I'm referring to your financial affairs. Yes, we are trying to set ourselves up for our own financial freedom/retirement or whatever, but if we don't get to reap the benefit of our hard work someone else is going to. Our partners/our kids/our grandkids etc. Does your spouse/family know all the pies you've got your fingers into? Would they know where to look for the information? The reason I ask is because I've just recently been put to the test.
Less than 3 weeks ago, I was fine, and except for some routine tests for an unusual symptom I'd developed, my life was 'normal' and so was I - and then it all went to hell.
12/4 Tuesday - I was told I had cancer (quite badly)
13/4 Wednesday - I cleaned out my desk etc at work
14/4 Thursday - I saw the oncologist
15/4/ Friday - I had x rays and CT scans to see if it had spread elsewhere
19/4 Tuesday - I had the operation
Somewhere amongst all this I gathered my daughters around me one night and went through all my financial affairs with them so I could sort myself out there as best I could and with what time I had left, and we talked about ALL the possible outcomes (good & bad) of the disease and agreed how we'd handle them all. I mean let's face it I could have carked it during the actual op never mind the disease later on!
At this point I thought I was quite organised. I had a filing cabinet full of folders that were clearly marked "Superannuation", "Shares" etc. but no, as we went through it I realised there were a lot of holes in my 'system' which would have meant a lot of work for them in sorting out my affairs later on.
I found it very hard to focus considering what was going on, so sent an S.O.S. out to DaleGG and Rolf to help me get sorted while I still had a job/income, still had my wits about me (well some of them anyway), and wasn't drugged to the eyeballs or incapacitated in any way. This was pretty lousy on my part to dump this sort of news on them and also expect them to jump quickly for me, but desperate times call for desperate measures and they came through for me. If you look at the time frame above you'll see we are talking literally days to get me sorted out. HUGE, HUGE HUGE thank you to them - very much appreciated.
I've read how some of you don't have partners who share your 'investment interests' so probably they don't know what you're 'into'. I've read that some of you have elaborate excel files with all your ip info on them. Great, but does anyone know how to get into you PC and find the file and make sense of it? and what about the rest of your stuff? I've read how some of you have mounds of dockets/receipts etc and know that you're not organised and need help with a filing system. You get my drift and I think you know where I'm going with this.
GET YOURSELF ORGANISED NOW! Turns out I didn't have time to do a new will, or get a power of attorney drawn up, but got the rest of my 'stuff' listed in an easy to follow format. It really does have to be as simple as this -
IP 1
Address:
Value at 'date':
Loan with:
Their website is:
My Login:
My Password:
Type of Loan:
Loan Number:
Balance of Loan:
Property Manager is:
Rent is: $**.** per week
Repayments are deducted from blah blah account on the 17th of each month.
Rent is paid into blah blah account on the 2nd of each month.
and so on with your bank accounts, shares, superannuation etc. List who your solicitor, accountant and other important people are.
Make a hard copy and agree on where it should be kept so it can be found when needed. Update it with anything new as you go along. This way they don't have to know where anything is except that list.
Well, I obviously survived the op and the good news is they seem to have got it all and I'm now home recouperating. With luck, further medical treatment to kill off any strays, (radiation & chemo), change in diet, (I had started to make changes here already - speeding up the process now), change in mindset (my job ruled my life and nearly robbed me of it. I'm such a stresshead - I'm adopting the 'who gives a f***' attitude now), change in exercise (actually gonna do some
), Reiki, and other stuff I haven't even decided on yet - I should get through and be fine for a few more years to come.
Anyway, my final word on the subject is - don't leave your loved ones a treasure hunt with no map.
Live long and prosper,
Cheers
Olly
Less than 3 weeks ago, I was fine, and except for some routine tests for an unusual symptom I'd developed, my life was 'normal' and so was I - and then it all went to hell.
12/4 Tuesday - I was told I had cancer (quite badly)
13/4 Wednesday - I cleaned out my desk etc at work
14/4 Thursday - I saw the oncologist
15/4/ Friday - I had x rays and CT scans to see if it had spread elsewhere
19/4 Tuesday - I had the operation
Somewhere amongst all this I gathered my daughters around me one night and went through all my financial affairs with them so I could sort myself out there as best I could and with what time I had left, and we talked about ALL the possible outcomes (good & bad) of the disease and agreed how we'd handle them all. I mean let's face it I could have carked it during the actual op never mind the disease later on!
At this point I thought I was quite organised. I had a filing cabinet full of folders that were clearly marked "Superannuation", "Shares" etc. but no, as we went through it I realised there were a lot of holes in my 'system' which would have meant a lot of work for them in sorting out my affairs later on.
I found it very hard to focus considering what was going on, so sent an S.O.S. out to DaleGG and Rolf to help me get sorted while I still had a job/income, still had my wits about me (well some of them anyway), and wasn't drugged to the eyeballs or incapacitated in any way. This was pretty lousy on my part to dump this sort of news on them and also expect them to jump quickly for me, but desperate times call for desperate measures and they came through for me. If you look at the time frame above you'll see we are talking literally days to get me sorted out. HUGE, HUGE HUGE thank you to them - very much appreciated.
I've read how some of you don't have partners who share your 'investment interests' so probably they don't know what you're 'into'. I've read that some of you have elaborate excel files with all your ip info on them. Great, but does anyone know how to get into you PC and find the file and make sense of it? and what about the rest of your stuff? I've read how some of you have mounds of dockets/receipts etc and know that you're not organised and need help with a filing system. You get my drift and I think you know where I'm going with this.
GET YOURSELF ORGANISED NOW! Turns out I didn't have time to do a new will, or get a power of attorney drawn up, but got the rest of my 'stuff' listed in an easy to follow format. It really does have to be as simple as this -
IP 1
Address:
Value at 'date':
Loan with:
Their website is:
My Login:
My Password:
Type of Loan:
Loan Number:
Balance of Loan:
Property Manager is:
Rent is: $**.** per week
Repayments are deducted from blah blah account on the 17th of each month.
Rent is paid into blah blah account on the 2nd of each month.
and so on with your bank accounts, shares, superannuation etc. List who your solicitor, accountant and other important people are.
Make a hard copy and agree on where it should be kept so it can be found when needed. Update it with anything new as you go along. This way they don't have to know where anything is except that list.
Well, I obviously survived the op and the good news is they seem to have got it all and I'm now home recouperating. With luck, further medical treatment to kill off any strays, (radiation & chemo), change in diet, (I had started to make changes here already - speeding up the process now), change in mindset (my job ruled my life and nearly robbed me of it. I'm such a stresshead - I'm adopting the 'who gives a f***' attitude now), change in exercise (actually gonna do some
), Reiki, and other stuff I haven't even decided on yet - I should get through and be fine for a few more years to come.Anyway, my final word on the subject is - don't leave your loved ones a treasure hunt with no map.
Live long and prosper,
Cheers
Olly
