Day 82: Get Your Legal and Financial Affairs in Order

Scripture to Memorize:
Give her the reward she has earned,
and let her works bring her praise at the city gate.
Proverbs 31:31
Passage to Read:
May the LORD bless you from Zion
all the days of your life;
may you see the prosperity of Jerusalem,
and may you live to see your children's children.
Peace be upon Israel.
Psalm 128:5-6
Prayer:
Dear Heavenly Father;
I thank you for the blessings you have blessed me with. I believe you bless me all the days of my life and that I will see prosperity. Thank you for granting me the opportunity to live long enough to see my child's children and their children. Help me to continue to be wise in the way I live my life so that I may truly enjoy my senior years. I thank you for your blessing and ask that you empower me to be a blessing to others. I pray for peace and prosperity for my country. I pray that the leaders of this country would turn to you and seek your wisdom and guidance in governing this land. In Jesus name I pray, Amen.
Personal:
Donna's lesson today is to get our legal and financial records in order. She suggests we start by creating an Emergency Contact list in the Personal section of our notebooks/journals. Compile a list of key eople to call, including relatives, physicians, and lawyers, in case of an emergency. Keep this information in your Personal Notebook but also keep it with you at all times.
Next she suggests that we photocopy our credit cards (if you have not followed suggestions and gotten rid of them), debit cards, driver's license, Social Security card, insurance card, and other important things you carry in your purse. That way if your purse is stolen you will know just what is missing and where to go to replace everything. Then put the copies in the front of a locked fireproof filing cabinet in a folder labeled Vital Information, or in your safe. If you do not have either one of these then you need to purchase one. Be sure someone knows where the key to the cabinet is or how to unlock it. Make a notre at the bottom of the Emergency Contact page, indicating the existence and location of your Vital Information folder. This is also the place to indicate the name and contact information for the person who knows how to open the filing cabinet and/or safe.
"Your Vital Information folder should also include:

• Passport - Everyone should have a valid passport. You don't know when you might need to go overseas in a moment's notice to answser God's call or that of a relative, to take a business trip, or to care for some other circumstance. Check your passport to see if it expires soon, and renew it.
• Will - Lawyers constantly marvel at how many highly intelligent people don't have a will, and how many people who do have wills haven't updated them for decades. When someone dies without an up-to-date will, it can have devastating financial ad legal consequences for the family. It can also lead to lengthy family feuds, even over seemingly insignificant details. If you want your loved ones, rather than lawyers and the government, to inherit your estate, make sure your will is valid and easy to locate.
• Power of Attorney - Take the time to make sure you have a well-writtne power of attorney and pick someone you trust completely. Check with your lawyer to make sure that any power-of-attorney form you sign does precisely what you want it to do. Be very precise as to the authority you are given the person. If you want them to be able to make gifts of money or other property be sure it says so. Be sure you assign that person as your health care proxy so that he or she can make life and death decisions on your behalf. If you designate your spouse be sure to designate a back up person should you both die at the same time.
• Insurance policies - Make sure you have adequate healthy insurance coverage. Again this is something that was also covered under Financial Peace University and so I have already made sure I do. However, I should have gotten long term health care sooner because now it is hard to get and very costly.
• Deeds to property - The original deed(s) can be kept by you or filed with an attorney. If filed with an attorney, include a photocopy in your file. You should also have a beneficiary deed, which turns the property over to your heirs on your death.
• Social Security summary - Keep a copy of your most recent benefit statement. Ensure that all personal information is correct and confirm how much monthly income you are projected to receive. If you don't have or can't find your statement, visit www.ss.gov to obtain one.
• Investment Overview - Include a recent statement for each of your investment, along with any stock or bond certificates. You should also create an Investment Overview spreadsheet, listing all of your investments with account numbers, contact informatin, and estimated value. If you organize your finances using a software program, such as Quicken or Microsoft Money, it will create such an overview for you to print out and file."

While we are doing all of this Donna tells us to review our financial and legal documents to make sure that your beneficiaries are up-to-date. Further she tells us to be sure to use effective estate planning tools (like trusts or advance gifts to reduce estate taxes and ensure that your heirs receive the most benefit.

"We should all aspire to be a wise, well-prepared woman. Yes, it is true that God is our provider. But often he provides by sending someone to bring us a wake-up call. This is your wake-up call."

Affirmation: I prepare for my future with wisdom.

Practical:

I don't carry an Emergency Contact page from my Personal Notebook/Journal I carry all this information in my Crossing's Annual Daily Planner Calendar. I also include in it a complete and current list of all medications and some other pertinent information in the event I had to be hospitalized as the result of an accident or something. Also is the necessary contact information for Bo and my daughter and sister. There if also a place where I have recorded all my doctors' names, speciality, and phone numbers. I have not make the photocopies she mentioned at the beginning of this lesson but I can see where that would be very useful and will do this tomorrow.