Ambassador of Books ~ Book Club Madam ~ Blogger Gal

Tuesday, April 27, 2010

What if ...

This is not something I normally talk about to friends and family or write about on my blog, but I received a book pitch recently that I thought was extremely valuable and that filled a specific, important need in my life - a need that my husband and I have discussed but never acted on.  Please take just a minute to watch this video, then scroll down for my comments/thoughts. [If you're reading this in Google Reader you'll have to click through to my blog to see the video.]

 

Hubby and I have talked many times before about who we would give custody of Kiddo to if we were both suddenly gone.  Each part of our extended family has pros and cons; we have to consider who can best handle Kiddo's health issues, who shares our religious beliefs, and so on.  But we never considered the IMMEDIATE repercussions of us, say, getting in a serious car accident and ending up incapacitated or (God forbid) dead.  Who would know what time Kiddo gets out of school and where to pick him up?  Who would know how to mix the formula for his tube feeding, or how to order his medical supplies, or who his doctors are? Who else knows our plans for organ donation or a list of banks we use or which company holds the mortgage on our house?

These books, the ones that I received a pitch from the author for, are designed to get you to provide those all-important answers to the questions you never knew needed answering, and to put them all in an organized, and easily accessible place.

After checking out both the big book (It's All Right Here Life & Affairs Organizer) and the "mini" version (Twelve Critical Things Your Family Needs To Know), I can honestly say that not only am I impressed but I feel much better prepared to handle the "what ifs" that may come along.

Hubby and I decided that Twelve Critical Things Your Family Needs To Know was more than adequate for our needs.  I spent about 30 minutes filling out the basic info that I knew by heart.  Now I have to set aside a little time to dig up the other required info.  Then it will be time to discuss some of the topics with Hubby and decide what we want to do.

Although we didn't fill out the It's All Right Here Life & Affairs Organizer binder (ie. the big book), I did look though it and it is amazingly detailed.  If you own more than one piece of property, or have lots of assets, or are responsible for other people's living expenses (college students, elderly parents, etc.), this binder is the way to go. 

My point to all this is simple: no one likes to think about these topics but they are vitally important.  

These two books provide a simple and efficient way to get your wishes and affairs planned out in case the worst were to happen. I'm very glad that we've started filling ours out.

Do you have your life and affairs organized?  If not, what are you waiting for?!

For more info on these great resources, check out AffairsOrganizer.com.

A huge thank you to author Mark Gavagan for sending me the binder and the booklet.


UPDATE: Once you read this post, please consider purchasing one of these for your family.  The author will donate 20% of all sales between now and 5/1/10 to a charity I chose. You can see the details here.

10 comments:

Jamie said...

Heather, these books are a great idea, and probably would have come in handy when my Dad passed away. I will be recommending them to my Mom for her stuff. Just one question though, where do you keep them? It has all of your important info, and just keeping it on a bookshelf is not a safe option. Are they too big for a safe deposit or home lock box?

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Jamie - Great question! That is actually one of the topics included in the book: where to store them. :) A home lock box seems to be the best solution, but someone else (trusted) must also know the location and the combination. A safe deposit box wasn't recommended b/c you cannot access it during off-hours in an emergency. Hope that helps!

Serena said...

this sounds like a fantastic set of books...particularly for my parents who still do not have a will. I just shudder to think what will go on if they do not address these issues...that I am sure are contained in these pages. Maybe mother's day will result in a gift for me too!

Heather J. @ TLC Book Tours said...

Serena - These really would be excellent gifts, IF the person receiving them won't think you're trying to "bump them off" ... LOL

Robin M said...

We need these books. This is something we've discussed but really haven't done anything about. My folks are more than prepared so we know exactly what they want us to do. However, no one know what our wishes are, so we better get cracking. We had a wake up call when John broke his leg and I was totally responsible for running the business for a couple months. Made me think about what would I do if he were gone. Tough things to think about.

Mystica said...

This is necessary for all irrespective of the age of children. Thanks for highlighting this.

Anonymous said...

Oh dear, that is such a difficult subject. I don't have kids but I guess it will be an important subject when we do. This book would be worth reading even if it provides some answers if not all or even a direction.

nat @book, line, and sinker said...

wow...this book and the mini-version sound like really handy tools that people might not want to face because of their implications.

i know from experience just how valuable things like this are. i'm off to take a peek at the mini-book. thanks so much for the review and vid.

Michelle Fluttering Butterflies said...

What a difficult subject! N and I have thought about what would happen to our boys if something happened to the both of us. And it isn't a pretty picture. Maybe a book like would help our peace of mind in some way? It's just so easy to think 'oh, it'll never happen' and try to ignore the possibility..

Alyce said...

My husband and I have a will, but hadn't even thought about keeping track of the details about the kids schooling, etc. This was also a good reminder that we need to update the will. We are actually changing who gets the kids because my in-laws are starting to get older and even though they love the kids, they have no problem with my brother-in-law & his wife raising them instead.

Death in general is a tough topic though, and one that we talked about for a long time before we actually did anything about.

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