Personal Finance – Emergency Kit

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?

I understand that you must have given your financial planner`s number to your spouse/parents. But what if the financial planner is also not around, maybe he/she must have left the profession or some unfortunate event may have happened. (This is a list of 20 Fee Only Financial Planners in India who are offering unbiased advice without any conflict of interest – https://www.feeonlyindia.com/list-of-fee-only-planners

I have attached an excel format in the end which you can fill and give it to your spouse or parents. Please spend some time in making it in the interest of your family.

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 on you? It may be your spouse if you are married or it may be your parents if you are not married.

In India, all banks are sitting on Crores of unclaimed deposits. Crores of insurance money is pending with all insurance companies.  This is happening because there is no proper nomination or nominee is not aware of these investments/ insurance!

Let me ask few questions. Most of them will be embarrassing. But it is true for all of us.

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 in physical format?
4. Does your family know about the claim process if something happens to you?
5. Do you even know about the claim process?
6. Does your family have the access to your Emergency Fund – 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 in case of an emergency like hospitalization?
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 temporary total disability benefits?
10. Is your family aware about your investments? It may be mutual funds, Shares, Tax free bonds, FD, PPF, Sukanya Samriddhi, RD, insurance policies etc. But do they know?
11. Does your family know – how to withdraw these investments if something unfortunate happens to you?
12. 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.
13. Have you ever told your family – where to invest the money if you are 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.)
14. Does your family know the basics of paying various bills online like electricity, water, house tax, income tax etc?
15. 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)
16. Have you ensured prompt nomination in all insurances and investments including property? Have you changed nomination in favor of your spouse after marriage?
17. Are you eligible for any inheritance from family? Whether your spouse knows about it?
18. Do you have any liabilities- Personal loans/ Home loan/ business loan? Is it known to your family?
19. Have you given any loans to friends/colleagues? Is it known to your family?
20. You may have updated all these details in an excel sheet. Are you sure your family members are smart enough in understanding your complicated excel with passwords!
21. Have you made a will? If not, why? Suppose something happens to both husband and wife, what will your children do?

These are just some model questions. You can help me to add more. Click on the below link to download Personal Finance Emergency kit.

Gift To your Spouse

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

Till Then, Happy Investing and Keep Investing.