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What's in store for you:

1. Photo From My Life
2. Financial Thought: Key to Life File
3. Life Thought: Doing Hard Things
4. Good Sh*t: Daily Dad Newsletter

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Photo From My Life:

Financial Thought:

The Key To Life File: If you manage the money or logistics in your household, you probably have systems, passwords, accounts, and contacts in your head (or scattered across a dozen spreadsheets).

If something happened to you, could your spouse pick up the pieces?

For most people, the answer is no. That’s why I believe every family needs a Key to Life file. This is a simple, central document that lays out everything your partner (or kids, or trustee) would need if you weren’t around to walk them through it.

This isn’t fun. It’s not a sexy financial hack. But it’s critical.

I suggest blocking 3 hours this weekend to get it done. It may be the most important document you ever create.

Here's how to do it:

1. Create a file on your computer
2. Store it in the Cloud (Google Drive, iCloud, Dropbox, etc.)
3. Share access with your spouse and a trusted third party (lawyer, sibling, etc.)
4. Set a calendar reminder to update it once a year. Life changes fast

Before you begin, make sure you’re using a password manager. If you’re not, stop reading and go fix that.

• Get every password into the manager
• Make each password unique
• Share your master password and recovery instructions with your spouse or trustee

What goes in the “Key to Life” file?

1. Personal Docs: Driver’s license, passport, birth & marriage certificates
2. Key Contacts: CPA, wealth manager, estate lawyer, insurance agent, business partners, work manager
3. Financial Snapshot: Just list every account and where it lives (banks, investments, retirement, etc.)
4. Insurance: Life, home, auto, health
5. Business Ownership: Include entity structure, operating agreements, and a simple explanation of what happens when you die
6. Debt: Mortgage, car loans, etc. Include summaries and full loan docs
7. Bills: How you pay them, what’s on autopay, and how they’re delivered
8. Estate Planning: Will, trust, power of attorney, death wishes
9. Random Stuff: Safe codes, home security details, anything else you’d want them to know
10. Password Manager: Include login info, recovery codes, and instructions

This is not a fun exercise, but it’s one of the best gifts you can give your family.

Life Thought:

Doing Hard Things:

Lately, I’ve been reflecting on how we approach hard things. Whether it’s building a business, getting in shape, or just becoming a better version of ourselves. Meaningful progress rarely happens all at once. It’s almost always the result of consistently doing the small, hard stuff.

Improving your life or business by 20% in a month sounds great, but it’s overwhelming. Improving 1% each day? That’s something I can actually wrap my head around. I’ve started thinking of every big goal as a pile of smaller challenges. If I focus on just tackling one of them each day, I’ll wake up in a year (or five) and be amazed at the progress.

If you’re a business owner and this idea resonates, I’d highly recommend checking out Guesswork Investing’s 25-day business challenge. It’s a series where you do one high-leverage task each day designed to improve your business by 1%. There are a bunch of simple and actionable tasks that take less than 30 minutes a day. Definitely worth checking out.

This mindset has been a game changer for me in other areas too. With health, I’m not training for a marathon, but I need to make sure I move every day even if it’s just a 45 minute walk. That small daily effort adds up. It clears my head, keeps my energy up, and helps me show up better in all areas of life.

It’s also how I’m approaching the wealth management firm I’m building. There are a million things that need to happen for it to become what I hope it will be. But if I do one hard thing every day, the firm will get there. One meaningful email, one improved process, one deeper relationship. It won’t happen overnight, but 5–10 years from now, I’ll be proud of what it’s become.

I’m walking 50 miles this Sunday. No race. No cheering crowds. Just me, a few snacks, and the open road. Why? No real reason apart from it seeming like a worthwhile challenge. It’s going to be uncomfortable. It’s going to be long. But I know it will teach me something. And that’s often the reward for doing hard things.

Break down the big problem. Do the hard thing today. It’s always worth it.

Good Sh*t:

The Daily Dad Newsletter:

When close friends have a kid, one of my go-to gifts is The Daily Dad by Ryan Holiday. It’s a beautiful book with 366 short meditations on parenthood. The goal is to read one meditation each day. The entries are quick, thoughtful, and usually just what you need to reset your perspective when you're feeling overwhelmed or distracted.

That said, even with the best intentions, it can be hard to open a book every morning. That’s why I was excited to find out that Ryan also writes a free daily email version of The Daily Dad. It’s short and easy. I've been reading it for a week and it’s already become a small but meaningful part of my morning routine.

So if you're in the thick of parenting, I recommend it. You can sign up for the newsletter here.

Disclaimer: VDB Wealth is a registered investment adviser. Information presented is for educational purposes only and does not intend to make an offer or solicitation for the sale or purchase of any specific securities, investments, or investment strategies. Investments involve risk and unless otherwise stated, are not guaranteed. Past performance is not indicative of future performance.

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