New Ways to Stay Organized and Simplify Your Life
By Jill Ciccarelli Rapps, CFP®
Keeping your important documents neat and tidy can be a challenging endeavor even for the most organized person. Many of these documents end up buried away in a spare drawer or closet, lost or forgotten. If your family needed a copy of your living will or healthcare proxy, would they know where to find it? Would they be able to retrieve it today if required? If you had to evacuate suddenly due to a natural disaster, would you be able to grab your family’s social security cards, birth certificates, insurance, and property records at a moment’s notice?
Some documents, such as bank and credit card statements could be quickly pulled from an online account. Of course, your family would need to keep updated on all your passwords if you were unable to access them yourself. Other documents require lengthy requests through a records department and may not have an available copy. Having an organized and convenient way to retrieve copies of your most important documents could save you time and stress.
With an online vault, you can keep all these important documents in a single organized location where they can be securely shared and viewed at any time.
Think of it as an online filing cabinet. You log in with your individual password, and your documents are there. Your documents are then separated into folders and subfolders. Most are customizable with the ability to add to or update as you gather more information. The information is kept encrypted, so it is inaccessible to those who do not have authorized access to the account.
The online vault can simplify the process of sharing your documents with family and other important individuals.
Communication is key when it comes to your estate’s legal and financial considerations. Important people named in your estate documents may not live nearby. Having online access becomes critical with your quality-of-life healthcare wishes, where time is of the essence. You may want to ease the strain on your family, and give them the ability to access up-to-date details of your healthcare and financial roadmap. After you have uploaded files into your vault, you can delegate access to select individuals. Most of these systems will either provide them with their own login or a code. If they are out of the state or the country, they will still be able to view and access your documents if they have a secure Wi-Fi connection.
You could be more prepared for emergency situations.
Disaster could strike at any time without notice. The Department of Homeland Security recommends that everyone have a safe and reliable way to organize and contain your most important documents so they are prepped for a quick evacuation. Driver’s licenses, social security cards, insurance policies, and property records may all be required following a disaster to gain temporary housing and replace lost belongings. Recovering items stored in a “stormproof” safe may be futile if a cataclysmic event renders an area inaccessible. Storing the items in an online vault ahead of time could allow you to focus solely on getting you and your family out of harm’s way.
Staying organized and connected to your documents and accounts could give you more control and oversight of your financial goals and vision for the future. As you approach retirement and beyond, you may want to consider importing your information into a vault to help you stay on track and protected from life’s unexpected events. Ciccarelli Advisory Services utilizes its own vault system for clients, which an advisor would be happy to discuss with you. They can help you decide if it is a good fit for you and your family.
Investment advisory services offered through Ciccarelli Advisory Services, Inc., a registered investment adviser independent of FSC Securities Corporation. Securities and additional investment advisory services offered through FSC Securities Corporation, member FINRA/SIPC and a registered investment adviser. 9601 Tamiami Trail North, Naples, FL. 239-262-6577.
