Simple lessons for peace of mind and emergency preparedness

The last few weeks I've improved our level of preparedness (peace of mind).  Got a new Power of Attorney, new Will, and a Living Will.  Basically the living will let's my wife decide what to do in the event I am unable to make decisions about my health/life.  Also scanned in the documents and emailed them to her so she has a soft copy.  Contacted a couple of companies that I am primary account holder and wanted them to have a copy of the POA.  The paper copies are kept with our important papers where SHE wants them so she knows where to find them.


The power went out in the neighborhood and some of us discovered when we tried to get in, the garage doors didn't work.  Many of us don't us keys anymore-just the garage door.  Our family went out and bought a key-less door lock for the front door from a local hardware store.  My family loved it so much we replaced all the locks now with these.  They automatically lock after 30 seconds so we don't have doors accidentally left unlocked!  Very easy to install.

 
I spent some time over the last week updating our list of emergency numbers, accounts, and other important numbers the family would need if I was unavailable.   Made copies of the contents of our wallets in case they were lost/stolen.  I specifically added a page to our emergency numbers with a list of all the life insurance policies with account numbers, company names, when they are due, how much, phone numbers, web sites, and how much they pay out.  This way if something ever happened, my wife or someone she asks to help, can instantly go to one page and start the task of working with insurance companies.  Other things we did were we went out and bought some things on sale at Costco.  Set up a brokerage account for my 16 year old son to help him learn how the stock market works (investing and compound interest).  A few months ago we helped our two older children get credit cards (22 & 23) to help them continue building their credit.
 



Sometimes emergency preparedness isn't great big purchases of wheat, water, or flashlights.  Just doing what you always do and passing the lessons you've learned on to the next generation can be just as important.  Many of the things mentioned in this article didn't take money.  Just time.  The biggest thing I try to help my children understand besides honesty and values is to teach them importance of having others pay them interest instead of them paying others.  Also to choose good careers that will take care of them in the event there is a death, divorce, or disease in the family.  Of course we teach out children correct principles and let them follow them as they are ready. 

May you have a wonderful 2016 New Year.

Gist
gistwylie@yahoo.com