Saving and investing as a mom or single mom almost seems unthinkable! A good mom usually puts her children first, and a single mom has even less disposable income. In these posts, I will be exploring ways in which you can become a wealthy and successful mom. I must admit it will not be an overnight journey. As with most things in life, it will require time and effort. The financial rewards however are great! Read on!

Dying to Live

So it’s that time again where we talk about your money, assets, insurance and ways that you manage this money. I know, I know….dying is not something we like to think about, yet it is very much a part of living. As single parents, moms and dads, couples, singles, widows and widowers, it is important to prepare not only for life but also for death. In this article I will be focusing on making your will.

So if truth be told, I started blogging about wills and almost forgot about it! Notice I said almost! The truth is there is so much information that I sometimes do not know where to start!

Do you know that you can literally draft your own will? In the United Kingdom and many other countries, for example, you can draft your own will without it being notarized. There are some steps you can follow to do your own will. The information in this post covers making wills for persons who reside in the United States, the United Kingdom and the (english-speaking) Caribbean. 

There  are 6 criteria for making a will:

1. Write up a will in your sound mind. You know the assets that you have, sit down one day and make a list of everything that you own. It is best to do so when you are able bodied and thinking clearly, hopefully not sick. Being in a good mood helps!
2. Name not one, but two executors for your will. It is important that you select persons who you trust to be the executors for your will. Having two executors ensures that even if one executor is incapacitated or dies the other can also fulfill this function. Be sure to inform your executors of the fact that they were both selected and inform them of their respective responsibilities.
3. Your will should be signed in the presence of two witnesses. Witnesses should not be family members. Why? Well some family members may not like you…hmm…
4. Clearly list and/or state your beneficiaries. Persons who you have named as beneficiaries in the will should not be witnesses. And again we could understand why this makes sense right?!
5. Please note in the UK system, a beneficiary can however be an executor, but not a witness. The same applies to the spouse of the beneficiary and again you can easily understand why this might be so.
6. In the US, wills need to be notarized. In the United Kingdom, the wills do not need to be notarized and are considered legal and binding documents once the preceding guidelines are followed.

Additional considerations:

Please make sure you have contact information for the witnesses who signed your will.  Remember these are the persons who basically have verified that your will is legitimate. Thus it is really important that your living relatives upon your passing have access to your witnesses to verify the contents of your will. 

And finally number the pages of your handwritten or typed document carefully. Let’s say for example you have a three page document, your page numbers could look like this, “1 of 3”, “2 of 3”, “3 of 3”, and also include “xxxxxxx” on the end of the last page. Numbering your pages ensures that the will reads clearly and logically. Additionally placing “xxxxxx” on the last page ensures that the readers know that the will has ended at that point, and that there are no more pages to come.

Working on your Wills

Now that we have covered the basics, what type of information should you include in your will?

Property. List all the property that you own. If you have more than one property, in more than one geographic location then you will need a separate will or an update. For example, if you own property in different states, islands, countries etc, laws and requirements may differ for property ownership.

Additional Assets. You may purchase or acquire more assets after you have finished drafting and notarizing (if necessary) your will. Include a clause or statement for this distribution just in case you have additional assets.

Guardians. If you have really young children, list a single person or a couple who you would like to be responsible for your children. Guardians are the persons who you trust, persons who you believe will love and raise your children with the values that you espouse.

Estate vs Beneficiaries. There is a difference between estate and beneficiaries.  Some persons list estate and intend to come back and change it later. Other persons are very particular and list specific beneficiaries in their will almost immediately.

Accounts. Take stock of your accounts. It is important as you are creating a will to identify all the different accounts. Here is a list of different types of accounts. I will expand on these accounts in another post.

Bank/ Credit Unions

Some examples include checking, saving, moneymarket and CD accounts.

Real Estate

Some areas relevant to real estate include mortgages, second mortgages and home equity.

Investment

There are many different types of investment accounts. Examples of these funds include: mutual funds, stocks, bonds, ETFs, college, IRA, annuity (may also be under retirement).

Loans and Debts

We all have debts. Some of the most common types of debt include: auto, student loans, home improvement and personal loans.

Credit Cards

These cards are important. Some of the cards that we use every day include bank cards, store cards.

Retirement

There are many different types of retirement accounts such as pensions, 401K, IRA, SSN and National accounts.

Create a Financial Log

Finally you should create a financial account log. I have included a table for a financial log below. Please remember to include any updates about your banks, financial companies, new addresses, especially if another company buys over your loans etc.

Financial Log
Acct Name	Authorized Acct Users	Name, Address, Phone Number of Institution	Account Number	Automatic withdrawals
				Yes /  No

(Sample Financial Log)

A word about Sinking Funds

A sinking fund is a special type of fund or account that you create to cover specific expenses. You can create sinking funds for: travel, gifts, cars, schools, Christmas, weddings, property taxes, pets etc.

