Indian women are often equipped with excellent academic, communication, and other necessary survival skills because Indian parents go the extra mile to ensure that they do it all.
Unfortunately, they also often invariably tend to leave all the financial matters to the men of the house. A survey by Femina.in shows that, out of 100 well-educated women working in diverse fields, 92% admit that some male member of the family takes all financial decisions. But a sudden mishap or emergency could leave them struggling with no idea where to start looking for crucial information and documents.
Therefore, creating a financial black box – a physical or digital repository with all the essential credentials and documents that belong to you and your family is imperative. During times of distress, this black box could be your first glimmer of hope.
Where to maintain it?
- Bank locker: A bank locker is a safety box that you can rent from a bank to store your valuables. To access these lockers, one must physically go there with a valid ID proof.
- Cyberlocker: Cyberlockers are online digital media services that provide storage space within a secure storage architecture. You can access them globally over the Internet.
What should it contain?
- Bank account details:
All your bank account details, updated passbooks, and online account credentials should be added along with bank locker details if any.
- Insurance documents:
Add all the insurance policy copies with details such as policy numbers, beneficiary name, premium amount, date of maturity, and the insurance agent’s contact details.
- Will:
Add a legal document with your desires regarding how your property should be distributed after your death. It should have the details of all movable and immovable assets, including property, FDs, bonds, jewelry and insurances.
- Mutual Funds and direct equity investments:
List your login details to check the details of your mutual fund investments, the company’s details, and your liaison there. If you have direct equity investments, list your Demat account details, investments, and the liaison’s contact details.
- Real estate / property documents:
Keep all the legal documents pertaining to the houses or plots you own. Also, list the details of investment in gold and other unregulated investments like chit funds.
- Loans and Card details:
Make a list of all the credit cards and debit cards you own, along with their numbers and PINs. Also, list the details of any loans you have, the amount to be repaid, EMI, etc.
- Funds and Bonds:
List the details of investments in the Public Provident Fund, post office savings, government bonds, or the National Pension Scheme. You could even keep copies of the documents pertaining to them.
Though the concept of the “financial box” may seem insignificant to you at this point, it will undoubtedly help you navigate an emergency without additional stress. So ladies, take a decision today and start working towards putting your box together.
