2424: Do You Have An Emergency List For Your Family by Michelle Schroeder-Gardner of Making Sense of Cents

[00:00:00] Now before we start, you might want to check out our other podcasts covering topics like personal development and minimalism, money, health, relationships, and more. So to optimize your life in other areas, just search for Optimal Living Daily in your podcast app. Now on to the show.

[00:00:18] Hello everybody and thanks so much for joining us here in our Sunday bonus episode. My name is Greg Audino. I'm your host and narrator with you once again to introduce an extra episode that we bring to you each week.

[00:00:29] Today's is an article that was originally aired on our finance show, Optimal Finance Daily. As you'll go on to see though, this one might be more about our interactions with people than it is about finance. So we knew you would like it and wanted to make sure that you heard it here on ORD.

[00:00:44] And with that being said, let's turn it over to Diana, our host on OFD, so she can read this article for you and optimize your life.

[00:00:55] Do you have an emergency list for your family? By Michelle Schroeder Gardner of makingsenseofsense.com

[00:01:03] In our household, I manage most of the bills, financial accounts, and more. I know I'm not alone either. In most families, one person usually handles all of these things.

[00:01:14] I've been in charge of our important information for years, mainly because it's just something I know I can do and we've fallen into a routine now after doing this for so long.

[00:01:24] Recently though, we realized that this could turn into a financial emergency disaster. I manage everything just from my memory, so nothing is actually written down and most of our bills are either auto-pay or paperless, so there's no paper record in our house of anything either.

[00:01:41] This could be a financial emergency disaster because if something were to happen to me, I honestly do not know what Wes would do.

[00:01:50] It would make everything much more difficult for him when he would already be having a hard time, and that's not something anyone wants to deal with.

[00:01:58] Having some sort of financial emergency response plan is something we need to create.

[00:02:04] While to some this situation may be no big deal, I know there are many, many families out there who would be very lost if something were to happen to the person who usually manages their financial situation.

[00:02:17] Accounts could get lost, bills may be forgotten about, and more.

[00:02:21] It's best to keep a financial emergency response plan of everything just in case something were to happen, even if it's something no one ever wants to think about.

[00:02:30] Having one just makes life so much easier.

[00:02:34] My top tip is to check out the In Case of Emergency Binder from emergencybinders.com to help you with creating your own emergency binder.

[00:02:44] This is a 100-plus page fillable PDF workbook.

[00:02:48] The In Case of Emergency Binder was created to remove significant complications from the process and help you actually get your important information ready.

[00:02:57] The research is done, the workbook is put into easy-to-follow sections, and everything you need is included.

[00:03:04] Here are three easy steps to creating a financial emergency response plan for your family.

[00:03:11] Number one, collect all important documents, bills, usernames, passwords, and so on.

[00:03:17] This is probably the hardest part.

[00:03:20] You should sit down and try to think about all of the bills and accounts you have.

[00:03:24] You might miss one or two, so it's best to go through these accounts as you pay your bills as well, so that you can make sure everything's included.

[00:03:33] Also, don't forget to keep everything up to date as information can change over the years.

[00:03:39] Some accounts, bills, etc. you may want to record include bills directly related to your home, such as your mortgage or rent, gas, electricity, TV, internet, sewer, trash, water, and so on.

[00:03:53] Life insurance, along with any important medical information such as doctors, medications, illnesses, etc.

[00:04:02] Home insurance, along with information related to property taxes, important documents, and so on.

[00:04:09] Car insurance and car registration information.

[00:04:12] Debts, such as credit cards, student loans, etc.

[00:04:15] Social security cards, copies of driver's licenses, death certificates.

[00:04:21] Hopefully you don't have any of these, but if you do, you want to keep them safe.

[00:04:26] Will and or trust papers.

[00:04:28] Income information, such as if you have passive income that comes in.

[00:04:32] Tax information, such as recent tax returns.

[00:04:36] Safety deposit keys.

[00:04:38] Bank, savings, retirement, and investment accounts.

[00:04:41] Birth certificates.

[00:04:43] Passports.

[00:04:43] Phone numbers, usernames, and passwords for anything important, and so on.

[00:04:50] Number two.

[00:04:50] Keep your financial emergency response plan somewhere safe.

[00:04:55] After you collect all of this information, you'll want to put it somewhere safe.

[00:04:59] A lot of this information could lead to a disaster if an identity thief were to get a hold of it.

[00:05:04] So it's better to be safe than sorry.

[00:05:07] I recommend keeping it in a safe in your home or something that is fire and waterproof.

[00:05:12] You don't just want to save it in a random place on your computer either, as you never know who will access it in the future.

[00:05:19] There are safe ways to store stuff on your computer.

[00:05:22] You just have to make sure the information is encrypted and that you always completely trust the internet connection you're on.

[00:05:29] And number three.

[00:05:31] Explain everything to your loved ones.

[00:05:35] Collecting all of this information is not enough.

[00:05:37] You'll want to go over everything with the person who will be next in charge after you, as they may have questions about how to access certain accounts, how to pay different bills, and so on.

[00:05:47] You also want to make sure that this person knows where this information is and that they can easily access it.

[00:05:53] If you store everything on your computer, but then they don't know the password to your computer, that isn't going to help anyone.

[00:06:00] You just listened to the post titled, Do you have an emergency list for your family? by Michelle Schroeder Gardner of making sense of sense dot com.

[00:06:13] This is a great reminder from Michelle and something I've been procrastinating on myself.

[00:06:19] I'm really embarrassed to tell you that 500 episodes ago, I told you I was going to do my estate planning and emergency binder and I still haven't done it.

[00:06:30] So if you're a procrastinator like me, let's commit right now to just get it done.

[00:06:36] While we all need a will, as demonstrated in this article, it's not enough.

[00:06:40] We also need to get organized to save the executors of our estates the headache of figuring out all of our accounts, finding our important documents and files, etc.

[00:06:51] Also, while a will comes into play when someone dies, what about an emergency situation where you need someone else to help with your affairs?

[00:06:59] This is where an emergency binder comes in.

[00:07:02] It's sometimes referred to as a in case I'm hit by a bus binder.

[00:07:06] This binder should include your will, as well as your contact information for important people in your life, including employers.

[00:07:14] Also, insurance policies, all financial accounts, health records, property deeds and car titles.

[00:07:20] Having all your stuff organized is going to be a huge help to your loved ones, who will likely need to figure this stuff out during a very emotional time.

[00:07:30] I'd also encourage you to talk to your parents about doing this, too.

[00:07:35] I know my mom is listening to this, so I'll take this opportunity to beg her,

[00:07:39] please, mom, get your will done and make me a freaking binder.

[00:07:44] And please include contact information for your friends and colleagues as I want to be able to invite them to your funeral.

[00:07:51] I know this is morbid, but just do it.

[00:07:55] There are a number of resources online for checklists to help you create your binder.

[00:08:00] And I came across a pretty comprehensive resource on the Smart Money Mamas blog.

[00:08:04] It's a fillable step-by-step family emergency binder with over 90 pages of simple printable worksheets.

[00:08:11] I know I'll be diving into that here shortly.

[00:08:14] I mean it this time, and I hope you'll join me.

[00:08:18] And that's a wrap for another Thursday show.

[00:08:21] Have a great rest of your day, and I'll be back tomorrow where your optimal life awaits.