How do you keep track of all the data?

[welly01]

It occurred to me recently that if anything happens to DH, I don't know who carries his life insurance policy.  He has it through work...that's all I know.  I feel like we both should have a folder titled "In case I die" that includes all financial accounts, passwords, insurance policies, all that jazz.  I'm pretty familiar with DH's stuff (except his life insurance...the most important thing) but I feel like DH would be totally lost as far as my stuff.

Also, DC started using this new evaluation system and there is a website that we can log into and see his development reports, recommended activity, etc.  I still haven't bookmarked the page yet, but when I do, it will be on my work computer (where everything else is *sigh*).

Ok, I know these two things are not really related, but I'm just starting to feel overwhelmed by all the information.  How do you keep track of all these important things?  Passwords, insurance policies, website logins?  I need some organization in my life.

[erinshelley21]

There are definitely a lot of things to keep track of. It's helpful to have all that information in one place. My dad had an "in case I die" binder, and it was sort of helpful. The thing I found most helpful was knowing who he dealt with for what. Who his accountant was, who his financial planner was, and at the time who his business partners were. Everyone was extremely helpful during that time.
I have a "bill book" that keeps has a list of the bills we pay and what amounts. It also contains our login and password for our bank accounts that I use to pay said bills.
As for life insurance, DH and I both have a policy through one agent, but DH has a policy through his job at the fire department. My "plan" is to call the fire chief or deal with someone at city hall. I'm sure if you contacted someone in the HR dept if anything were to happen, they would be able to help you get started on all the things you need to do.
I keep other random logins in my planner. I transfer logins and passwords every year when I get a new one.
I should probably be more organized and more informed on DH's other policy and what not, but I've got too much going on trying to manage a business, a household, a one year old, and my own life to keep track of things that other people are already keeping track of.

[somerandomchick]

We have an 'important papers box' (a small water & fire resistance safe with a simple key mechanism) that has paperwork for insurance, financial statements, some medical info, our identity documents. If he had to DH could get (for example) info about which brokerage my employee stocks are in and our account #, which is a starting point to call (and the account is joint property so his name and SSN are on as account owners)

We also have a passwordSafe file that contains info on passwords for all our important stuff, and I share that with DH as well. Since I'm the only one working (he SAH), everything is through me--health insurance, life insurance, 401k, employee stocks (and my company switched providers so those are in 2 different places), so on. DH has the passwords file so if he wants to look at our budget and tinker with what we're putting into retirement, he can just log in himself... PasswordSafe lets you put a lot of info in there too (website, username, password, notes, etc--and you can do kind of a hierarchy of entries for easier organization, like I have a category insurance for the different medical, dental and visiion insurance websites)

[k3am]

If you haven't done it yet, you should probably look into setting up a will (and/or trust depending on your circumstances). All of this stuff would be laid out and pretty clear how things are handled in case one of you dies. Obviously accounts come up frequently and my not have been addressed in a will, but the big stuff would have been.

For practicality though, I use lastpass and google for everything. All my links that I save on my work computer are also available on my home computer. I have a master password for lastpass (that DH knows), which auto generates log in information and passwords for all the sites - credit cards, bank, etc. - so if something ever happened, DH would be able to access them.

[CoverGirl82]

We have important papers/info in a fire & water proof box. We have joint bank accounts and joint major credit cards. DH has a life insurance policy through work, so if he died I would just contact his HR dept and ask them to send me everything. What we should add to our file is contact info in case both DH and I die, and my parents need to figure everything out. I'm going to have to check out passwordSafe and lastpass, though - they sound very helpful!!

[k3am]

@heysoulsister - lastpass is awesome. I use it primarily because I kept forgetting passwords and locking myself out of accounts + I'm lazy, but the benefit that DH can access them too is also nice.

[jlaok]

I need to create something like this because DH would be screwed if something happens to me. He knows of everything we have but doesn't know any of the passwords, password to my email, or even my SSN.

I have plans to write it all down and put it in our fireproof box, but it's one of those "I'll get to it someday" tasks.

