Wrapping up to further help you wrap up your affairs

One of our five beautiful daughters once said to me, “Dad, the last check you write should bounce.”

Needless to say that would be the epitome of perfect planning and, while I pride myself on being prepared, that would be stretching it a bit. However, it does serve as the perfect metaphor for the idea of organizing ahead for the expected, not the unexpected. Insurance is for the latter, personal planning for the former.

The previous five columns on these matters presented a series of steps you should think about taking in preparation for the eventuality that you will not be around to assist your executor/heirs in managing or closing out your affairs. Everyone has, or should have, a Will. That document presents your last wishes and most likely asset distributions but does not contain a Roadmap on where to find everything or much of the minutia that was part of your daily life. So, you need to build one so survivors won’t have to “tear their hair out” searching.

If you missed any or all of these columns, upon request, I will email them to you in Microsoft Word. Contact me at the address below, and I will send you any specific column you want, or if you prefer, I have a condensed version of all five steps available, also in Microsoft Word.

The steps referred to outlined myriad things you need to prepare for the eventuality that someone other than you will have to find and keep your affairs in order. It took me some time to piece together our Roadmap; it will take you time as well. Set a goal, one step at a time, your family and executor will be thankful you did.

There were three “Golden Rules” to follow if your Roadmap is to work. The system is designed to be a guide for executors to follow so they can locate all vital information within or outside the home.

1) Write everything down in detail.

2) Start a three-ring binder or well organized folder to keep the details in.

3) Be certain your executor knows where this binder or folder can be found. (Remember, they don’t need to know what’s in the Roadmap, just where to find it.)

There are several amendments to previous columns I would like to add:

In the last column, we stated that all medical expenses in excess of 7.5% of your adjusted gross income are tax deductible. That applies if you are 65 or older. If you are under 65, the benchmark is 10%. As stated, the 10% benchmark will apply to all of us starting in 2017.

In a previous column, I recommended keeping your last seven years tax returns in the event of an audit. You should be aware that the statute of limitations on tax audits is three years, not seven. That time frame also applies to Illinois State income tax returns. (For our readers in Michigan it is four years).

Questions or comments, tsansom2002@gmail.com.

---

---