Lisa Woodruff shows how to use the Organized 365 Financial Binder to consolidate bank accounts, loans, insurance, and estate planning documents in one place. She created it after managing her father's estate as executor, and it works for individuals or couples who want their finances organized for whoever might need to step in.
Chapters
Today I am unboxing the Organized 365 Financial Binder. When you buy a binder from Organized 365, you'll get a packet full of materials And a binder, and then also digital download components. So when we go through all the printables, you also get those in an email. So first, let's take a look at the actual binder. This is the financial organizing binder. This binder is special custom designed for Organize 365. It lays flat, and if you need to be sitting somewhere and looking at your binder, it will fold flat behind you. It is a 2-inch binder, which I think is the perfect size— not too big, not too small. It has a D-ring binder, which allows everything to lie flat and not get bowed. There's a one-touch open and close binder ring. There are pockets on the inside and outside of the binder, and once assembled, you'll see that it has an extra-long back to make sure that the tabs of your dividers Do not bend. I'm going to go ahead and set this binder to the side, and let's take a look at the packet that comes with it. Inside of the financial organizing binder, you get a packet of printables, which we'll go through page by page, 2 business card holder sheets, and a coordinating pack of slash pockets with 5 slash pocket tabs. I always start by putting my slash pockets inside of the binder first. Next, I add the business card holders in the front for any business cards that you're going to need— lawyers, financial planners, anyone that will help you with your finances and anything related to your money. Now let's take a look at the printable packet. Like I said, when you buy an Organized 365 binder, you're going to receive this whole packet as digital download. The reason why is so that you can print out any additional sheets that you need. Now, while most of our binders are set for one person, our financial binder works well for a couple as well. So if you are single, you will have a lot of sheets for yourself. If you are married, there are a lot of places where money tends to overlap, and so we'll have spousal information right on those pages. The whole financial binder was created when my father passed away and I was the power of attorney And then the executor of his estate. And I'll tell you what, I would have given any amount of money to be walked through what I needed when I went to estate lawyers settling the estate, trying to transfer our house into our names once he had passed. So we have taken all of that estate information and put it into this financial organizing binder. But you may not be using it for that purpose. Just to let you know that that is what this is designed for. If anyone needs to step in and be your power of attorney, Or handle yours, they will have everything that they need right inside of this binder. All right, so I've cheated. I've grabbed a binder I already put together just so that I can flip through this and show you. In the beginning, you're going to have a quick start guide that will help you to put together this binder. And we want to know your why. There are a lot of different reasons why you would want to make a financial binder. Maybe you are settling estate. Maybe you are preparing your own estate for someone else. Maybe you just recently got married and you want to figure out where all the money is. So figuring out why you're making your binder is the first step. Then in the table of contents, we are going to give you ideas for each section. You could change this if you want, but this is our recommendation. The first section is your general information. This is going to be all of the basic information that you need in order to be the power of attorney for someone, also to know where all of your documents are stored. If you were to change your name and all of the advisors that are helping you along the way. Section 2 is your current money. This is where you do your regular bill pay from, or if you're handling a power of attorney or an estate, you just add this into your regular routine, take care of your finances first, and then whoever's money that you're handling for them. So in current money, this is where you're going to find out where all of the different banks are. Mortgage loans, any advisors that you need, a full list of all the loans that need to be paid, credit cards, a bill payment record. This is really helpful when you're taking care of someone else's finances. Gift reward redemption, travel rewards. And if they have a business, this is general beginning business information. And then this is also where you would keep anything related to your vehicles. Next is our future money. Future money is any retirement benefits, and this is where we have a page for yourself and a separate page for your spouse. Okay. And finally, physical inventory. We tell you exactly how to create a physical inventory. This is great for your insurance and if you ever have to make an insurance claim, but it's essential when you are handling an estate. And then in the last section, we give you some estate planning and end-of-life information. Creating a financial organizing binder is a huge undertaking. I know that I kept breaking out in a cold sweat when I created mine because, I mean, I don't know, money sometimes scares us. But if you have the information in one binder, you feel more in control. And the known is better than the unknown, especially knowing that anyone could step in for Greg and I and handle our estate and take care of our children is something very important to us. So the financial binder will help you do that. The financial binder is available on its own, or it also is part of All Access. If you are in All Access, then the digital download that you receive is also editable. So if you're looking for a digital solution that is editable, that is part of All Access. Next, I'll tell you about the Medical Organizing Binder.