Why is this important? Well whether you are living off one income or two, a sinking fund helps you to allocate funds to specific expenses each month, every two months for example to account for “surprise” expenditures! So Christmas, for example, is never a surprise, yet I always end up spending more than I should! I will also expand on this another time. But just note you should list your sinking fund in your financial log.

Hopefully this information was super helpful! Feel free to reach out to me if you have any questions or comments.

Disclaimer: I am not a lawyer just someone who is concerned with managing and accumulating wealth and empowering moms! I do however have a financial advisor and I will be telling you more about that in subsequent articles. Ultimately feel free to correct me if you see errors. There is still so much to learn!

A Will To Die

When was the last time you thought about doing a will? If ever!! I have! I truly have been thinking about dying. Sounds scary right… It’s actually more like thinking about living! The COVID pandemic has highlighted the importance of having things in place, like a will, in case you get sick or even, sadly, die. Planning for your death can help ensure that you are well prepared, that your family is well prepared rather, to deal with any challenges that may arise in the event of your death.

This weekend, my entire family (including my siblings, aunts, uncles and cousins) started a discourse around creating a legacy drawer. Single parents, married couples and just about everyone needs to create a legacy drawer.

So first and foremost, what is a legacy drawer?

One well-known financial expert, Dave Ramsey of Financial Peace University states that, “Simply put, a legacy drawer is a collection of your essential documents in a safe place where your family and loved ones can find them when you die, or if you’re sick or disabled.” 

Based on the description provided this sounds fairly straightforward right? After all if you create a will, before you die then you should be fairly set right? Wrong!  A will only covers some assets not all. It is important that you provide your family with all the information that they need to ensure that your wishes are fulfilled after you are gone.

Legacy Drawer: Q & A

What does a legacy drawer look like?

Just think about an actual drawer. Think about a drawer or folder where you can store information that your family would need in the event of your passing. In your home, this drawer could be a physical drawer, an electronic drawer,  a fireproof safety deposit box etc. You should also have another location with the copies of everything that you have included in your legacy drawer, such as bank safety deposit box.

What would I put in the drawer?

So what exactly are the essential documents your family would need after you are gone or incapacitated. These documents include:

1. Cover Letter 

2. Will and Estate Plans

3. Financial Account Information 

4. Funeral Instructions 

5. Insurance Policies 

6. Important Documents 

7. Legacy Letters 

8. Monthly Budget 

9. Tax Returns 

10. Passwords

Who should I tell about the drawer?

Only trusted family members, spouses or friends should be aware of your legacy drawer. Not a whole list of persons but trusted persons. Then only a couple trusted persons should have access to your drawer, besides yourself. These persons may have access to your drawers with keys or passwords for electronic folders.

Why is a legacy drawer important?

A legacy drawer is important because of the information contained in it. It is also important because of the peace it affords your family, in their being able to access and locate relevant documents after you have died, instead of having to search through drawers and boxes for those important pieces of information.

But what happens if my drawer is hacked or stolen?

So whooaaaa…slow your roll!!! Even before you think about your documents being hacked or stolen, you need to store the contents of your folder or drawer in an extremely, extremely, extra safe location! You get my point! Ideally a locked drawer, fireproof box, electronic folder. You should also have copies of the documents in another location such as a safety deposit box in a bank.

Yes. But what if my drawer is still hacked or stolen?

You will need to go through the list of items and report them stolen. Basically you will make an official police report of the stolen items. Some of documents will need to be replaced by the state. And yet still, some items may not be replaceable. I will discuss this further in follow up articles.

So here’s what you might be thinking at this point…

I am all set! My family knows what to do if something happens to me.

But do they really? It would be interesting to have that conversation right now with family members and even more interesting to listen to their responses!

I am in good health, I can think about it later.

Your health and wellness is literally, only one second away from failing! One negative medical report, one accident, is all it takes to make you and me, to reassess our priorities.

It will take too long to complete a legacy drawer. I don’t have time right now.

You will have no time at all when you are dead! It takes about 30 days to gather all the materials. You can start working on one section each day. Over the next 30 days I will be gathering the documents needed for my legacy drawer. I am inviting you to join me!

I will create a folder on my computer, that should be enough.

Nope!! Computers can shut down. Then what if no one knows the password to your computer. Think about that! How many persons, besides yourself know your essential passwords.

As I conclude,

I know, I know….dying is not something we like to think about, yet it is very much a part of living. As single parents, moms and dads, couples, singles, widows and widowers, it is important to prepare not only for life but also for death. In addition to Dave Ramsey’s legacy drawer program, there many other free online programs you can utilize, in the first instance, to start creating your will, for example. Remember I started off writing about wills, right?!

So… join me in my 30-day Legacy Drawer Journey of financial success in life and beyond death.