Getting Your Financial House In Order
It's almost as uncomfortable to talk about death as it is to talk about money. Put the two together and now you've really got trouble. But a column in the Chicago Tribune dipped a toe in that water by stressing the importance of making sure the people we love will know how to deal with our finances after we're gone. Writer Humberto Cruz and his wife maintain a document with account numbers for their investments, contact information for their accountant and attorney, and the location of birth certificates, insurance policies, living wills, and such. Cruz recommends a free electronic resource from T. Rowe Price that can help with all of this. The Family Records Organizer can be ordered online here .
Matt's View
I'll never forget the dinner I had with my parents when they handed me an envelope containing all of the above-mentioned information. It was very uncomfortable. But years later when they passed away, I was thankful that they had kept their information so organized. Dealing with the grief of losing people we love is difficult enough without having to piece together the puzzle of their finances.
This article filed in: Estate Planning
Managing Money by The Book
- "Therefore everyone who hears these words of mine and puts them into practice is like a wise man who built his house on the rock. The rain came down, the streams rose, and the winds blew and beat against that house; yet it did not fall, because it had its foundation on the rock." - Matthew 7:24-25
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