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If you die tomorrow, does your significant other have good grasp on financials?

Posted on 5/28/26 at 11:58 am
Posted by Everyday Is Saturday
Member since Dec 2025
1687 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 11:58 am
From basic interest and understanding, access (passwords) to accounts / tools / spreadsheets, and engagement with your financial plan?

Context:
Retired. No FA. SO is engaged and teammate on all decisions. But is not interested nor involved in minutia.

Curious how others tackle this?
- What if you die tomorrow, how will SO proceed?
- What if both of you die tomorrow, how will your kids (or other beneficiaries) proceed?

We use CFP for fee based “partnering” on big life events (retirement tax efficiency planning and estate planning comes soon). Know this will be topic.

Curious how the MB approaches.
Posted by Jax-Tiger
Vero Beach, FL
Member since Jan 2005
27907 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:07 pm to
I'm similar. My wife moved her 401k over to the same brokerage firm as me a few years ago after I looked at her accounts and gave her a ration of shite because she was earning an average of 2.3% on her accounts.

She turned it over to me to choose investments. She doesnt bother looking at mine. Not interested. I keep her up to date with my 401k, but she has no clue how much is in my play account...
Posted by jerryc436
Franklin
Member since Jan 2014
649 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:10 pm to
My wife not interested and I keep my daughter up to date if something happens to me but my guess is she would pretty much liquidate.
Posted by Kolbysfan
Member since Jun 2007
2190 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:22 pm to
Absolutely. She opens her purse, pulls out a plastic rectangle object with her name on it, taps it on a keypad (or slides it), then places it back in her wallet. Meanwhile words appear which state “approved” on the keypad’s screen. She smiles and says “thank you”.
Posted by Naked Bootleg
Premium Plus® Member
Member since Jul 2021
3676 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:25 pm to
quote:

I'm similar. My wife moved her 401k over to the same brokerage firm as me a few years ago after I looked at her accounts and gave her a ration of shite because she was earning an average of 2.3% on her accounts.

She turned it over to me to choose investments. She doesnt bother looking at mine. Not interested. I keep her up to date with my 401k, but she has no clue how much is in my play account...


This is my situation, almost to a 'T'. It's like she doesn't even want to know, she just wants me to handle it (for which we are both better off.)

Does she have a good grasp on financials in the event of my death? This is a sobering question because: she's not even close and she'd probably fumble it up pretty good, on her own.
Posted by Naked Bootleg
Premium Plus® Member
Member since Jul 2021
3676 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:26 pm to
quote:

Absolutely. She opens her purse, pulls out a plastic rectangle object with her name on it, taps it on a keypad (or slides it), then places it back in her wallet. Meanwhile words appear which state “approved” on the keypad’s screen. She smiles and says “thank you”.


100% this.
Posted by sonoma8
Member since Oct 2006
8173 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:29 pm to
My wife partially manages the finances for a large billion dollar company and can track where each nickel is spent, but has no interest in tracking our personal bills and rarely checks the bank account i dont get it

I set up her retirement investments as well as my own. As long as that lil card reader says “approved”, she goes about her day.
Posted by Everyday Is Saturday
Member since Dec 2025
1687 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:39 pm to
quote:

plastic rectangle object with her name on it


Should be out-lawed!

Of all the risks (market, interest rate, inflation, currency, etc), that little rectangle object can carry a big punch!
Posted by tigergal918
Member since Feb 2022
492 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 12:59 pm to
I handle everything financially in our house. I tease my husband that it's a good thing all of the utilities are auto-drafted or he'd be sitting in the dark if I died. I'm so Type A though, I prefer it that way, and I actually enjoy finances, spreadsheets, etc. He handles his 401k. We both make good salaries, dump it in our joint account and I handle things. It's worked for 22 years so far...
Posted by SETH6180
TEXAS
Member since Feb 2020
1211 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 1:02 pm to
My wife knows where all my passwords are stored/recorded. She is more than capable of accessing but doesn't know the minutia of investing etc. I've set ours up where if something happens, she does not necessarily have to monitor (she might miss out on a few percentages of returns but). I manage all 3 of her investment accounts 100%.
Posted by TorchtheFlyingTiger
1st coast
Member since Jan 2008
3224 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 1:14 pm to
My spouse runs household finances I manage investments, tax optimization and long-term planning. She knows what we have, where, and that we are nearly 100% index funds. That's about the extent of her interest in the matter.

I regularly bounce my optimization and withdrawal strategy ideas off her but she mostly just nods along. Yesterday I suggested we need to start spending down assets starting w $35k/yr. She said "what the hell are we gonna spend all that on?" then a moment later "the only thing I really want is a kitchen and bathroom remodel"

I often drop little reminders of things that need to be done when I pass. (Contact VA, reallocate portfolio to less equity exposure, rollover from TSP, confirm brokerage has stepped up 50% of taxable portfolio, etc ) I doubt she will remember any of it in a crisis. I need to follow up with writing it all down. We just set up a trust and once assets are assigned that will at least provide some structure to the process.
Posted by DarthRebel
Tier Five is Alive
Member since Feb 2013
25859 posts
Posted on 5/28/26 at 1:24 pm to
quote:

does your significant other have good grasp on financials


Yes, but she is probably smarter than the rest of your SOs
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