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The Coronavirus has caused many people’s financial situation to change suddenly. You may be wondering what steps you can take to ensure that a plan is in place if you are suddenly unable to manage your finances. This installment of the Care Connection Financial Focus deals with managing finances in uncertain times with information provided by the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau.
If you are the primary manager of your household’s finances, ask yourself whether your spouse would be able to navigate those finances if you were suddenly unable to? Would your spouse know your family’s bank account numbers, including pension accounts and retirement accounts? What about property and investments that your family owns? Who is listed as the beneficiary on those accounts? Would they know what money is coming in, where it is coming from, and where it is deposited? Would they know what payments your household makes, when they are due, how they are paid and where they are paid? Do you and your spouse have a will, powers of attorney, and similar legal documents? Do you know where they are? Are they current?
You can take steps to ensure that you or your spouse are able to navigate through all these things.
Schedule time for you and your spouse to go over your finances. Start by taking an inventory of your family’s income, expenses, debt, and investments.
Maintain a list of account information and store it in a safe location, that you both have access to. Be sure to include account numbers, usernames, security questions, and passwords. Keeping this information in a fire-safe box is a great idea.
Have a plan in place for what will happen and who will manage your finances if one or both of you become ill or die unexpectedly. Consider creating a durable power of attorney so you will have someone in place to pay your bills or make financial decisions if you can no longer do it on your own.
Care Connection has some great resources for financial preparedness including “Five Wishes” and “I Have Put My House in Order.” If you would like to receive a free copy, contact Care Connection at 1-800-748-7826.