Financial planning – family first

If something were to happen to you tomorrow, would your family be taken care of? Would they know where to find all of your financial information. Is important to communicate with your family so that they understand what investments you have. Discuss plans about your investments. This is really basic financial planning. Of course some selfish people just don’t care about their families and do not bother to leave any info at all. The survivors must search records and documents to find the information needed. They have to review all financial records, close accounts etc. It can be a lot of work and there is the risk that your family will suffer some hardship as well if the money you set aside is not immediately available to them.

Financial planning – Get Organized

Some of the items to consider as part of the communication to your family and financial planning as follows:

• Estate strategies,
• What do you own
• What do you owe
• Lists of all accounts, location etc
• Your Will and location
• Special instructions
• Long term goals
• College, marriages, grand children

The above sounds like a lot of work, but it really does not have to be. Keep it simple and put the list together, put it some where save and make sure that you tell your family where it is. If you are comfortable discussing finances, sit down with the kids etc and discuss the issues with them. They will probably forget, this is normal. Create a written family plan. Explain where everything is .

Pay bills to keep the house running, utilities etc along with hospital and funeral costs. High light these points and how your heirs will handle these items. Once you have created the plan it is pretty easy to keep it up to date on an annual basis.