[MamaPhD]

Feb 24, 2015 10:39:31 GMT -5 jlaok said:

I need to create something like this because DH would be screwed if something happens to me. He knows of everything we have but doesn't know any of the passwords, password to my email, or even my SSN.

I have plans to write it all down and put it in our fireproof box, but it's one of those "I'll get to it someday" tasks.

This is us as well. I really need to just take a few hours and get all of this together. A dear friend of mine died of cancer and one of the last times I visited her in the hospital she was freaking out because she hadn't done anything to organize all of that stuff. Not what you want to be worrying about in your final days. As a result, her husband had a lot of difficulty accessing some of their funds after she passed away.

You'd think this would be motivation for me to get this done!

[twinmomma]

Ugh. This emphasizes how much we need to get our shit together. It's all in my head. DH doesn't even know how to log into our online banking. I need to go the lock box route and write everything out to put in there. Maybe this will be my next nap time project for the weekends...

[welly01]

k3am and privacy, did you pay for LastPass premium or can you just use the free service?

[k3am]

welly01, I just use the free version. If I wanted to use it on my tablet or phone, I would pay for the premium, but overall the free version works for me.

[katelou]

This is a good reference for what you need in your "Death Dossier" as they call it:
www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303627104576410234039258092
(Sorry I'm mobile and can't make it clicky)

We've done it, but it's been a couple years and it probably needs to be updated as passwords and accounts have changed.

[welly01]

Feb 24, 2015 11:14:01 GMT -5 katelou said:

This is a good reference for what you need in your "Death Dossier" as they call it:
www.wsj.com/articles/SB10001424052702303627104576410234039258092
(Sorry I'm mobile and can't make it clicky)

We've done it, but it's been a couple years and it probably needs to be updated as passwords and accounts have changed.

That looks like a great list.  Thank you!

[pittpurple]

Really, really need to do this. We have this on our 'deal with later' list, we really need to get this information together and make sure our executors have it as well. Commenting here so I can find all the links later!

[alioop1028]

Feb 24, 2015 10:15:55 GMT -5 k3am said:

If you haven't done it yet, you should probably look into setting up a will (and/or trust depending on your circumstances). All of this stuff would be laid out and pretty clear how things are handled in case one of you dies. Obviously accounts come up frequently and my not have been addressed in a will, but the big stuff would have been.

For practicality though, I use lastpass and google for everything. All my links that I save on my work computer are also available on my home computer. I have a master password for lastpass (that DH knows), which auto generates log in information and passwords for all the sites - credit cards, bank, etc. - so if something ever happened, DH would be able to access them.

I had no idea this existed. This is awesome!

[alioop1028]

Feb 24, 2015 11:00:36 GMT -5 twinmomma said:

Ugh. This emphasizes how much we need to get our shit together. It's all in my head. DH doesn't even know how to log into our online banking. I need to go the lock box route and write everything out to put in there. Maybe this will be my next nap time project for the weekends...

Seriously. I need to get our shit together too.

[sandandsea]

We have a piece of paper in our safe at home that has everything listed on it. We also have all of the websites and passwords saved on our computers (Mac has Keychain built in to save them all). DH and I are both actively involved with our finances too so we both know what's going on. The paper is more in case something happened to both of us.

[cjsmom]

I have tried to get my mom to lay out everything because I know I will have to take care of it when the time comes. I really need to do this too. This is my new project for the weekend.

I've never heard of lastpass or password safe. I'll definitely look into it.

[emmyg65]

I found this website really useful in getting started with this stuff: getyourshittogether.org/

Though if you need legal documents like a will, go to a real, live lawyer.

[shakinros]

This is a seriously useful thread! I will add this to one of my nap projects. I know I will need to nag for months to get DH's info in there (life insurance through work being the only thing I don't have access to) but I've got everything else. He'd be screwed if I die!

[sandandsea]

www.daveramsey.com/article/legacy-drawer-keep-your-family-prepared/lifeandmoney_relationshipsandmoney/

This is a very helpful list for everyone just getting started!