Plan for if the "money partner" dies first?

[Midpack]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Whisper66 (3) Finances - simplified all finances into one investment company plus one bank. (4) Monthly household expenses - she’s done this before and would be ok doing them if I pass. (5) Estate book - I also put together a notebook of the things an executor may need if I or both of us pass. Lists investment accounts, bank account, bills to be paid, location of deeds, contacts (ex: lawyer and cpa), wills, etc,etc… Good to be thinking about this stuff when we are still healthy and under no immediate pressures.

Not all the way there, but this much is done. DW would be OK, she handles our spending and banking but very little interest otherwise. Our estate book would be most helpful, and she was in on the entire process. She has no idea what our net worth is even though I show her periodically. Our investments are simpler now than they used to be, all index funds and cash (plus a temporary foray into T-Bills?). Income taxes would probably be her toughest adjustment, she would probably hire someone.

[I Yam What I Yam]

I handle all the money related tasks in my family. DW has no interest in the details and operates from the fear based perspective that we have to tightly control spending to live without full time employment. Nothing could be further from the truth based on the all the planning we have done. I've tried to engage many times over the years and it ends in frustration. As such, I haven't spent any time documenting what I do from an investing standpoint as I feel it would be wasted effort and completely ignored on my passing. Odds are, she will do nothing and things will continue as they have.

We have a financial consultant at Schwab that I have spent time discussing in detail my investment style/objectives and she can help DW with the investments if I was to pass. We used to keep a binder of documents that included passwords, account information, etc. but last year we stopped that practice. Now, we have all our documents on iCloud and have set up my wife, the executor of our will, and the contingent executor as Legacy Contacts for my AppleID. In the event I/we die, all they need is my death certificate and they can access all our documents, passwords, lists of accounts, trustee information, and other pertinent information.

[arcyallen]

We sit down and talk about this at the start of every year. I do all the long term money planning, she takes care of the recurring bills. If she dies, I'm pretty capable of paying those bills myself and figuring everything out. But if I die, it's a bit more complicated. We have all the "what ifs" worked out, and she knows what she'll need to do. Our situation is a little different in that she has a severe disability and will need care if I croak.

The plan is for her to go our FA (who we have, but I'm basically running the account) and tweak our plan as necessary. For the record, my wife HATES having this yearly conversation as where I enjoy it. Something to keep in mind if a spouse seems oddly resistant.

[brett]

We have done the same as others for exactly the same reasons. I keep it updated on an annual basis.

It is very straightforward. My spouse knows where the monies are, where the lasted copy of the wills are, the CPA, lawyer, and financial advisory contacts, plus the day to day banking and online banking details. Credit card details to the point where we ensured that my spouse had a credit history in her own name.

[bobandsherry]

I've maintained our finances in Quicken. All accounts are included as well as websites and login info. Just one password in Quicken makes that available.

I use a password manager to save off all my website logins, so it's all easily found and accessible. Just need one master password to login, which my wife is aware of.

Taxes are on the PC as well.

I manage my own finances, have tried to simplify so it can run on auto pilot to ensure she has ample income, but need to spend time as some point to run through the details.

[DrRoy]

For decades I have handled the investments and DW the bills. Back in the day I travelled a lot for work and might not be home when a payment was due and you had to put a check in the mail. Now it's nearly all on autopay. She knows where the accounts are and we do the taxes together every year. She wouldn't be into it as much as me but I think she would be ok with the investments.

[Retired2016]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Lewis Clark We created what we call our "End of Life Binder". It lists all of our assets, routine bills, insurance policies, financial accounts, doctors, and final wishes. We have also started to include instructions for items like the ones marko has listed as we think of them. It will help my wife if I die first, and it will help whoever cleans up the mess if we both die at the same time.

I’ve done this too. In addition, I’ve done the following:

1. Document with monthly bills and what accounts/credit cards they’re paid with.
2. Any reoccurring credit card bills are on his CC so they wouldn’t have to be transferred.
3. All accounts linked to a joint one so money can be moved out easily
4. A bookmark on my computer with accounts in alphabetical order and their URLs and logins saved with a PW manager.

Even after I did all the above, I found Mike Piper’s book, “After the death of your spouse” beneficial.

[djsander]

My wife says if I die first she will haunt me do to all the electronic gadgets that she needs help with. On a more serious note we do have a lot of stuff set up so either one or the kids can handle everything. We probably need to go back through it all, update some items and have a further discussion on some things,

[isisdave]

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Originally Posted by Calico I have one of these on order. Being single, I need to leave behind instructions on what needs to be done after I'm gone.

That's rich. I have a shortcut right in the middle of my (unlocked) computer desktop named "In Case We Drop Dead" and have mentioned it to our son, who so far thinks we will live A Long Time.

I'm hoping for a final act of 1-3 months, but ya never know. It's also possible the mind will go on ahead of the body, so I review and update the docs every few months.

DW is gonna need tech help with everything from turning on Bluetooth to rebooting the router on up. I'm suggesting she hire a 14-year-old as a consultant until up to speed.

[mcbraemer]

Quote:

Originally Posted by marko I'm in a similar situation but recently have had some serious health scares. DW has now demanded that she become involved and better understand how it all works. I've also written everything out on the mechanics of it all. She's even recently started taking over paying the bills!! None of it is extremely complicated and I've also written a plan on how to simplify some of the slightly more involved aspects. And our accountant handles the broader picture.

Same here. Fortunately, the mad days of Robbing Peter to Pay Paul are finally over after so many years of raising and paying for children (3), and then shoveling every dollar possible into 401ks. After consolidating almost all finances into one investment company and one bank, our personal finances and investments are considerably simpler. This permitted getting DW involved in everything financial without major complexities.

[kyzymurgist]

Until Marko's comment, I thought we were in good shape. All financial information, important documents, and "in case of death" instructions are in LastPass and DW knows the password and how to navigate Lastpass...reinforced by regular log-ins for various tasks.

And the kids also know that this info is in Lastpass and how to access the password in the unlikely event that we both end together on some adventure.

But now I need to add all the routine household tasks that I handle from resetting routers and Fire sticks to changing filters. Thanks Marko. And DW needs to do the same.