Financial Reports And Inventory

This is the eighth part of a multi part series on preparing for retirement and basic estate planning for feds. If you missed the last 7 parts I suggest reviewing them to understand the estate planning binder concept that this series is based on. This section presents information on financial reports, the Thrift Savings Plan (TSP), various other asset reports, forms and contact lists that you need to include in your plans.

Financial Reports

 

The financial reports section should include the following reports and lists:

1. Net Worth statement
   I used Quicken Premier to track all assets including stocks, bonds, CDs, checking and savings accounts, and brokerage accounts. It can also track credit card and all other debts. Quicken is easy to use along with their portfolio tracker especially if you purchase stocks through Dividend Reinvestment Plans (DRIPs). The report generator will print out all assets and it will calculate and print out a comprehensive "Net Worth" statement.
   
   If your investments are limited to CDs, your THRIFT account, savings bonds, and typical savings and checking accounts you can easily calculate your net worth. Simply add up all of your assets and deduct all of your liabilities/debts. There are a number of Internet sites that can help you with this. Ramsey and Kiplinger's offers easy to use Net Worth Calculators on their sites. 
2. Portfolio / Brokerage Account reports
   Include brokerage account reports, and other portfolio lists from mutual fund companies, or stock/bond tracking programs such as Quicken.
3. TSP Account printout (Available online at https://tsp.gov )
4. Savings Bond Lists and Value
   I use the free Savings Bond Calculator that is available on the Treasury Direct website. It comes with automatic updates that gives your bond redemption amounts for all paper bonds owned. You can print out the list and add it to your binder. Savings bonds purchased online can be tracked in your personal Treasury Direct account. This free software program will tell you exactly what each paper bond is worth and the total interest earned on all bonds to date.
5. Collectable Lists with Estimated Value
   Use any method available to list your coin, stamp, or other collectable items. List the estimated resale value for each item on your list and the total value of each collection. Use Ebay and other sources to appraise your collections.
6. Other Reports (Any other assets that you own that aren’t listed elsewhere.)

Home Inventory - Section 6

I took digital camera photographs of every room in the house including the garage, back yard, shed, storage areas, the outside of the home and anything that I thought of value for insurances purposes. Then I placed the photos into a word document and added headings for each picture. I also dated each sheet. If we add a home improvement during the year or made major changes I take new photos for the changes and update the word document. I also photographed things that are hard to replace like my wife’s grandmother’s antique china.

You can do this with any camera and simply add comments on the backs of the photos or use the old style photo mounts and put them on sheets for your binder. I like the word document approach because they are easy to update and store electronically on disk. By the way, I keep a copy of all files on CDs in our safety deposit box as well.

Next I compiled a written home inventory of the entire home using Quicken 2006 Premier’s "Home Inventory" feature that is located under their "Property & Debt" main menu selection. This program allows you to enter the item, it’s location, replacement cost and resale value. I printed out the list and added it to section 6.

Annuity & Special Forms - Section 7

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I completed a SF 2800 "Application for Death Benefits" form and placed removable green arrows at each block that my wife will have to fill out when the time comes. You can download this form from https://opm.gov/forms/ . I advise my wife in a cover letter in this section to call OPM prior to completing this form to make sure it is still current and hasn’t been updated. The phone number to call is 1-888-767-6738. I also provided a basic instruction sheet with steps my wife must take to process this form and included required attachments of a Marriage Certificate, a copy of my military DD-214 form, and a note to attach a certified death certificate. You will find Survivor information and reporting instructions online at https://www.federalretirement.net/survivor.htm. I suggest printing out this page and add it to Section 7.

Contact Info / Lists - Section 8

Make copies of your phone lists or print out your planner contact list and place it in section 8. You can print /backup/restore your iPhone contacts or make a pdf or an xls file of your contacts and print them out. Also include a list of all passwords for your accounts, online sites, security systems, and list the location of keys to storage facilities, safety deposit boxes, etc.

Well...... that’s all folks. The binder is done and the only thing I haven’t talked about are the wills, trusts and health directives. They are coming up next. Before you complete your wills and trusts you pretty much have to have all of the info in this binder to proceed. Without it, you may miss many things and you stand to leave your family in a lurch so to speak.

Go to Part 9 - Wills and Trusts
Go back to Part 7 - Caretaker & Survivor Reports
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