The importance of being organized financially

[bjl584]

I found this pot online.
I assume this situation is all too common


My wife and I realized our entire financial life only exists in our heads


My wife and I are 38 and 39, married seven years with two kids. We’re taking our first trip without them next month so my sister asked us to leave emergency information. Doctors, insurance cards and phone numbers were easy. Then she asked where she’d find everything else if something happened to both of us.

That question exposed how disorganized we actually are and ngl it cought me offguard like full on offside. We have an old 401k, two current retirement accounts a college accounts for the kids and a mortgage and some other stuff. Some bills come from my account and some from hers. I know where most of it is and she knows where most of it is but neither of us could explain the whole picture without opening six apps and searching old emails.

We spent Sunday afternoon making a list at the kitchen table and it was embarrassing how many times one of us said Wait, I forgot about that.

We’re not rich and our situation isn’t complicated. We just opened accounts as life happened and kept saying we’d organize everything later felt like a kid on a adults body, wierd i know. trying to take care of our kids.

Does anyone have one place where another person could actually figure out what exists? Did you start with an account list, a will or something else? My parents aren't alive and my wife is a first gen immigrant so that's why im asking!

[myrdale]

My parents aren't alive and my wife is a first gen immigrant so that's why im asking!

That last line was completely irrelevant to the top at hand, but the rest of the post is definitely worthy of discussion.

Step 1: Pay a lawyer to create a will for both spouses.

Step 2: All accounts (bank / retirement / life insurance) need a beneficiary listed.

Step 3: Make a list of all of the accounts, and store with the will.

Step 4: Discuss all of the above with the family members who need to know.

I've heard of people having binders with step by step instructions. Depending on the situation, that may or may not be necessary. I should imagine it gets simpler once young kids are no longer in the picture.

[riverwed070707]

It's probably not fully sufficient for estate execution, but for easy access and visibility I manage all my financial accounts through Empower and also have a password manager. I included the log in for both of these in my will so that my husband or our executor could easily find all my accounts and have access to the money should something happen.

[Drake3287]

I have a WORD document that lists all our various financial accounts (many unfortunately) that include a recent balance along with financial institution names, account numbers, web sites and usernames/passwords. I update it whenever we have any minor changes in anything. It's kept with our Trust papers in a safe. Most of our accounts are also in the name of our Trust.