A 'family records organizer' is an invaluable tool while you're alive -- and afterward
Just in the past few weeks: My wife, Georgina, and I made new investments with the money from maturing certificates of deposit. Our local telephone bill started coming from AT&T, the new name for BellSouth. The customer service number for our long-distance carrier changed. We switched Internet service providers, and have a new account number (I kept my AOL address for work).
All these changes have been duly recorded in the regularly updated and arguably most important document I keep -- a lengthy file (at last count, 6,382 words) titled, "Read This If I Am Dead."
Meant for Georgina and our daughter, Veronica -- but invaluable to me by keeping important information in one place -- this document:
In essence, "Read This If I Am Dead" is a living, loving, and constantly evolving little book I write for my family. You can do the same using the topics I've listed as a guide. Or you can buy any number of "fill-in-the-blanks" books or software programs designed to organize your important information.
Among them, I've been most impressed by a new "Family Records Organizer" CD-ROM by T. Rowe Price, a Baltimore-based investment-management firm. Easy to use, interactive, educational, and comprehensive, the Organizer also beats all competitors in price. It's free, and you don't have to be a T. Rowe Price customer to ask for one at troweprice.com/getorganized or by calling 1-800-538-2706.
With no promotion for the company's mutual funds, the Organizer includes strictly educational tutorials, including four videos from T. Rowe Price financial planners on investments, insurance, and overall estate planning. In addition, 57 text entries cover a wide variety of topics, from the differences between Roth and Traditional IRAs to a checklist for assessing funeral services and costs.
"It is a great tool for consolidating financial information, and it can be of tremendous value to the people who care about you most," said Christine Fahlund, senior financial planner at T. Rowe Price. The Organizer or any similar document can also be an "ice breaker" to start sometimes difficult but necessary conversations with family members about financial and estate matters.
As with any document you'd prepare on your own, you decide how detailed you want to be. I recommend filling out all the sections: personal information, investments, bank and credit cards, sources of income, loans and debt, insurance, property and mortgages, health and medical, wills and trust, funeral arrangements, and a blank section for your own notes.
But you can skip some and also use a "fast track" function for just the most essential information in each.
Access to the program can be restricted with a password, and sensitive data such as Social Security and account numbers is encrypted.
In addition, printouts can exclude this "protected" information if you want.
Humberto Cruz is a columnist for the South Florida Sun-Sentinel. He can be reached at AskHumberto@aol.com. 
