Advocate Money Management Life Log

Month 1: Prepare

• Research available physical storage tools and decide how you will store original copies of documents when they are needed.
• Research digital storage options and select a strategy. While physical storage is helpful, digital storage can be incredibly valuable in making your delegate’s job easier and more efficient. Many tools offer the ability to provide access to others for portions of your Life Log, either now or in the future. In our opinion, the most important thing to consider is security – we recommend sticking with a digital vault software that specializes in storing data with the latest standards of encryption. There are a number of tools available, each with their own strengths and weaknesses.
• Set up an account with the digital platform provider you have selected and set up access for others if you will have someone else help you with this portion of the process.

Month 2: Family

• Document your family’s contact information, emergency contacts, and HIPAA authorized contacts.
• Gather birth, death, and marriage certificates, licenses, Social Security numbers, passports, and veteran discharge papers and store them in a secure location.

Month 3: Legal

• Capture contact information for your attorneys, executors, trustees, Power of Attorney (POA), and beneficiaries.
• If you haven’t already done so, consult with an estate planning attorney to discuss your wishes and get a plan together for your legal estate. Even if you don’t set up a trust, at least having a will, financial and medical POA, and advance directives in place will make things a lot easier for those acting on your behalf later.
• List and store a copy of your will, trusts, POA papers, advance directives, and any other legal documents you have in a secure location.
• Review accounts to make sure they are titled and have named beneficiaries in accordance with the legal estate plan.
• Post a copy of advance directives in the appropriate place (look up state requirements).
• Discuss your wishes with any executor, trustee, or POA named in your legal documents.

Month 4: Medical

• Make a list of all your medical providers, including primary care doctors, specialists, dental, vision, in-home care providers, and long-term care providers. Include contact information for each.
• If you make payments to any of the providers, document the amount and what bank account those payments are made from.
• File POA paperwork with each provider so that your POA will be authorized to discuss your account with them if the need arises.
• Establish online accounts with providers when possible, storing the login credentials in a secure location.
• Capture your personal and family medical history.
• Make a list of all medications you take, the dosage and frequency, when you started taking them, and what they are treating.

Month 5: Insurance

• Make a list of all your health insurance, property insurance, and other insurance (life or pre-paid burial for example).
• For each insurance, capture information for the provider, policyholder, insured, beneficiary, and key policy information such as policy number and premium.
• Store copies of your insurance cards and policies in a secure location.
• Set up online account access wherever possible, storing the login credentials in a secure location.
• File medical and financial POA paperwork with providers.

Month 6-7: Financial

• We recommend taking 2 months for this phase since it usually involves the most information and can be tedious to document.
• List out all your bank accounts, investment accounts, and other financial accounts such as ePay or Health Savings Accounts, for example.
• List all your loans and credit accounts.
• List all income sources, including regular income, investment income, benefits, and any other source of money you have coming in.
• For each account, capture the account holder(s), beneficiaries, provider contact information, broker or agent, and any bankers or financial advisors associated with the account.
• If there are a lot of accounts to list, consider simplifying your financial landscape by consolidating accounts. Each account should have a purpose.
• Review all accounts to make sure they are titled in alignment with your legal estate plan and have named beneficiaries.
• File financial POA paperwork with all providers.
• Establish online account access for all accounts and store login credentials in a secure location.
• Set up account monitoring services and/or account alerts as appropriate.

Month 8: Property

• Make a list of all your real estate, automobiles, and other valuable property. Include the owner, location, and any other relevant information.
• Document all safes, storage facilities and safety deposit boxes where valuable items are stored.
• For property requiring secure access (a key or combination, for example), document the code or location of the key.
• Make a note of any insurance you have that covers the property, tying back to the insurance items you documented.
• Capture all your household service providers for any real property you own or rent.
• Capture rental agreements, leases, or contracts for any property you have responsibility for but do not own. Make sure you have a loan entry in your financial section for any loans on your property.
• Capture deeds, titles, registrations, and appraisals for any property where it applies.
• Make sure property is titled in alignment with your legal estate plan. Consider titling property jointly, but consult with an attorney or CPA to make sure you consider the implications of gift taxes and impacts to potential government benefits such as Medicaid.

Month 9: Digital

• Make a list of all your digital accounts. This includes any account where you have a username and password. Most people are surprised at the number of accounts you accumulate over time without realizing it. They can include things like email, social media, shopping, groceries, transportation, streaming, and a wide variety of other accounts.
• For each account, capture the URL (web address) you use to access the account, the username, and the password.
• It is critically important in this phase to make sure you are only recording this information in a secure location like a vault software or locked safe.
• This is a great time to review your passwords. If you have passwords that are weak, we highly recommend changing them to a strong password and using different passwords on each account. A password manager can be a great tool to help manage passwords without having to remember them all.
• Consider using a password manager that allows you to share passwords securely with others. This may be part of the vault software you chose, or it may be a separate software, depending on the option you selected. This can make it easier for you to keep track of passwords and make it easier for your successor.
• Cancel unnecessary accounts and implement account monitoring tools if appropriate.

Month 10: Taxes

• Assemble all your tax forms from the past 5 years. This includes W-2’s, 1099’s, and any other tax forms you use to file taxes at the end of the year.
• Gather a copy of your completed tax return for each of the past 5 years.
• Document the contact information for any accountant or tax service you used to help you file taxes.
• Capture online credentials for any tax software used, making sure to store them in a secure location.
• This is a good time to consult with a financial advisor or CPA about Required Minimum Distributions and make sure you understand any requirements for taking RMD’s in the next year. Document any requirement you have so your successor can make sure to consider those requirements when managing your affairs.

Month 11: Legacy

• Document your wishes for final arrangements, funeral services, religious preferences, etc.
• Consider who you would like to serve as ministers, pall bearers, and people to participate in any memorial services. Discuss your wishes with them and document your choices.
• Document any pre-paid burial arrangements you have made, tying back to the insurance information you documented, and making note of any funeral home or contact information you have for those arrangements.
• Consider writing a letter to important friends or family members to let them know what they meant to you. This can be a good way to make sure your thoughts don’t go unsaid, and serve to comfort them as they grieve.
• Consider giving away items with significant financial or sentimental value if you do not need them anymore. Doing so can help avoid conflict and disagreements later, and you get the added benefit of seeing the joy those items can bring to your loved ones. Make sure to consult with your attorney or accountant before giving away items of significant value.

Month 12: Contacts

• You have been documenting contacts as you go, but this is a good time to review the entire list and add anyone else that comes to mind.
• Consider adding family and friends that may need to know if you are injured or pass away, or that may be called upon to help if your delegate needs help from others to carry out your wishes.
• Make sure you document the nature of the relationship with each person, and that you have a current address, phone number, and/or email for each contact.
• Make sure you have covered contacts such as extended family members, neighbors, close friends, emergency contacts, etc.