Planning Ahead: What Your Loved Ones Need to Know

Imagine for a moment that someone you love suddenly had to step into your shoes.

Would they know where your important financial documents are? Could they find your insurance policies or retirement accounts? Would they know how to access important digital information? Who would they call first?

Most of us know the answers to these questions ourselves. The problem is that the people we love may not.

Planning ahead for your loved ones is about more than having a will or trust. It is about creating a roadmap so the right people can find important information and understand what to do when they need it most.

Want a place to start?

We created Planning Ahead: A Guide for You & Your Loved Ones to help you organize important information, prepare your digital life, and understand some of the practical steps that may need to be taken after the loss of a loved one.

[Click HERE to Get Your Complimentary Planning Ahead Guide]

Quick Answer: What Does Planning Ahead Really Mean?

Planning ahead means making it easier for a trusted person to locate and appropriately handle your important information if you cannot do it yourself.

A good plan should help your loved ones understand:

• Where important estate-planning documents are kept
• How to locate financial and retirement accounts
• Where insurance and beneficiary information can be found
• How important digital accounts are organized
• Who should have authorized access to digital information
• Who to contact for financial, legal, and tax guidance
• What steps may need attention after a death
• Which decisions should not be rushed

You do not need to hand someone every password or financial detail today. Instead, the goal is to create an organized path to the information they may eventually need.

A Story That Happens More Often Than You Might Think

Consider a married couple who has spent decades building a life together. They own a home, have retirement accounts, maintain insurance policies, pay bills online, store family photos in the cloud, and use a cell phone for two-factor authentication.

One spouse manages most of the household finances.

Then that spouse unexpectedly passes away.

The surviving spouse knows there is a trust somewhere. However, they are not sure where the latest copy is stored. They know there are investment accounts but do not know every institution. Several bills are paid automatically, and important notices arrive through an email account they cannot access.

Meanwhile, the deceased spouse’s cell phone keeps receiving authentication codes.

None of these problems necessarily means the couple failed to plan financially. Instead, an important piece of the plan was missing: someone else needed to know how to find the roadmap.

That is why planning ahead for your loved ones should include both traditional estate planning and the practical details of everyday life.

Your Financial Life Is Increasingly Digital

Years ago, families could often find much of what they needed by opening a filing cabinet or reviewing the mail.

Today, that may not be enough.

Banking, investments, retirement accounts, insurance policies, utilities, subscriptions, photographs, tax documents, and personal correspondence may all exist primarily online. Therefore, digital organization has become an important part of preparing your financial affairs.

Your digital plan may need to account for:

• Email accounts
• Banking and investment websites
• Retirement accounts
• Credit cards
• Insurance policies
• Mortgage and loan accounts
• Utilities
• Cell phone and internet providers
• Social media
• Cloud storage
• Subscription services
• Other digital assets

However, good digital planning does not mean emailing a family member a spreadsheet containing every password.

Instead, consider using a secure password manager or digital vault. Then make sure an appropriate trusted person knows what system you use and how authorized access could eventually be obtained.

Your Cell Phone May Be More Important Than You Realize

A cell phone is no longer just a telephone.

For many people, it is also a gateway to email, banking, financial accounts, stored documents, photographs, password resets, and multi-factor authentication.

As a result, immediately disconnecting a deceased person’s phone or deleting a primary email account could create unnecessary complications. Those accounts may help a family identify financial relationships, recurring payments, digital assets, and other information that was not previously known.

Planning ahead can reduce that uncertainty.

Apple, for example, offers a Legacy Contact feature. Google offers Inactive Account Manager. These tools can allow you to establish instructions for certain digital information in advance.

A Will or Trust Is Important, but Your Family Still Needs to Find It

Estate-planning documents can provide important legal direction. However, those documents cannot help your family if no one knows where they are.

An organized plan should make it possible for the appropriate person to locate current versions of documents and information such as:

• Your will
• Your trust and amendments, if applicable
• Certification of Trust
• Property deeds
• Life insurance information
• Beneficiary information
• Safe-deposit box information
• Written family or final-arrangement instructions

Additionally, your family should know who you have named to important roles, such as Successor Trustee or Executor.

