Don't leave your family unprepared

This resource guided made all the difference
Don't leave your family unprepared

This is a very important blog post, especially if you have parents or grandparents that are still alive.  In fact it’s very important for anyone who has dependents.   

What I’m going to share with you, can and will make your life, and your family’s life, so much easier – regardless of what stage of life you or they are in.  

Regardless, if you’re a young family or an older generation, this resource can be a game changer.  

But first, let me start with some sobering statistics about women, that you need to be aware of – whether you’re a man OR a woman.  

Here we go….

• Women are expected to live an average of seven to 10 years longer than men. 
• A married baby boomer woman, can expect to outlive their husbands by 15 to 20 years on average. 
• Of the elderly living in poverty, three out of four are women. 
• Three out of four are women! 
• And 80% of those women were not poor when their husbands were alive. 
• 90% of all women will have sole responsibility for their finances. Yet 80% of all women have not planned for this 
• And lastly, and somewhat related to those I just mentioned, 66% of people will die without a will or a trust. An absolute nightmare for families.  

Six years ago to this writing my mom passed away. 

And it was for the best and thankfully it happened very quickly. 

When something like that happens, your life completely turns upside down - not only from an emotional and grieving standpoint but just also from an organizational standpoint as well. 

More on that point in a moment…

Quick backstory:  for many years my financial practice gravitated towards helping recently widowed women with their financial affairs. 

And it started with an estate planning attorney who I knew.  

On a regular basis one of his estate planning clients would pass away. 

And statistically speaking, as I mentioned earlier, it's normally the husband that passes away first. 

In most cases, it's the husband who's been handling all the financial affairs for the family. 

And in my experience most of the time he does a very poor job of managing the financial affairs of the family.   

There is all kinds of reasons for it, which we don't need to get into right now, but I will just say in many cases, the husband has a hard time admitting he doesn't know something, and that he needs help. In my 25 plus years of experience, that always ends in a financial disaster.

So what ends up happening, is that he ends up passing away leaving a mess for his surviving spouse, his wife, to figure things out on her own.   

3 Things to Do Now In Order to Get Your Financial House In Order

So when I got that call from that attorney, he wanted me to help out an 82 year old woman, whose husband left her a financial disaster 

At a time when she should be grieving and remembering a wonderful life they had together, instead she was sitting on the floor, surrounded by boxes full of documents and statements and paperwork.  It was a mess! 

In the midst of all of this, at the insistence of her attorney, she reached out for my help - to help her sort out her finances 

In this case, the husband had dementia which made it even more complicated and frustrating. 

In fact, I recall we found stock certificates in the freezer.  Because of his dementia, he hid things all over the house.  

Fortunately, there was his pension and she was the surviving beneficiary. They also had some equity in the house.  If it wasn't for those two things I'm not sure HOW she would have survived financially.  She could have easily become another statistic of a woman living in poverty.

And based on the financial statements I saw, he completely mismanaged their money – which is not uncommon. 

For two days we sat in this dark, warm room, sorting through paperwork. 

And as a result of this, and getting her organized, more and more people were referred to me, to do the same. 

Routinely, I saw a similar situation repeated, over and over and over again 

Going back to my mom, who for years was scared to death of my dad passing away
before her, and not knowing how or who was going to manage things…DESPITE the fact, this is what I do for a living.    

She even lost sleep over this potential outcome, of her being left to figure out where everything was and how to manage her financial affairs.  And she’s not alone.  

So somewhere I got the idea to put together a family resource guide I call 

The Legacy Book
What To Do Before A Loved One Passes

It's designed to make sure your loved ones are prepared for when you do in fact pass away. 

Frankly, it’s really for anyone who has dependents – children or grandchildren regardless of your age.  

Look when a loved one passes away, the details that need to be taken care of by family members can be particularly overwhelming during such an emotional time. 

As I stated earlier, too many times the surviving spouse and children have had little to no experience in financial or estate planning matters. 

This resource book is designed to empower people to make informed decisions through organization and proactive communication to their loved ones. 

Thankfully, my mom filled out quite a bit of the information in this book before she passed. 

From memory, one piece of information that we needed in order to get her death certificate was information about her parents. If I recall properly, we needed to know where they were born or something to that effect . And thankfully she filled in that information.  It made that process so much smoother.   

This legacy book captures all the information about an individual and their family. 

Just to list a few things, here’s a sample:  

• Information about all your family members, including birth dates, addresses, and contact information
• Names of the professionals they use in their lives:  accountants, lawyers, doctors, dentists, estate planning attorneys, insurance agent, financial advisors, bankers, mortgage lenders, etc.   
• Do they have a living will or a trust
• Their medical and financial powers of attorney - and where those documents are
• Who's the trustee or executor and their contact information
  Their property manager
• Their pastor and the church they attend
• Details about their past work history and/or current occupation or company they work for 
• Investment accounts, including their workplace retirement accounts and other similar accounts
• Banking information
• Life insurance policies
• Family medical history
• Safe deposit box - where are the keys, and what bank is it at? 
• Passwords and login information
• Spare keys
• Credit card information
• Loans that were taken out & and loans that were given out. 
• Funeral planning:   what type of funeral does the individual want, who should attend, who's the pastor, what do they want included in their obituary, what music is to be played, and so much more 

Basically, The Legacy Book contains all those little details that no one ever thinks about until it's too late. 

And that's what The Legacy Book is about: 

Making sure the people in your life are prepared when you do in fact pass away 

I can't tell you how important it is to get all of this information in one centralized resource book.  

I actually sell this on Amazon for $15 dollars but I have now decided to give it away for free.  Just click the link below and download your copy 

https://www.johnmacgregor.net/the-legacy-book

I hope this is useful and I hope you got something out of this and I hope you take advantage of this free offer.  It could really make your family's life so much better and so much more confident going forward. 

I wanted to mention, I am very excited to announce my upcoming online program titled ThrivePath:  Your Solution to Financial Freedom and Peace of Mind

This program, this 5 element journey I take you on, is not only designed to transform your financial life but it's designed to transform your entire life forever. 

This is unlike any other financial program you’ve ever seen.  

Stay tuned…more to come on that 

Until next time, UPWARD AND ONWARD!   

John MacGregor is an international best-selling author, global speaker, and financial mentor to thousands of people worldwide.  For over 26 years John has been assisting individuals with their personal financial needs using paradigm shifting techniques and strategies so people can finally live the life they deserve to live.  Check out John's website for a variety of free resources so you can immediately start your journey to financial freedom and peace of mind.