Inspired by ‘Smart Mom, Rich Mom’ by Kimberley Palmer.
No-one likes to think about life after they’re gone, least of all parents. But once you’ve got a few things sorted you can banish most of those worrying thoughts from you mind.
1. Have you written a will that spells out your preferences for guardianship for your children as well as who gets what when you die?
If you’ve gone through any major life changes since last updating your will, like having more children, getting married or divorced, or buying a house then you’ll need to make updates. You should also consider getting a financial power of attorney and a health care proxy. You can write your own Will online and at an affordable price at eWills.co.nz. If you die without a will your assets get divided up according to New Zealand Law.
2. Is your Life Insurance up to date? Or do you have it at all?
In 2016 NZIER found that New Zealand has the third-lowest take up of life insurance among 31 OECD countries. When thinking about insuring your life and income, you need to think about not only where you are today, but also where you might be in the future, and what your family might need. How much money would it take to replace the income that you and your partner generate along with the expenses you would want the money to cover? A surviving parent might also want to cut back on work to be home more with the children, life insurance can help fund that too.
3. Do you have disability or trauma cover?
Disability cover provides a lump sum payment to make life easier if you become totally and permanently disabled. Disability cover can be added to your existing life insurance policy. Trauma cover provides a lump sum payment if you suffer from one of the specified conditions. Both of these can be used ether to pay for medical bills, including alternative treatments that may not be covered by health insurance, or spending time with your family ticking off your bucket list.
4. Are your Digital Assets prepared?
Facebook has the option of appointing someone to manage your account in the event of your death (Settings/manage account); other social media tools let you select privacy and security settings that will affect how your accounts are handled or deleted after death.
5. Are all of your important documents in a place that will be accessible to those who need it?
It’s helpful to have a file which has copies of all insurance policies, wills etc as well as any investment certificates, passwords etc, so that if anything happens, the person you’ve appointed can reduce any burden on your family as quickly as possible. You’d be surprised how many times we have people phoning to see if a family member had an insurance policy with us – as no-one can find their records or information.
