What is being Prepared all about?
Keep reading! It is important.
Fact is that unwanted things will happen in your life and preparing for the few inevitable ones is key.
Do you have the following in place?
Each in a bit more detail:
Your Will
Discussing death and disability is never pleasant and often creates heated debate and/or fighting.
Nonetheless, a plan needs to be in place that defines what should happen when you are no longer around.
- Who gets what?
- What happens to the children if you have any.
- What you would like to happen to your remains. Buried or cremated?
- A Living Will that lets your loved ones switch off life support machines that are artificially keeping you alive when there is no prospect of you recovering.
- Tax implications of your decisions
Really morbid thoughts I know but best to deal with them now whilst you have the time to apply your mind.
I recommend using a professional to draw up your Will and to revisit it at least once a year to ensure it is still current.
Access to Critical Funds
When a person passes their bank accounts are frozen and you can no longer access those funds.
Depending on the situation it can take months to release these funds!
If you rely on to those funds/accounts or someone else relies on them it is best to plan for this.
Ensure that you have a bank account (emergency fund) opened in your name and for everyone that might be faced with this potential problem.
Refer to the blog regarding Basic Account Setup.
Emergency Numbers
This is a simple one but most people I engage with do not store important numbers on their phone.
I was one of them! Never crossed my mind to store the number of an ambulance service on my phone.
Try Googling a number when you are stressed out in an emergency situation and your hands are covered in blood. Not easy I tell you!
Best store these numbers with the “First Name” field as Emergency. For example:
Emergency – Ambulance
Emergency – Fire
Emergency – SAPS
Emergency – Security
This way, if you are in a stressful situation, you simply type Emergency in your contacts list and all relevant numbers pop up.
Power of Attorney
A Power of Attorney document gives a designated person of your choice the right to act on your behalf.
This is important if you are no longer able to perform certain tasks.
This is however an interesting one in South Africa. In South Africa Power of Attorney is only valid if a person granting the rights is sound of mind. In short, if you are no longer able to make decisions on your own the right immediately falls away.
This is problematic because when you usually need it you cannot use it.
It does however have a place where for an example the person affected is sound of mind but is unable to read or write because of an accident.
Keep in mind though that banks, etc. have their own requirements and their documents need to be signed.
Start discussing these topics with friends and family and then start creating an action plan.
I purposefully do not go into great detail here. It is simply meant to get you thinking and start talking about these important topics. Hopefully looking into them further and implementing what is needed before it is too late.
I suggest that you create a folder that has all the relevant documents. Store this folder in a secure place and let affected people know how to access it when needed.
