Good relationships are made up of positive shared experiences, which become cherished memories over time.   – June Cotner (American author)  

Experiences shape our lives every day.  Unfortunately, we are sometimes shaped by negative experiences and other times both planned and unplanned delightful experiences emerge.  For some time, I have been on a personal journey as it relates to finance and money, and you may have even seen previous posts about some of the work I am doing on a volunteer basis with clients to assist them in developing better habits with their money.   As part of my learning over the years, I came across a book a year or so ago (Die with Zero by Bill Perkins).  The basic concept is that we are all going to die and in theory our goal should be to spend all our money on our very last day on this earth…aka Die with Zero.   The author talks about the many ways we can be intentional about spending down our assets over time and one idea asserted is much like a stock pays a FINANCIAL dividend, similarly positive created experiences pay a MEMORY dividend.  A MEMORY dividend pays you with positive cherished memories in the future of a past activity or event.  Recently, I got to buy a MEMORY dividend with my brother.  For about three years now we have tried to get on the list (it fills up in one day) to stay a night on Mt. Leconte at the Leconte Lodge outside Gatlinburg.  For those that don’t know this place, it is really “off the grid” type of lodge…not the image most have of a grand, well-appointed lodge.  LeConte Lodge offers no electricity, no indoor plumbing (they do have 4 flush toilets in one building) and no hot showers.   You simply get a “sink bath” of sorts with a pale of lukewarm water in your small bunkhouse with two bunk beds.   To replenish their supplies, a pack of trained llamas bring supplies up the mountain three times a week, led by trained handlers.   They do provide a family style meal for dinner and breakfast for overnight guests.  But to get to the lodge you must hike one of about 6 trails to get there ranging from 4-8+ miles.  But the experience is worth it.  The views are incredible, and the experience is worth the effort to get there.   As we live our day to day lives it is important that we build experiences into our lives that will pay a memory dividend.   And not all have to be expensive.  My wife and I remember fondly (to this day) our first date at the Battery park in Charleston when I was in grad school.  I had very little money as a self-supportive grad student so I planned a picnic in the park under the canopy of the old oak trees for our first date.  I think it was pimento cheese sandwiches, grapes and a couple of bottles of water…not too fancy but the experience was wonderful.  As the stress and strains of life continue, go create a MEMORY dividend with someone you love or someone you want to get to know or someone in your circle of friends.   It is a dividend where the payout usually far exceeds the basis for which you paid for it!