As I mentioned in my 2022 recap post, one of the things I completed last year was what I call my last to do list. Actually it is more of a file with a bunch of documents and a to do list in it, so let's just call it the In Case Of Emergencies (ICOE) file. If you have not read my first post of this series about trust and estate planning, you can read it here.
This is basically a file that you can tell your emergency contact the location of so if something happens to you, they can go and get it and have a one stop shop of where things are and what they may need to handle for you. This is something that my grandmother had and after she passed away, it was so easy to arrange her affairs, since she had already done most of the work for us. After that, I decided to hone and combine a couple of the lists that I already keep for myself and update my file so that my loved ones would have a roadmap for me. Obviously this changes over time, so I have put it on my yearly purge and organize task list as something I revisit and update once a year.
Important Docs: I basically have a big thick plastic ziplock bag (like this one) that I keep all of my grab and go important documents in. This includes the lists I will reference below, but it also has things like my trust documents, birth certificate, passport, deed to my house, title for the car etc. I also keep a paper copy of each of my bills so that the account number and phone number to contact are handy. Obviously this could be found online but I like to take the "belt and suspenders" approach.
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Other Important Items: This is also not on a list, but I keep any old memory cards or external hard drives with photos etc. in the same bag. I know most things are in the cloud now, but I have a lot of older photos that I have not put in the cloud so those are kept on hard drives for the time being.
List of bills: This is a printout of an Excel spreadsheet of what bills I have, how they are paid, when they are due, and how much they normally are. Most of my bills are on autopay, so I have also noted whether it comes from my bank account (like the mortgage) or the credit card that I use for autopay. I only use one credit card for anything I have autopay on and use a different card for any online purchases and a third card for brick and mortar purchases. This way if the card that I carry around with me gets lost or stolen, I do not have to go back and update all of my online and/or autopay details. I also have this list saved in a Google drive folder that I share with my emergency contact so that it can be accessed online as well.
List of bank accounts, retirement accounts etc.: This is also an Excel spreadsheet; I do not put account numbers on this, but it is a list of where the account is, what type it is, and who is the beneficiary. This includes my loan for my mortgage.
List of properties: the deed or deeds should be in the file anyway, but it could also help to keep a list of the address(es) of any properties in the file too. I have also noted who my mortgage is with and approximately how much I have left on my loan (to be updated once per year).
List of email address and passwords: this is also up to you and can be stored electronically and shared instead. You can also get a password vault app that can be shared. However, my list is not long; it only includes sites that I think people would want to have access to, such as my Google account, which is where all of my photos and such are. Also this can be retrieved in some cases after your death, although I did read that the Apple iCloud data is not transferrable. To be safe, I would share your login with someone if the information is important!
Where is this file? Most importantly, tell someone where this file is and how to access it if it is in a safe or somewhere locked.
Just a side note, as I have mentioned in the past, this file is also the very same one that I would grab if there were a fire heading my way, and because of this, it also has cash in it. I also have a box of photos (hard copies) and a go bag with a change of clothes and some food as part of my emergency prep kit, but if the fire were coming fast, I would just grab the ICOE file and skedaddle. So it satisfies two different purposes.
Do you have a ICOE file or a Go Bag? Is there anything that I do not have on my list that you have on yours?
I don't. We have a fireproof safe with all our important documents - birth certificates, SIN cards, passports, marriage license, will...but I really should have things written out more clearly. I have a master list of account #s and passwords, but these are only known to my husband...so if something happened to both of us, people would NOT know where to look to get this info.
ReplyDeleteSo I feel like I'm 50% of the way, but missing some significant pieces to the puzzle of being fully prepared.
Well if it makes you feel any better (or makes you procrastinate more?) if something happened, usually they can find most of your important accounts by your social security number (or whatever your equivalent is, I am guessing). I guess one that is even more important now is for people to be able to access your online things, such as photos and such. I know that in my estate documents I have given my executor permission to have those things, but if I did not give them the password, I am not sure how hard it would be for them to access them!
DeleteI do not have something like this... We have a file box for important documents. Phil pays nearly all of our bills. Anything he doesn't pay is on autopayment. I have him as the kids set up as beneficiaries of all of my various accounts. But we probably should document more in the event something unexpected happened!
