With millions of people staying home during the coronavirus pandemic, home projects like organizing have suddenly risen to the top of to-do lists. In this week’s digest, AAII staff cover tips to help make personal finance spring cleaning during the coronavirus restrictions less painful and more productive.
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Key End-of-Life Planning Tasks to Complete |
Like many people, you may have put off making decisions about your end-of-life care. Thinking and talking about end-of-life issues can be difficult and putting documents in place can seem daunting. While we are unable to control death, we can direct how we’d like our final days to unfold. Advance planning is key—making thoughtful choices now, putting them into a written advance directive and discussing those choices with others. Investment strategist Michael Falk covers non-financial planning steps that everyone, no matter your stage in life, should take.
Some of the topics covered in the article include:
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A guide to end-of-life planning
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Questions to ask yourself to ensure you and your family are prepared
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Looking at non-financial related topics in estate planning
There is no doubt that planning for the end of your life can force some difficult decisions. However, making decisions in advance helps ensure that we get the care we want and avoid what we don’t want, even if we’re unable to speak for ourselves.
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Get Organized! How to Maintain Your Personal Financial Files |
Are your file cabinets overflowing? Everyone needs to keep certain personal financial files more or less permanently. But which files should you keep, and why do you need to keep them? If something were to happen to you, will your next of kin or executors know what accounts you have or how to access them? This article from the AAII archives serves as a brief guide to organizing your personal paperwork.
Some of the topics Paula Hogan covers in the article include:
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Guidelines on how to organize your filing cabinet
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Financial files you SHOULD keep and why, along with how long
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The importance of taking your personal circumstances into consideration
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How to stick to your filing system
The article includes a downloadable Excel spreadsheet that Hogan calls a “Roadmap for Heirs” where you can compile important personal and financial details. Though written before digital documentation was ubiquitous, the article’s lessons can still be applied today.
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Member Question
The Federal Reserve announced on March 23 new measures to shore up the economy, including unlimited purchases of Treasury and mortgage securities. Do you agree with the various actions that the Fed has been taking in response to the coronavirus pandemic?
A) Yes
B) No
C) Unsure
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Be sure to vote on this week’s question for the opportunity to offer your insights on our open-ended question. |
Previous Question’s Results
At this point in time, what issues are most important to you in the 2020 Presidential Election?
The economy : 24%
Health care : 18%
Immigration : 14%
The environment : 11%
Taxes : 10%
Gun policy : 9%
Other (specify) : 7%
Education : 6%
Poll results are as of 9 a.m. (Central) on Monday. 6,931 respondents.
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More Financial Planning Articles in the AAII Journal |
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 Since personal finance issues crop up through every phase of life, the AAII Journal publishes a periodic column called Financial Planning. AAII.com is the best place to locate these articles from the past that address problems you are trying to solve now. They run the gamut from retirement and estate planning to avoiding investment schemes and choosing an adviser. Visit the AAII Journal area of AAII.com and click on Financial Planning in the Topic Archive whenever you need answers. More » |
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