If you got run over by a bus tomorrow, would someone know:
• Where the will is?
• Which accounts exist?
• What insurance you actually have?
• What bills get paid automatically?
• Who to ring when something goes wrong?
Most of us assume: “They’ll figure it out.” Well yeah, eventually they would but it can take months. It’s a pretty rough job to leave someone left behind, especially if they are your loved ones.
So, what’s the answer? I had this very problem, so I went searching on the Internet and lo and behold….. I couldn’t find anything that fitted what I wanted. There was a lot of legal documents full of fancy language, and a few overseas papers that you could pay for and fill out, but nothing that talked about the stuff that I knew: The Kiwi household stuff we all put up with day in and day out and develop our own unique way of dealing with it.
Well, that’s fine until someone else has to deal with it.
So, I made my own. Took a lot of time tweaking it to what I wanted and filled it out. I showed it to a few friends and no one – I mean NO ONE had done anything like this. A few had written a few rough notes and thrown them in a drawer. A couple said that their partner’s knew where everything was (yeah right), and others said they hadn’t got round to it. Well, we are all a bunch of muppets for ignoring this.
So, let me tell you about the Grumpy Old Kiwi Man’s Legacy Folder I have developed and you can use.
This is a simple fill-in guide that helps you organise:
• Accounts
• Insurance
• Bills
• Assets
• Key contacts
• Important documents
• Password locations
• Notes for your family
Nothing complicated. No financial jargon. No legal waffle. Just clear information in one place.
Most blokes finish this over a few evenings or a couple of weekends. Start anywhere. Fill out a few pages at a time. Save it. Come back later.
Even half-complete is useful.
This has been Built by an Ordinary Grumpy Old Kiwi Bloke for Ordinary Kiwi Blokes
This isn’t a financial plan.
You don’t need to be wealthy.
You don’t need spreadsheets.
You don’t need to understand investments.
You just need to write down what already exists.
That’s what families actually need.
This Folder Helps Your Family Avoid:
• Searching drawers for paperwork
• Guessing passwords
• Ringing banks to ask what exists
• Missing insurance policies
• Paying mystery subscriptions
• Stressful guesswork
Yeah I know – Most Blokes Already Have A “System”
Usually it involves:
• A drawer that hasn’t had anything put in it since 2017
• A pile of papers on a desk that regularly fall down the back
• A safe with a combination no one knows or remembers
• A bag or shoe box which could be tucked away anywhere
• Or “somewhere in the shed”
If that sounds familiar, you’re exactly who this was built for.
This IS One of the Most Solid Things You Can Do
No one will congratulate you for doing this.
It’s not exciting.
But it’s one of the most responsible things you can do for your family.
In the future you will be pleased you did it.
And your family won’t need to be treasure hunters to try and figure everything out when you aren’t there.
THINK ABOUT IT AND DO SOMETHING ABOUT IT.
