Why Taking a Wealth Inventory Is Important

Like many children of aging parents we hope that all of their financial affairs are in order but incorrectly believe that asking about the financial details is inappropriate….or believe the other spouse would know the details should something happen. 

Determining a deceased individual’s assets and liabilities and the location of their personal records upon death is often problematic.  

The recent unexpected death of my father in law put into perspective how the lack of an organized and comprehensive listing of all assets and liabilities can cause problems and great stress at a time where the focus needed to be on the wellbeing of my mother in law.

 My father in law was a prolific investor and enjoyed analyzing and tracking his investments .We uncovered boxes and boxes of hand written spread sheets tracking dividend and interest income, adjusted cost base for income tax and analysts rating and performance. Some of the investment accounts delivered paper statements others he chose to assess online. There were a myriad of spousal accounts as well. All in all there 15 accounts- bank accounts, full service and discount brokerage, mutual funds, insurance funds, private investments and real estate.

Some of his files were organized and others less so and contained hand written notes that without context were hard to understand. My mother in law was never involved with the financial affairs and therefore could provide little insight. Needless to say, the effort to put it all in to perspective was stressful and time consuming. We needed to be sure we were not missing anything.

The Best Digital Tool to Use

With the advent of Open Banking in Canada, an application like Wealthica is perfectly positioned to assist in helping assemble a wealth inventory. 

You might be surprised by all the tangible and intangible assets you have. It’s not just about bank accounts, stocks, bonds and mutual funds. You’ll want to make sure you have a complete inventory: home, land or other real estate; vehicles, boats or motorcycles; collectibles and other personal possessions; life insurance policies, retirement plans or ownership in a business. Wealthica is the best tool to track all your assets.  

WEALTHICA can help you create your wealth inventory by bringing all your financial and investment accounts together in one online dashboard displaying a complete listing of all your assets, liabilities and holdings and it’s automatically updated daily.  

You can then share this with your spouse and family members. In this way you remove any sense of uncertainty of what you have, how to access or manage those components when the time comes.

An up-to-date wealth inventory will prove invaluable. 

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