With Spring Break in the rearview mirror and summer vacation on the horizon, many of my meetings lately are spent talking with clients about the value of quality time and life experiences over giving traditional cash gifts—or even sizable inheritances—to their families. This topic comes up not only in relation to estate planning but also regarding budgets and spending plans.
After years of talking with clients about the importance of life experience assets, I am putting my money where my mouth is in 2025. My dad and I are in the process of planning a fishing trip with my son! Fishing trips with my dad are what I remember most about childhood, and I’m grateful that my parents prioritized spending quality time together, even when we couldn’t afford elaborate family vacations in those early years. This will be my son’s first time to accompany us, and there’s no doubt I’d rather he gets time to be influenced by my dad rather than a big check when Dad is no longer with us.
If you’ve never considered giving experiences to your family in lieu of cash gifts, here are three reasons you should:
- Quality time maximizes influence and impact. Spending time together not only creates memories that stand the test of time but also affords an opportunity to teach life lessons. In big and small ways, experiences illustrate your own core values and model for your children and grandchildren that which you say is most important. The days you’ll have available to influence their character are limited; experiences maximize that time and impact.
- Experiences don’t have to be elaborate. Some clients envision a multi-generational, international family vacation when I bring up the topic of life experiences. If you’re in a financial position to do that and it’s been a lifelong dream, then proceed and enjoy! However, meaningful experiences don’t have to cost a lot of money. In fact, my family’s camping trips when I was young were possible even when my dad was a new small business owner and income barely covered our expenses.
- You have health and wealth now. There is no guarantee what tomorrow holds—or if there will be a tomorrow. Good health makes so many things possible that delaying life experiences until you’re too old to enjoy them is no way to live. I’m not advocating for impulsive or irresponsible spending. However, I am encouraging clients to make memory-building experiences a priority with the resources they have.
Our firm’s founder, Ben Taatjes, encourages our team of advisors to help clients ‘budget to live and give’ not merely budget to save. However, if your giving has only focused on cash rather than life experiences, I recommend you think about the ultimate goal of your gifts; if the goal is time and influence, experiences might be the better vehicle.