large commitment) or find a dog breed he can tolerate–we’ve dogsat a few kinds of dogs to see–one really did not bother him. Also, we live in an apartment that has no clause regarding dogs or not, but I’m thinking it would be difficult to train a puppy in a third floor apartment.
If only you were in love with hairless cats instead! :)
When we got our pup, we were living in an 18th floor apartment! Required us to be super attentive, but there were really only a few accidents. Check out some hypoallergenic breeds!
Check out golden doodles. I think they are ok for people allergies.
FI
Bad decisions in my 20s. Chronic health issues now.
My husband I want to sail around the world. I think the thing that’s stopping us right now is having lots of stuff (and living where we work) so the idea of moving is DAUNTING. I’m also not solid on knowing quite how much we need to have saved to undergo such an adventure or how we would provide for ourselves underway.
That is a huge and awesome goal! My husband used to be a yacht captain and loves sailing. His dad sailed across the Atlantic a few years ago with some friends.
Around the world is a daunting trip – you definitely want a solid amount saved up for repairs, detours, etc in addition to provisions. When you do it though – absolutely share a blog or Instagram!!
Meet and form a lifetime bond with my soulmate.
No clear way to achieve success.
For the wife and I its be debt free. Whats preventing it from happening is time. We read Dave Ramsey books. I read FIRE blogs. We bought the house in 2009 and its the last big bill. Payoff projected for 2021. We just have to keep on rocking it!
Only a few years to go!!! So close!
One thing is so hard to decide! I guess be able to travel the world with my wife would be the biggest thing. She is from Thailand and would like to go back… to be able to travel with no schedule… stay a month or longer if we want. No stress, no worries….two things preventing us from achieving it at the moment…. time and money. Six more years to retire at 59.5….. working hard to be financially independent by then!
I would love that. Coincidentally, I’ve been keeping at least some info – like 6 pages worth – in a very nice binder. But just yesterday, I decided I needed that binder for a new work project. So those pages went in a small clasp envelope! Also unfortunate is that a good deal of the info I have has changed. So I need to redo the whole thing.
Hah – perfect timing then!
Although this one doesn’t come with a physical binder – just the PDF – so you’d still need to find another ;)
A big part of my life is to be the best dad I can be for my three boys. Sadly, lack of time, money and peace in my home country preventing me from achieving the best results I could be achieving.
I would like to be financially independent! Not because that’s the sole end goal, but because it would free up time for things I love, like getting out for a hike whenever I want and volunteering. I had a period of unemployment recently and got a taste of what more time freedom would give me.
I guess the one thing I can think of that I would like to do before I die is to go and see for myself the ancient ruins in Egypt. I don’t do it now because of the incredible cost of the trip and I am raising a young son. Maybe when I get a little more money (and my son gets a little older) we can do this!
Hmmmm. We are relocating from the chilly north to the warm southern CA next year…what’s holding us back…teenagers who will be graduating this year!!!!! Yeah next summer here we come. I would love to win..my mom just passed and we had a heck of a time figuring out passwords, etc…great idea. Sharyl
I desperately want at least one grandchild in my life…have no control over that, haha!
I want to see my children grow up. I want to see who they become, where they go to college, the work they do, who they marry (if they marry), and all of the other stuff that just comes with living their lives. Hopefully nothing prevents me from doing this for a very long time to come.
Amen to that :)
My one big thing is living in Europe for a year or two. The one thing holding me back is a more reliable source of income that I can generate anywhere in the world.
