Before my wife and I went to Mexico last October, we made a list of all the important numbers in our lives. We had credit card numbers, telephone numbers for credit card companies, passport numbers, bank account numbers, insurance policies, retirement accounts, drivers license numbers, online banking passwords etc.
We wrote these all up on the computer, printed out a single copy and deleted the computer file. We then gave it to my parents to keep in a safety deposit box. If anything were to happen to one of us or if our wallets were stolen, there is a single place we can go to get all the important numbers we need.
This took us a very small amount of time to put together, but if our records were destroyed or some other disaster occurred, it would save hours and hours of difficult searching.
This post makes sense when you think about it. It is like preparing a will for the future. My wife and I are preparing our information at this time so if we need our numbers handy we will have them. Thanks for making us aware.
@Brad – Just make sure you keep the list somewhere safe. It is a treasure chest for thieves. We typed ours up on the computer, printed out two copies, but never even saved the file. The two copies went to a lock box at the bank.
OK, good idea, but what if your parents are dead or infirm or no longer reliable? What if they leave it on a stack important papers at their house and never actually put it in the bank vault? What if they do put it in the bank vault but can’t get to the bank?
For me I do not think parents and a safety deposit box would be a useful approach; but maybe something like putting the list on portable media with very strong encryption would do the trick. Encrypted with strong password protection on a handful of USB drives (one with me in Mex, one at home, and maybe even one with a parent or friend).
The extra copies don’t induce significant risk if the protection is strong.
Mark,
Great post! This is terrific advice.
When my wife and I went on our honeymoon a few years ago, we went through a similar process as you did. We inventoried all our important accounts and put together a “break glass in case of emergency” file to give to our families.
In addition to computer accounts, I would also recommend including a physical photocopy of your passports and drivers licenses. Having the ID numbers is important, but you have to match it to a photo.
Another “just in case” piece of information to include is doctor and medications, if you take them.
Cheers,
Michael
@Michael – Good point about the medications and a photo copy of your IDs. I’ve heard that a lot of people will photo copy their drivers license and laminate it when going to a foreign country. If a policeman takes their ID (the copy) and demands a bribe to get it back, they can just let him keep it.
@EP – Well in my case my parents are very reliable and we share a safety deposit box so I actually put it in myself. As far as encrypting the data, that is fine, but you still have to decide who to give the decryption key to. If you trust them, you could just as easily put it in a safety deposit box that they have access to.
The other problem with a memory stick is that they go bad. In fact most forms of memory go back after a period of time–CD, diskettes, USB memory keys, etc. A piece of printed paper stored in a lock box has excellent longevity compared to digital media.
The problem with encryption is that you are relying on technology that may not be available or that might be difficult for your survivors to figure out. For me the cost in time of getting an encryption scheme setup in a way that my family could easily use if I were to accidentally die is much more expensive than a $16 per year lock box.
Obviously your results may vary depending on who you want to have access to your important information if you happen to pass away.
any information you type into your computer can be retrieved by identity thiefs even after you delete them. Maybe just write the numbers down by hand?
Great Post!
M
@Markus — Only if you don’t know what you are doing. In my case, we didn’t even save the text file and we used a program that doesn’t cache it anywhere to the disk other than virtual memory. A paper record would have worked just fine as well, but I wanted to keep it organized and rearrange stuff as I thought of different numbers I wanted to add to the list. If I need to update it I’ll probably just make the changes by hand using an ink pen.