Now\u2019s the perfect time to check phone plans and utility bills. Are you still paying for services you don\u2019t use, or have discounts for your plans expired? Chances are you can phone the supplier and ask for new discounts.<\/p>\n
Think long and hard about whether you have any long-forgotten financial obligations. Are you still named as a guarantor or co-signer for someone else\u2019s debt? Do you have any outstanding court or tribunal judgments against you? It\u2019s important to put these to bed.<\/p>\n
In New Zealand, a guarantor or co-borrower remains legally liable for the debt until formally released by the lender or the loan is discharged. You might be on the hook decades down the track without realising. It\u2019s crucial to know what you\u2019re legally responsible for and take steps with the lender to be removed.<\/p>\n
Next, dig out all your old physical paperwork and ask if you really need it. With most financial matters moving online<\/a>, we have far less paper in our homes. Nonetheless, some people are particularly good at keeping every letter or statement that comes in. Keep what\u2019s only truly necessary, and if possible, an image of the document rather than the original.<\/p>\n Having your financial accounts and paperwork under control doesn\u2019t just benefit your current situation. If you have children, you\u2019re doing them a huge favour by sorting it out. I inherited over 50 years of paperwork that someone had failed to deal with. There were thousands of old items, that should have been chucked decades earlier. Please don\u2019t be that person.<\/p>\n When I happened to drop into conversation with an older friend that I\u2019d simply ordered a secure document destruction bin from Abilities and dumped the entire lot, she was up in arms. Didn\u2019t I realise how hard it was for older people, blah, blah, blah? There were decades and decades when the person in question was still of able body and mind, and not even working. It wasn\u2019t up to me to make up for someone\u2019s poor stewardship of their own mess.<\/p>\n Even after the bin, I was still left with old photos and family ephemera. That is being slowly digitised and uploaded to Ancestry.com so it doesn\u2019t die with me.<\/p>\n Until recently I had boxes containing papers in my loft with messages along the lines of, \u201cif you find this box, I will be dead, and you can dump this straight in the recycling bin\u201d. It was work papers and old tax returns. I didn\u2019t want the next generation being lumbered with a paper trail longer than my obituary.<\/p>\n Finally, sometimes we don\u2019t have enough paper. If you died suddenly, how would your relatives find your will (you do have one don\u2019t you?), details of your debts and your investments? What if you have crypto<\/a>? And do your heirs know who your lawyer and accountant are, if you have them? It\u2019s a good idea to create a document to keep with your will, or at least let your heirs know where it can be found. Don\u2019t wait until you\u2019re 50 or 60 or 70. You can die or be incapacitated at any age.<\/p>\n