I recently lost a dear cousin who died unexpectedly during a medical procedure. Her passing brought up many personal thoughts and emotions, but it also prompted a professional consideration as well.
Like many families. my cousin handled all of the household finances. When she died, her husband could not access any of their financial information. He did not know any passwords for bill pay, banks, investment accounts etc. In his grief, he had to also begin to try and unravel this financial mystery. He began contacting individual
financial institutions and will eventually {hopefully) put all of the pieces of the puzzle together.
I see that a lot in my practice. It is more often than not that a husband OR a wife handles the finances ...not both. This is also very relevant to my single clients as well who do handle their own finances but have no'back-upperson'intheeventtheunexpectedhappens.
That is one of the primary reasons I encourage the use of eMoney.Weuseit not only as a financial planning and account aggregation tool, but we encourage clients to 'vault' all of their
important information like passwords, ID, medical, financial and estate planning documents, tax returns, etc.
It is so much easier for your loved one(s) or delegate to have only one password and one site where they can access your importantinformation. And, each client has a 'Private' vault folder that can only be accessed via their personal login, meaning I do not see it.
I have a Family Preparedness Workbook thatI am happy to share with you. It's a great data gathering and organizing tool. If you would like a copy, please let me know. And, if you are interested, I host private 'family financial planning' meetings for my clients and their loved ones where we discuss items of importance for estate and legacy planning.
Much of what I do is help people to Plan Well to Live Confidently. And, while we really don't like to think about it too much, none of us will live forever! Anything we can do now to help those we love manage life without us is worth our time and consideration. Let me help you!
As always, If you have any questions or would like to discuss this or any other topic, please do not hesitate to reach out.
And, if some one you care about would benefit from my services, please introduce me!
To schedule time with me, access my calendar here: https://go.oncehub.com/TerryAllen
Terry Allen, CFP®
925.932.8609