A Legacy Binder is a compilation of your important personal and financial documents. It can be a lifesaver if something happens to you because it will make it easy for your loved ones to find and manage your estate.
What is a Legacy Binder?
A Legacy Binder can be a physical binder, an electronic binder, or both. It should be stored in a safe place, such as a fireproof safe, safety deposit box, or home safe. If you have an electronic Legacy Binder, you should also store it on a secure cloud-based storage system.
Your Legacy Binder should include the following:
A copy of your Will or Living Trust
A copy of your Durable Power of Attorney for Healthcare
A copy of your Durable Power of Attorney for Finances
A copy of your Advance Directive
Your most recent tax returns
A list of your bank accounts, investment accounts, and retirement accounts
Your life insurance policy information
Any other important documents, such as titles to your car or house
Why Might You Need a Legacy Binder?
There are many reasons why you might need a Legacy Binder. If something happens to you and you can’t manage your affairs, your loved ones will need to be able to find your important documents quickly. A Legacy Binder will make it easy for them to do that.
Your Legacy Binder will also be helpful to your loved ones if they need to manage your financial affairs. They will be able to see all of your accounts in one place and know how to access them.
How to Make a Legacy Binder
Making a Legacy Binder is not difficult, but it does take some time. You will need to gather all of your important documents and put them in one place. If you have an electronic Legacy Binder, you can create it using a word processing program or spreadsheet. You can also use a cloud-based storage system, such as Dropbox, Google Drive, or iCloud.
If you’re creating a physical Legacy Binder, you will need to buy a binder and some dividers. Once you have gathered all of your documents, you will need to label the dividers with the following categories:
Contacts
Will or Trust
Power of Attorney
Advance Directive
Tax Returns
Bank Accounts, Investment Accounts, and Retirement Accounts
Life Insurance Policies
Other Important Documents
Then, you will just need to put your documents in the appropriate sections.
My Office Can Help You Plan Ahead
If you have any questions about creating a Legacy Binder or would like help creating one, Click here to Schedule a FREE Virtual Estate Planning Session, We’ll help you prepare the estate planning documents you need to ensure your loved ones are taken care of, no matter what.
Parenting Tip:
Set aside time to play with your kids. It can be difficult to find time to play with your kids when you’re always on the go, but it’s important to make time for them. Set aside some time each day to play with your kids. It doesn’t have to be a lot, but even just 15 minutes will make a difference.