This is one reason estate planning should not be treated as a one-time project that ends when documents are signed. Organization and communication matter too.

For more educational resources on estate planning, retirement, investments, and your financial life, visit the Holland Strategic Wealth Advisors blog.

Beneficiary Designations Deserve Attention Too

A common misconception is that a will or trust automatically controls every asset.

That is not always the case.

Certain assets may pass directly according to their beneficiary designation. These can include life insurance, IRAs, 401(k)s and other retirement plans, annuities, and payable-on-death or transfer-on-death accounts.

Therefore, beneficiary reviews should be part of planning ahead for your loved ones.

Life changes as well. Marriage, divorce, births, deaths, and changes in family relationships can all be good reasons to review your overall plan with the appropriate professionals.

Sometimes the Best Plan Is Knowing What Not to Do

After a death, families often feel pressure to start taking action immediately.

Close the accounts. Sell the house. Cancel everything. Move the money. Divide the belongings.

However, moving quickly is not always the best approach.

Before making significant changes, the family may first need to determine how an asset is owned, whether a beneficiary is named, and who has the legal authority to act. Some financial decisions may also have tax or estate-planning consequences.

In the first days following a death, families generally do not need to immediately sell the home, distribute inheritances, close every account, cancel every service, make major investment decisions, or solve every tax question.

That can be an important message to leave behind for the people you love:

You do not have to solve everything today.

Create One Place for the Important Information

Organization does not need to be complicated.

You might use a physical binder, secure digital file, or another organized system. What matters is that your trusted person knows it exists and knows where to find it.

Consider organizing information related to:

• Estate-planning documents
• Financial and retirement accounts
• Insurance policies
• Real estate and property
• Beneficiary designations
• Debts and recurring expenses
• Tax documents
• Digital accounts
• Important professional contacts

Additionally, review the information periodically. Accounts change. Password systems change. Phone numbers change. People named in your plan may change too.

A plan created ten years ago and never reviewed may no longer reflect your life today.

Planning Ahead Is Something You Do for Other People

There is an understandable reason people postpone these conversations.

Nobody particularly enjoys thinking about a time when they may no longer be able to handle their own affairs.

However, planning ahead for your loved ones is not really about focusing on what could go wrong. It is about making a difficult situation less confusing for someone you care about.

Instead of leaving questions, you can leave instructions.

Instead of leaving scattered information, you can leave organization.

And instead of requiring your family to figure everything out at once, you can give them a place to begin.

That may be one of the most practical gifts a financial plan can provide.

Ready to get organized?

Download our complimentary Planning Ahead: A Guide for You & Your Loved Ones for practical guidance on setting up a digital legacy contact, organizing important accounts and passwords, and understanding what may need to happen after the loss of a loved one.

[Get Your Complimentary Planning Ahead Guide]

Frequently Asked Questions

What information should I organize for my family?

Start with estate-planning documents, financial and retirement accounts, insurance policies, beneficiary information, property records, debts, recurring bills, tax documents, and important professional contacts. Additionally, consider how your family would locate important digital accounts and information.

Should I give someone all of my passwords now?

Not necessarily. A better approach may be to use a trusted password manager or secure digital vault and make sure the appropriate person knows where your information is stored and how authorized access could be obtained if necessary. Avoid sending master passwords or recovery codes through ordinary email or text.

What is a digital legacy contact?

A digital legacy contact is a person you designate to access certain digital information under the rules of a particular service. For example, Apple offers Legacy Contact, while Google provides Inactive Account Manager. The specific access and requirements vary by provider.

Is having a will or trust enough?

A will or trust can be an important part of an estate plan, but practical preparation goes further. Your loved ones may also need to know where documents are located, how assets are titled, which accounts have beneficiaries, how to find digital information, and which professionals to contact.

How often should I review my planning information?

Review it periodically and after significant changes to your finances, family, accounts, phone number, digital security, or trusted contacts. Digital information in particular can change frequently, so keeping your plan current is important.