Are You Financially Responsible?

In this article, I am not going to talk about what should be done and what should not be? I am sure, whatever you have done must be in the best interest of you and your family.

But have you ever thought, if you are not around or even if you are around, would your family be able to manage the finances like you do? Are you financially responsible?

Let me elaborate- Suppose you are financially secured. Your basics like term insurance, health insurance, personal accident policy etc. are all in place. You have investments in direct plans of mutual funds too. But, have you shared everything with your family, whoever is dependent or not dependent on you? It may be your spouse if you are married or it may be your parents if you are not married. 

Let me ask few questions and you let me know about your responses in comment section

1. Is your family aware that you have a term insurance policy?
2. Is your family aware – How much is the term insurance cover?
3. Does your family know – Where is the policy document? Is it in the digital format or a physical copy?
4. Does your family know about the claim process if something happens to you?
5. Do you even know about the claim process or have you just purchased a term insurance policy?
6. Does your family have the access to your emergency corpus – suppose you are out of city or in a meeting or your phone may not be reachable. Whatever may be the reason, do they have immediate access?
7. Does your family know about your health insurance policy? Do they know the policy number? Do they have the access to health cards? What if you met with an accident, and they know nothing about your Mediclaim policy?
8. Does your family know that health insurance policies are cashless most of times?
9. Does your family know about the personal accidental policy with TTD benefits?
10. Is your family aware about your investments? It may be mutual funds, FD, PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi, RD, insurance policies etc. But do they know?
11. Is your family aware about the different investment goals?
12. Does your family know – how to withdraw these investments if something unfortunate happens to you?
13. Does your family have the contact numbers of the people who are helping you in your investments? It may be your insurance advisor, mutual funds advisor or financial planner.
14. Have you ever told your family- where to invest the money if I am not around? (Trust me, I have seen the entire death claim amount being invested in endowment policies. Not because the family wanted to, but they were not aware.)
15. Does you family know the basics of paying various bills online like electricity, water, house tax, income tax etc.
16. Does your family know your debit card or credit card pin number if it has to be used in any emergency situation? (I understand, you are not supposed to share your pin number, but it can help in emergency)
17. Have you made a will? If No, why? Suppose something happens to both husband and wife, what will your children do?

These are just some of the example. You can help me to add more.

Also Read- How to do Asset Allocation?

Please do not give an excuse that I have tried my best to discuss my financials with my spouse and family but they are not interested. You are doing every effort to make your family Happy. Just try once more. If they are still not convinced, just make a document and hand over to them. Ensure that your family is safe and secure whether you are around or not.

Though I am not a fan of LIC policies, but I like the tag line “Zindagi ke Saath Bhi Zindagi Ke Baad Bhi”

Do share your views in the comment box and let me know if I have missed anything.

Till Then, Happy Investing and Keep Investing.