On January 20, 17 women got together to talk about "Estate Planning - at least do some minimal stuff'". There is a lot to do when it comes to estate planning and it can be overwhelming. The purpose of this discussion was to give us some manageable pieces that would significantly help those who will be responsible for our estate.

We started our evening with the "proverbial bus incident". Some women thought their affairs would be in pretty good shape, some thought there would be a big mess, and some said the situation would be totally different depending on if it was her or her spouse that passed (both positive and negative).

Some of key items we discussed:

- Write down your phone and computer PINs so somebody will have access to your devices
- Having access to somebody’s email makes everything easier
- Backup your computer data files so you representative has access to the information they need
- Just because an estate isn’t large, doesn’t mean it is easy
- Even though you know where the money will go, make it easy for it to get there by including beneficiaries or joint accounts
- Our new paperless world makes all of this very challenging compared to the past where bills and account statements arrived in the mail; maybe print out some documents sometime
- Have minimal will to officially name a personal representative or executor
- Financial Planners or Estate Attorneys can be very helpful to the executor as they possess a lot of knowledge about the situation
- Simplify the number of institutions where you have assets
- Larger institutions (such as Fidelity, Schwab, or Vanguard) have much easier processes for settling estates

We will meet via zoom on Tuesday, February 17, 6:30-8:00 PM. Our topic will be finding Financial Planners, Tax Preparers, Estate Attorneys, Third Party Executors, etc. Bring contact information for people you recommend.

All are welcome to join us on zoom. Join the group or contact Cyndy using the info above.