**** GIVEAWAY OVER *****
The lucky winners are:
1) Gregory C
2) Nikki G
3) Jill L
Congrats guys!! And for everyone else – make sure to pick this up before next Wed if you still want it before the $10 coupon goes away! I’m glad y’all enjoyed this!! :)
just wanted to say that I went ahead and just ordered it since I wasn’t a lucky winner…but for people who use Paypal and have not signed up for their Paypal Credit option… you can get an additional $10.00 off by applying for Paypal credit(not to be confused with Paypal mastercard) so total purchase price was just $9.00 ! Thanks again Jay… after losing my dad last year and having to handle his estate.. I can say this is a really good idea. Luckily my dad left me a “what do do when I die” folder…. if it hadnt been for that… it would have made one of the hardest times in my life even harder…
Oh dang, smart dad!! Glad you picked up a copy of this – should make it super easier to knock out now yourself! :)
What a moderately morbid question I have stumbled upon today! I missed the chance to enter, but I still want to answer…I want to retire with hubby early, WAY before I die. True story, I used to work in a hospital and we had a fantastic rehab director, an orthopedic doc. Just a really wonderful, kind person — excellent doctor too. He retired at the usual age. Not long after, I heard a tearful story from one of the nurses. He was meeting up with someone and never showed up. I can’t remember if it was his wife or his former secretary who went to look for him, but they found him in the garage, dead on the floor, the car still running. He had a massive heart attack and died immediately. I have heard too many stories like this…I don’t want to become one. What’s preventing us? Not quite enough savings. We live very frugally and I started a blog to try and hustle even more. :)
Those stories are the worst :(
I definitely want to create an ICE binder but it would be very, very bad for all this information to be stolen. How do you protect it against the threat of someone picking it up during a robbery (or even just the nosiness of those who enter your home for more legitimate purposes) with making it easily accessible when necessary?
A safe or a locked file cabinet is a good way to keep it private. For more security, it can also be kept in a safe deposit box at a bank. You can even store the information on a flash/usb drive. Many have encryption capabilities to keep the file secure. Any way you choose, just remember to let someone know where to find it and how to access it.
Yup!! Especially that last part haha….
What’s ONE thing you really want to do before you die? Travel the world to meet people from different cultures.
And for bonus points: what’s preventing you from it right now? $$$
This is a great idea, especially now that so much information is stored online and bills don’t come in the mail as much anymore. I agree with Elise though that it would be horrible if this got stolen, especially since thieves often are looking for information in houses for identity theft. I’d recommend this be put in a water and fire proof safe.
While we are on the topic of documents we should have…I recommend everyone create a home inventory. You never know when a flood, fire, theft or other disaster will cause you to file an insurance claim and a home inventory is key.
One thing I want to do before I die? Live in Paris for six months or even just a month. What’s holding me back? My husband has no interest and I choose him over Paris.
A quick way to do a home inventory is to just snap pics of all the rooms/walls, or even do a video… You’d still need to document and value everything later if the $hit really did hit the fan, but at least you’d have the pics/videos to look at in order to do so :) (takes about 1/100th of the time too vs inventorying all at once, haha…)
This might sound silly or vague, but before I die I would want to actually relax for once. I’m not great at de-stressing, and it’s going to take a while (years+) to get there, but someday… a proper vacation in which we do nothing (AND WITHOUT feeling bad about doing nothing) would be nice.
I think a lot of people in our society would agree with you :) What about just doing that for a full weekend or two? I know for me cutting out work on nights/weekends have been game changers.. Took me a while to get used to it, but now I soak it all up and then super ready to go on Mondays again!
J.Money!!!
I’m surprised you are asking us to buy this binder when it’s available for free. I’m not even sure if the ICE binder is original idea as I’ve been using a free resource. Ever heard of the “The Big Book of Everything?” It’s FREE! And has been around for ages.. I’m surprised the Financial Blogging world has not picked it up.
http://www.erikdewey.com/bigbook.htm
Not affiliated – just a happy person who downloaded it for free.
oh yeah – forgot about that one!
haven’t poked around it myself, but I remember someone mentioning it a couple years back.
you can never have too many legacy binders out there! free or otherwise :)
I would like to get married. I right now have realized that I have been so focused on my career building and not making enough time to meet people and develop meaningful relationships. This will change. I found Groupon deals for social events… so I have no excuses now. Super discounted socializing! Hubby, I am looking for you!