Instructions for wife

[Kennyt7]

I am in the process of compiling instructions for my wife if i cannot handle our accounts some day. Hopefully this will help her avoiding an advisor but if she needs one, i will tell her of a fee based advisor. Think its worthwhile for your spouse and/or family if need be. What say you?

[GasFIRE]

A good place to keep this is in a legacy binder. POF had a good post on his blog:

https://www.physicianonfire.com/legacy-binder/

[Vottomatic]

http://www.erikdewey.com/bigbook.htm

Printed this off, filled it out and put it in a binder in our safe, along with insurance policies, birth certificates, social security cards, house/car titles, etc. Every now and then I go through it with my wife and go over what's in there and what the process would be if she ever needed to act on anything. Our date nights are a blast.

[Tim]

Great idea. My only thought is it the book is a great reminder, but it lacks some priorities and direction. 10% or less of the information will be critical in the first 30 days. 10% or less will be important to your spouse in the first 3 years.
My spouse would appreciate some input, what to keep and how to maintain, what to simply close and what decisions to make.
She reserves the right to ignore my suggestions.
Absolutely no change there.

[CordMcNally]

I just ask that my wife not remarry within one month of my passing.

[Lordosis]

I just ask that my wife not remarry within one month of my passing.

What a jerk! Don't you just want her to be happy? :P

[billy]

I did something similar- a list of "things to do if I die" similar to a legacy binder- including getting copies of death certificate, where I have 401k, bank accounts, etc, claiming the life insurance, bugging my job for the job life insurance benefit, and what to do with our accounts. But- keep the accounting part simple. A vote for a three fund portfolio (not that I use it, but it is easier to follow for spouses). Can also have her use the advisor service at the brokerage you're current using to help her if you die first. But my last line is "show all this to friend X (who I discuss financial topics with) and ask him what to do" , lol

[Yowza]

We have this info labeled in the "Death" folder in our filing cabinet. Last will, info on all brokerage and retirement accounts, HSA, all pertinent financial contact info.

[Bev]

Additionally, we developed a system for maintaining logins, passwords, and security questions. Both spouses must have access to the information.

[Tim]

Additionally, we developed a system for maintaining logins, passwords, and security questions. Both spouses must have access to the information.

What is your system?

[Hank]

I am in the process of compiling instructions for my wife if i cannot handle our accounts some day. Hopefully this will help her avoiding an advisor but if she needs one, i will tell her of a fee based advisor. Think its worthwhile for your spouse and/or family if need be. What say you?

Why not have her get involved with running the finances now? She’s a grown adult. She either has the desire and capacity to manage her own money or not. If there’s a brief learning curve, better to address it now while you’re still alive.

If a spouse is unable or unwilling to manage money prudently, it’s unlikely that he or she suddenly will be able to in 5, 10, or 20 years. It’s more likely that cognitive decline may have started to set in, leaving an otherwise savvy widow or widower subject to predation by conmen and unscrupulous “advisors”.

[billy]

thats why the last line of my instructions are "talk to friend X (who happens to read WCI also)"

[Kennyt7]

CANNOT convince her to learn this stuff I will find her a FEE BASED hourly advisor eventually

[ajm184]

My wife's attention span with finance is limited, with the exception of being very irritated when talking about 'basis points'. I have written and told her to contact Vanguard Advisory Services if something were to occur to me. Rather have her pay 30 bps than be overwhelmed with AA choices, tax implications, RMD's etc.

[GIMD]

I maintained several password-protected documents that contain logins, passwords (coded so that only my wife and I would know how to decode them if someone else stumbles on the documents), instructions for insurance, investment accounts etc. I stored the documents in my personal laptop and linked to the cloud so we can access them anytime. Periodically, I go over the documents with my wife to help keep her updated.