Finances Management Manual

[wdfifteen]

Vicki and I have been talking about "what ifs," specifically, what if I am incapacitated. I handle all our finances and she would have no idea where to even look for our investments. So I've started writing a manual about how to navigate through our financial situation. I intend to keep it in our safe deposit box. This is it so far (you can tell I'm thrilled about doing this)

Suggestions appreciated.

Finances Management Manual

I maintain an Excel file entitled “financial snapshot [and a date]” that contains a list of all our financial holdings and their totals. I update the file every month or so, so the file with the latest date will have the latest information. You will find it in Excel under "RECENTS."

The URLs, usernames, and passwords to the institutions are all held in (a password manager). The master password can be found in a separate document entitled …

[Paul T]

I manage our finances also, but like you are doing I maintain a list of all institutions where we have $, along with acct #'s, contacts, etc., and my attorney has a copy as well. Annually my wife and I go over all of our investments as well as look at where we spent $, what came in, etc., just so she is not in the dark about anything. After much procrastination, I finally got around this past year to putting a full estate plan into effect, so I feel good that my wife would not be totally lost if I kick the bucket this afternoon...

[masraum]

It seems like it would be easier to have one document with tabs that were dated than to have a bunch of documents that are dated. Otherwise, what you have is good. We have something similar, but it's not as well maintained as yours.

[rfuerst911sc]

Does your wife have her own log in credentials for any and all accounts ? Or does your spreadsheet have your log in for her to use ? Regardless of either scenario she should log in occasionally just to have a comfort level while not under stress . That way if/when she HAS to monitor the accounts it will be second nature .

[Seahawk]

My wife runs all the household finances and we collaborate on investments.

What we do, since she is really good at it, is meet (sounds lame but you really need, at least we do, to block some time) and go over everything once a month.

At first it was a little cumbersome since everyone approaches Excel differently in terms of formulas and other shortcuts and I was behind the curve.

Now it is really 30 minutes over coffee going through any changes, issues, taxes, or investment discussion.

She also runs her Mother's ample, for Maryland, Estate. She found a really excellent investment person in Chicago (I will not have anything to do with her family money so I do not contribute in any way) and that is becoming very nice for all concerned.

So, all that said, made sure Vicki gets up to speed like I had to...I now know the drill!

[wildthing]

This: https://g.foolcdn.com/img/editorial/external_m/PDFs/DeadLetterChecklist.PDF

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by rfuerst911sc

Does your wife have her own log in credentials for any and all accounts ? Or does your spreadsheet have your log in for her to use ? Regardless of either scenario she should log in occasionally just to have a comfort level while not under stress . That way if/when she HAS to monitor the accounts it will be second nature .

No, she doesn't have her own login credentials. If she ever tried to log in she would use mine. That's basically the reason I'm making the manual. It's hard to get her interested in our finances at all and she really hates dealing with the safety protocols. MFA just pisses her off. So I'm writing this detailed manual and like it or not we're going to start going through it and getting her up to speed. It will be of use to her son also, as he is the go-to or backup or whatever they call it for the password manager. He has his own password and if he tries to log in he is locked out for 4 days. If the password manager doesn't hear from me in 4 days he is allowed to access it.

[wdfifteen]

Originally Posted by masraum

It seems like it would be easier to have one document with tabs that were dated than to have a bunch of documents that are dated.

I don't understand.

I started with one document. When I update it, I change the $$ numbers and save it with the new date. Easy Peasy.

[LWJ]

Seems like a lot of work.

I recently administered a friend’s estate.

If he had simply written the institutions, account numbers and a balance at one point it would have been awesome.

Also have a copy of your will and a medical (whatever it’s called) in the safe deposit box.

Tell a friend / child about the box of you both are incapacitated or similar redundant measure.

This stuff isn’t super fun.

[bleucamaro]

So, if you have any meaningful assets, a trust is very beneficial. And, if your work offers legal insurance, you can often get one setup for free (it's what we did). The trust attorney will also create a pour-over will and establish medical & financial powers of attorney.

In the end, you'll get a binder with hard copies of that stuff for you to keep in your safe/safe deposit box.

But, beyond that, its good to have a list of your assets with institutions and account numbers. If you have a planned beneficiary (outside of your will/trust), you can make them a signor on your accounts, which will speed access.