What Will Be Your Legacy? Why Should You Care?

3 min readMar 17

What would your legacy be? And why should you care?

I attended a friend's funeral lately. He was someone who was more like a dad to me. His death reminded me of my dad's death. After a long battle with Alzheimer's, my dad passed away about seven years ago.

He was 87. He got married much later in life and had kids at a stage when most people would be dealing with teenagers.

Death often reminds me of the kind of legacy I would leave behind.

What I remember most about my dad:

He was instrumental in inspiring me toward a career in finance.
He gave me a love for economics, and I could easily unpack its concepts.
My dad was the most positive person I have met in my life.
He was an amazing cook. Sometimes, when he returned from work, he would wear his long-sleeved shirt and dress pants in an apron to help with the cooking.
His relationship with my mother was rocky for the first half of their marriage. But something changed within him when I was a teenager, and he became a very devoted husband in the second half of their marriage. So I am glad they stuck it out.
My dad was kind. He would give the shirt off his back to a friend in need.
He was also a man of faith.
Most importantly, my dad believed in me and that I could achieve anything I wanted. And if my dad believed it, so did I!

If I could have dinner with anyone in the world, I would have it with my dad — one last time — to tell him how much I appreciate the legacy he left in me!

My epitaph

I imagined my epitaph at my funeral that I loved those closest and had a good sense of humor. But unfortunately, there would only be a few attendees since I've traveled a lot and lived on different continents, and I have never been one to nurture long-term close friendships.

My need for independence and freedom may be partly to blame. But even as an independent, freedom-loving individual, I can still leave a meaningful legacy.