CAPE GIRARDEAU, Mo. (KFVS) – Going paperless can make a lot of things more convenient, like paying bills and buying event tickets.
Certified financial planner Derieck Hodges said he’s been paperless himself for more than a decade.
“I love digital stuff, and I think it actually has very much a place in our estate planning. However, I still think there is a massive place for paper.”
Hodges said that’s especially true when it comes to leaving a guidebook for loved ones.
“When we think of a Lifeboat Drill, an estate plan that’s ready to go when it’s needed, we think it belongs in a binder, and a lot of important documents are aggregated in that binder.”
Many people have a specific drawer or cabinet where their important documents go for safekeeping, but sometimes, those places are a little too safe.
“We don’t want to do scavenger hunts at the time of great crisis. We don’t want our family members having to hunt and peck for where we hide stuff, we want to make it easy, we want it to be in a manual that they can go to.”
Hodges said that manual includes several different sections, starting with an ownership and beneficiary report.
“Back in the day of paper maps, there was a map legend, and this is the financial legend to your finances.”
It lists things like cars and properties, bank accounts, debts, investments and insurance polices, and whether those things are owned individually or jointly.
Ideally, Hodges said it also includes beneficiary designations.
Following that, Hodges said the binder includes estate documents, like wills, trusts and durable powers.
“Maybe one of the most important sections are the personal documents, things that you, or somebody else, is gonna need to go in and handle things.”
That list can include the following:
- Birth certificates
- Social Security Cards
- Copy of driver’s licence
- Military discharge papers (DD214)
“And then finally, after that, copies, or originals, of your bank statements, investments, insurance, maybe even Social Security estimates.”
Hodges recommended starting sooner than later, that way there’s time to identify missing documents and secure copies, like a lost car title.
“Another element that we need to think about in our binder is if we’re doing digital-only on some things, how do our loved ones get to those digital accounts? And that’s a little bit complicated, but it’s doable.”
Digital-only items could include online bank or investment statements.
Hodges said not having these items together in a secure location can have lasting and difficult consequences for loved ones.
“Your family’s already grieving, and now they know they have to do important financial things. If they’re then going and having to hunt and find all these different things, invariably they’re not going to have something. So there’s going to be grief, some confusion, and then frankly, some frustration.”
That can look like going to a financial institution and not being able to receive help due to missing documents.
Having to search for missing items and order copies also takes time and energy.
“The more we have all this lined out, the easier we’re making it available for our loved ones to take care of things, leave the frustration at home.”
Once the binder is together, Hodges said the work is still not done.
“There’s this temptation that once you get your will or maybe your trust and durable powers of attorney, you’ve got to the finish line, and I don’t think so. I think it’s still a journey, a process, not an event, not a finish line.”
Tune in to Heartland Afternoon at 3 p.m. on KFVS12 for the final part of Estate Planning 101 with Derieck Hodges.
Copyright 2025 KFVS. All rights reserved.