8 Ways to Prepare for the Worst

Welcome new comers via the Carnival of Personal Finance. Please feel free to kick off your shoes and stay a while if you would like. For my regular readers, please go check out some other great posts at Four Pillars' posting of the Carnival.

1. Set up Life Insurance—Talk with your spouse and insurance agent and decide what you want it to cover. Do you want to set them up for life? Do you want them to be able to just pay off the debts? Do you want them to be covered until retirement age? You decide and purchase a policy that works for your budget and your needs.
2. Will—This is vitally important…especially if you have children. Don’t have your children be wards of the state until everything can be sorted out. Have this in place to know how your possessions will be handled in an untimely demise. Most people don’t get a chance to plan their death.
3. Living Will—Decide if you want a living will and get that set up if you do. Don’t make your family make this decision for you, as the result could lay heavy upon them for the rest of their lives.
4. Power of Attorney—Decide who is authorized to make decisions for you and your estate if you are incapacitated in any way.
5. Executor of estate—Someone needs to make sure business is taken care of properly when you aren’t around to see that it is.
6. Guardianship for Children—Who do you trust to raise your children? Who has the means? Whose parenting style do you appreciate? Who is willing to take on the responsibility? This is not a decision to be taken lightly.
7. Share Banking/Account Info—Make sure you share your account information with your spouse. If you are suddenly not able to make decisions about banking, bills, or accounts, make sure they are educated in how and what to do.
8. Decide who controls children’s inheritance—Who controls the money you leave behind if the children are minors? This may or may not be the job of the person who gets guardianship. That is up to you and your spouse. Choose wisely.