Tools to Treasure your Family’s Financial Story
You know the photo print business — holiday cards, photo books, custom calendars. People love to gaze at their loved ones, reflect on good times, and retell their experiences. I enjoy creating a few of these gifts every season, highlighting the best moments of our family’s life together.
Now, what if you could make something new? Instead of your favorite photos from your phone, you made a Family Financial Photo Book to share with your loved ones?
Your financial info is already online and may even be aggregated with services like Personal Capital, so why not take one more step and translate it into a slideshow of meaningful moments from last year? Bills paid on time. Loans paid in full. Donations to charities. Contributions to an IRA or college fund. These milestones are just as meaningful as a trip to see relatives, a child losing a tooth, or the first day of school. Picture your child wearing a cap and gown at graduation. That photo feels different if you’ve achieved your college savings goals than if your child graduates saddled with debt.
What if finance was more than a graph showing gain or loss, year over year returns? What if you could capture important monetary events that tell the story of your family’s growth from a perspective of meaningful financial moments?
That’s what I’ve done for the past five years. By themselves, numbers reflect our left-brained, rational culture of assets, debt, and total net worth. But look at those numbers in the context of life’s moments, and they are much more significant. I’ve found it more meaningful to review how we gave to charity, what we saved for college, or the percentage of income we spent on travel and education. These numbers are attached to a great memory of visiting friends, family goals, and how we live our values.
Once upon a time, my money spoke a language I didn’t understand. Lines ran across a grid, like jagged mountain peaks. Those numbers were trying to tell me a story. As I revealed the meaning behind these balances, a story unfolded. Our Family Financial Photo Album, code-named State of the Ward, is the story of our work and play, our values, and the magic of compound interest. Now I have one more way for us to reminisce and enjoy what we’ve done together as a family.
Tools Used
Aggregate your accounts with Personal Capital, http://www.personalcapital.com
Produce beautiful books with Canva, http://www.canva.com
Analyze your data with Google Sheets, http://docs.google.com
