That’s us, too. I do update it a couple of times a year, email a copy to my H and put a new hard copy in the safe. Now that our girls are grown(ish) and H and I have started traveling together without them, D20 knows where to look for the info should something happen to the both of us.
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NOKBOX is having a sale right now, but I already have most of my documents organized.
Does anyone think there is any advantage to just purchasing their “lite” version (on sale for $39) to augment/assist a home-grown system?
And…has anyone here recommended them (or something similar) to your newly-launched kids to help them stay organized as they start their adult lives? I imagine something like this would be somewhat offputting – at least the name alone!
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Did you find their systematic approach helpful?
I already have a system that I developed, but my mom keeps stalling and I’m her executor. I’m thinking that buying her something like this would help her get organized, and make my eventual work easier.
Would you be willing to share the things that NOKBOX had that you hadn’t previously considered? I’m happy to DM if you’d prefer.
I put two in my shopping cart, but am reluctant to press “purchase” when I already have a home-grown system.
Thanks!
I got the lite. You provide your own folders and storage. I had a lot of folders and a file cabinet. It’s not so much there are things you don’t think of is that it systematically guides you through collection. What seemed overwhelming became a step by step process. You can do a little at a time and not feel scattered about it.
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After my mom died my dad would email my siblings and I a “Roadmap to my estate” each year. It showed that he reviewed things each year, sometimes he had some changes. It told us his accounts, where to find all his docs, where the safety deposit key was and which of us was the co-signer there, who his auto/homeowner insurance agent was, who else to notify ( such as a club he belonged to ) etc., etc…nothing too specific but literally a road map that became very helpful when he died unexpectedly in his sleep. Ironically my siblings blew this off and asked me if I had a copy - of course, I had moved it to a folder. I will be doing the same here shortly with our kids.
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IMO, the majority of younger people just don’t keep paper documents and file folders, and as much as possible they opt for a paperless option at all times, and scan and toss the outliers.
(I’m in my early 50s and I also have spent the last couple years getting as much as possible with my parent’s lives away from paper copies of bills and documents, especially as I either handle or assist them in handling everything from a different state.)
I think providing your grown kids with some sort of “table of contents” or list of things to help get them started is useful (just for knowing what sort of things to track) but I could see a lot of young people thinking that physical sort of system was no longer relevant to their current day to day life (while still seeing the usefulness of it for older people who do keep paper copies of everything).
This thread has inspired me.
I just today typed up a list of financial related things (insurance, $ assets, bills that need to get paid/companies we use, etc.) my son might care to know if for some reason I am incapacitated/dead, and sent it to him. It’s only a start, but something is better than nothing.
I copied @ClassicMom98 and put healthcare and life insurance (which will run out in the next year or so) information at the top.
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Thanks for the reminder - I do update everyone who needs to know the information before I travel, and I need to include that on my list of to-do…
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Decided to order the Nokbox Lite, to get me working on this more thoroughly. Thanks, all!
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I just ordered one for my mom, but may order one for myself once I see it!
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I, too, got the nokbox lite. I have found it very helpful, as there is just so much info to gather. I was feeling overwhelmed, but it has helped me to get going on this task. I’ve been tackling one area a week. Even though we redid our wills and created a trust a couple of years ago, I realized that finding everything for our children would be a huge task. When I get it finished, I’m going to have my local child and executor of our estate come by to go over everything. I’m also going to go over it with my husband, as he has no idea how or when bills are paid.
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