[sniplet organizing your finances]
One of the most common mistakes that we make is to not assign a nominee for each of our financial assets especially when this facility is readily available to us. We know the value of assigning a nomination but somehow procrastinate from doing so. And at times, we do assign a nominee for new financial assets that we acquire but forget to do the same for the older ones (I’m a good example).
Given the critical importance of nomination in managing your finances, here’s what you should do today:
- Make a list with three columns. Use the headings: Financial Asset, Current Nomination, and New Nomination.
- Under Financial Asset, list each of your financial assets (bank accounts, brokerage/trading/investment accounts, certificates of deposit, mutual funds, life insurance, etc.).
- Under Current Nomination, against each Financial Asset, write “YES — [Nominee ‘s Name]“ if that asset already has a nomination registered or “NO — N/A” if it doesn’t.
- Under New Nomination, against each Financial Asset,
- If Current Nomination has a “YES,” either retain the nominee or change the nominee.
- If Current Nomination has a “NO,” add a nominee.
- Highlight the Financial Asset for each change or addition done in Step 4.
An example:
For each highlighted Financial Asset, obtain the necessary nomination forms, fill them up, and submit them. A couple of days later, verify that the nomination has been successfully registered.
What do you think? Do you have all your nominations in place?