If You Could Nudge Yourself Along 25 Years in the Future… Would You? | brokeGIRLrich
Have you heard of Incubate: The Time-Delay Messenger? I was reading a CNN article about it earlier this week and as soon as I saw it, my personal finance wheels started to turn.
It lets you record something today and send it to yourself in the future – as far as 25 years in advance!
The article talked about things like, wouldn’t it be sweet to hear a message from your now dead grandmother on your 30th birthday (which, honestly, probably would’ve horrified me) or send your kid a flood of messages on their 18th birthday of photos, notes and videos from the first year of their life (which, yeah, could be cool).
But I thought… if this thing is sending me reminders and notes 25 years into the future, I could use it for something like:
July 28, 2024 – “Your retirement goal was 1.4 million and you’re finally halfway to retirement! How’s that going?”
December 31, 2020 – “Did you max out your IRA for 2020 yet? WHY NOT? …or good job. I mean, it’s good job, right?
April 15, 2018 – ”How was the Trans-Siberian railroad? Or did you give up on that change jar plan?”
In a way, you could use this app to become your own accountability partner. You could also set it up with motivational quotes, videos of places you want to go, pictures from previous awesome vacations – whatever helps your reach your goals – and send them to yourself over decades.
Since you can also use the app to send messages to other people, your friends and family can get in on the action too. Tell them about your goals and ask them to send reminders and messages to encourage you along the way.
The same article mentioned that there’s a popular hashtag among the app called #incubombing which is when a bunch of people set a particular day or time to send a ton of messages at once to a friend. What a neat idea to pick a couple of days a year and encourage the heck out of your friend’s goals!
Think:
“How are your savings goals going? Give me a call tonight and we’ll schedule a free get together so we can catch up without spending anything!”
OR
If we’re still going to have crazy adventures when we’re old and retired, you better stay on top of those 401(k) contributions.
OR EVEN JUST
So, do you think this is a fad app or is the idea of sending message to your future friends and family and yourself a thing that’s going to stick around?
I like the idea, just not sure if the app will stand up as technologies changes over time. Will it work on the Apple implant chip 6.0 in 2024? 🙂
Brian @ Debt Discipline recently posted…Online Hustle
Haha, I know, right? That’s terrifying.
I imagine they’ve got to have a team together planning on how they will adapt along the way, right? I imagine lots of crazy mothers would sue over lost baby footage and whatnot that doesn’t appear on their kid’s 18th birthday.
I like the idea, but Brian definitely brings up a good point about evolving technologies.
Stefanie @ The Broke and Beautiful Life recently posted…Hacking the New York City Subway
I have a 10 year journal, where you write just a couple of lines every day about what you did or whatever. I started in 2006 and am approaching the end. It’s always wonderful to look back on what I was doing and working on and hoping for in years past. This app sounds similar, very cool! Although, I sure hope I’m not still stressed about money 25 years from now! I’m hoping my finances will be a very oiled machine by then. 🙂
Chela @SmashOdyssey recently posted…10 Crazy Silly Things I Do In The Name Of Frugality
Love this idea! I will definitely check out this app, but I think I’ll restrain myself to personal use.
I do this with emails to myself using Boomerang in Gmail. It lets you schedule an email to be sent at any date in the future. If I want to send an emotionally-charged email to a friend, I’ll write it up then schedule to send it to myself in two weeks. When I read the email in two weeks, if I still feel that way then I’ll send it to my friend. But of course by then I’ll have calmed down and it’s a good reminder for myself to not act so impulsive when emotional.
I love the idea using it to email myself about financial goals! I may start doing that, great suggestion!
Leslie Beslie recently posted…When to Use Aluminum Foil or Plastic Wrap for Wrapping Food
That so wise – to hold off 2 weeks before emailing a friend that’s upset you! My high school self could’ve totally used that trick.
What an interesting app. I think I could actually benefit from it, haha. Thanks for sharing!
Kayla @ Everything Finance recently posted…How Much Should You Save in Your 50s?