While Lesia and I were on vacation in Bermuda celebrating our 24th wedding anniversary, I asked her a simple question:

“Where are you thinking about going for our 25th?”

She said, “I don’t know, but it’s gonna be BIG!”

The look on her face told me everything I needed to know. Wherever we were going, it probably wasn’t going to be cheap! 😂

Later, we kicked around a few possibilities: Bali. Fiji. Bora Bora.

That’s when I started thinking about how we could increase our income for our 2027 vacation without working harder.

Then it hit me:

What’s the point of building wealth if you can’t treat yourself every now and then?

Our 25th anniversary is still a year away, so I figured, why not start planning now?

I logged into our brokerage account and changed our dividend election from “reinvest” to “transfer to settlement fund.”

It was a small change, but it means the dividends our investments generate will now be transferred to cash instead of being automatically reinvested.

In other words, our money is going to make money… and have some babies! 😂

And since we’re going to pay taxes on those dividends anyway, I figured, why not let the after-tax money help fund our anniversary adventure?

I also created a dividend distribution instruction document so Lesia knows exactly how to change the election back to reinvestment after one year, just in case something happens to me.

That’s what planning ahead looks like.

We’re still deciding whether it will be Bali, Fiji, Bora Bora… or somewhere else entirely. But one thing is certain:

We’re going to celebrate 25 years of marriage BIG.

And hopefully, some of the money we worked hard to build will help pay for it.

Because building wealth isn’t just about having more money.

It’s also about creating the freedom to enjoy some of it.

If you can plan in advance, why not?