ReplyDeleteOh my gosh, I just found your comment in my spam...wth! Also, FYI, some of my reply comments were in my spam too! Haha!
DeleteAnyway, I think a file box is a good start! I just found it so handy when my grandma passed that we basically just went down her list, canceled what needed to be canceled, had her bank accounts all notified of her death and got her cremated just like she wanted. It felt so "easy" in a difficult time and I would hope that whoever is left behind when I am gone will also have it easy!
My parents have something similar. In a fire proof safe it has all this info and a cover sheet in the front with some highlights so you don't have to dig through all of it if you are in a hurry to find a specific thing. I have the code and I am their person in charge of everything if one or both cannot handle things. The thing that we are going to do next is get me on their checking account because what they learned from a friend passing away is that if I'm on the account I can immediately be writing checks/paying for things for them instead of being reimbursed later from their estate. We have done none of this and really need to do it. We do have bills/autopay stuff in an excel doc just not accessible to anyone else ha.
ReplyDeleteYes, if you are on their account you should be able to act immediately but if you are just a beneficiary or even the executor (or sometimes even the financial Power of Attorney) you may have a waiting period. You should definitely do it, as it makes things so much easier for whoever is left behind! And the last thing they need to think about when they are grieving is how the heck to deal with your (or any of our) stuff!
DeleteThis is such a great list! Thank you! I do think that blog password and instructions for how to deal with your blog (or other social media account) would be useful. If I died suddenly, I would want someone to update my blog to let people know what happened. And I would want that information should something terrible befall any of my blog friends, too!
ReplyDeleteI agree completely. We had a running friend unexpectedly fall (and die) while running in the mountains of Italy and it was thanks to Facebook that (1) his girlfriend knew to start looking for him (he was traveling and had not really told people where he was going to be) and (2) after they found him, she posted on his wall so people would know what had happened. It is tragic, but I think people were relieved to get the facts, even if they were not pleasant.
DeleteThis is so smart. I keep a physical backup of all of my files and pictures, because just because something is in "the cloud" doesn't mean that it's guaranteed to stay there.
ReplyDeleteI feel you! I have a hard drive and also I even keep some things as actual paper, although that is getting less and less as time goes by. However, I had a situation the other day where I needed old info, and luckily I had kept the physical copies of my tax returns, as my accounts had all been closed and purged!
Deletei really want to prepare this type of emergency bag as we had many earthquake events in manila but I kept forgetting about it. thanks for reminding me, will definitely try to do it this year.
ReplyDeleteI think that when something bad happens, that is when you realize you need to do it. I had been meaning to do it for years and then we had several years of VERY bad fires, where family had their houses burn down or be within feet of burning and it really hits home hard. I think a few important items and papers and some cash and some snacks and water will be a godsend if you are in a sticky situation! Here is the wildfire go-bag list! https://www.readyforwildfire.org/prepare-for-wildfire/get-set/emergency-supply-kit/
DeleteThis is a GREAT idea! When my grandpa died suddenly in October 2018, there were so many passwords and account numbers we needed and didn't know how to get. It would have been supremely helpful to have it all in one place! I think I'm going to work on this as one of my 2024 goals.
ReplyDeleteI'd also recommend setting up a Legacy Contact if you have an iPhone. That way, this person can access your phone - including social media accounts, passwords, etc. - in the event of your death.
I do not have an iPhone but I am going to look into the legacy contact thing for Android, as I think that is an excellent idea. Of course, I have my parent's passwords so can access their phones, but I actually do not think I have given anyone mine! Thanks for the idea!
DeleteHere is a very long list of possible things you may want to have in your estate planning journey.. as I said in my prior post about estate planning though, really I think a Power of Attorney and an Advanced Directive are a must at the very least, but a lot of these other things are good ideas too! Good luck! https://www.investopedia.com/articles/retirement/10/estate-planning-checklist.asp
Hi Kyria! This is such a good idea and makes me realize that I need to do something like this. It's not easy to think about these things, but it really is important.
ReplyDeleteYup! It's easy to put it off, but it feels so good once you are done!
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