Customer Reviews

Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To

5 star:		(49)
4 star:		(9)
3 star:		(5)
2 star:		(0)
1 star:		(0)

 

 

I bought this book thru Amazon in June 2006 because of my experiences working with a close friend who had just lost his father rather unexpectedly. My friend faced a monstrous task of trying to track down his father's assets, business records, last will, credit accounts, etc. just to scratch the surface. As a participant in his frustration, I began to think about the arrangement of my personal life and how my loved ones would tend to my estate.

"Get It Together" brings so much to the table to deal with. I think most people refuse to face their mortality and the task of making such arrangements, let alone there really is a large volume of papers, decisions, conversations, and organization to be handled. GIT is very thorough in all topic areas (see Table of Contents). The book discusses the emotions involved with each topic area, numerous websites to obtain additional information, what to get a copy of, keeping the info current and arranging your "estate" or life, for that matter, to benefit those close to you.

My parents or other people I look up to would never or be highly uncomfortable discussing these topics in detail. This book is perfect to compensate for the lack of those conversations. Now, just a warning for those willing to purchase and conform to this book. I was quite diligent in following all their instructions and recommendations to the "t". It took longer than expected, about 12 weekends, until I had gathered and organized everything to my satisfaction and I don't have a wife, kids or other complicated situations...just me alone.

But I have such a peace of mind that my successors will have no trouble making decisions or tracking down stuff because it's all there with explicit directions from me. I find going forward that I try to keep my life organized in a simple fashion and refuse to take on unnecessary stuff that I will need to add to my planner. And I feel no stress at all looking at my desk now because all the meaningless clutter is gone and GIT was a big reason for that.

Finally, the greatest resource is the forms CD included with the book, which saves a great deal of time when the organizing process starts and got me unstuck in some areas.

My mother died suddenly and left her estate in a total mess. I was left shocked, grief-stricken and alone in struggling to make sense of what needed to be done. I wouldn't wish that ordeal on anyone let alone on those I love. This workbook and companion organizer is the perfect solution. Nothing will be left to guesswork if I am incapacitated or dead. It is thorough yet simply organized and written from a compassionate perspective. It is a gift of love to provide this kind of direction to those who must make decisions on your behalf.

Melanie Cullen has approached a very difficult topic with insight and compassion. Starting with the Letter to Loved Ones, Health Care Directives, Funeral and Memorial Services, through various chapters on the disposition of assets - including Pets and Livestock - she offers helpful guidance in a straightforward, friendly manner. Whether you already have everything together or haven't a clue where to start, "Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To" is an excellent guide that will make it easier for your loved ones to help in the event that you are incapacitated, or to manage your estate when you are gone. The forms in the book and on the CD can be easily organized and updated in the companion Planner. A must read for everyone!

I've been left to pick up the pieces after a loved one's death and would not wish that experience on my family. That said, exactly because the subject was so intensely emotional, I'd put off meaningful gathering and preparation.

A recent experience I watched unfold showed me how selfish that approach was and I started looking for a method to pull together information. This book came highly recommended, and I liked the idea of the accompanying CD-Rom.

My husband and I tackled the worksheets as time and emotion permitted. I printed one file for each of us, with a master file for joint things like checking/savings accounts and our home. When we were almost done, we sat down with a professional and used this material to develop a living trust. Although we left several topics untouched until those meetings, the attorney we retained told us we were the most prepared couple he'd ever met with. Our homework made the legal side of things go smoothly and quickly, and much of the credit for this goes to this book.

The author's manner throughout is professional and yet compassionate. Instructions are easy to understand, yet there's not a feel that you're being talked down to. You also can hop from one place to another in the book and worksheets as your information and mood take you.

I'd add these suggestions to the process:

* If you don't already have a grid of account numbers, simply gather your monthly statements now, while you're waiting for the book to arrive, and add new statements as they come in.

* "Tax time" is a perfect time to work on the financial sections, since you've probably got a lot of materials more at your fingertips than you do at other times of year.

* Practice security wisely. Keep the material at home, preferably locked up. Although you can work on the files on your computer, I would advise very strongly against leaving them on your drive. Either secure the printouts or archive your documents on a removable drive, which you then secure.

* There's a note that no tech support is available for non-Windows users. I have found that the CD operates easily and flawlessly on the Mac OS X platform.

* If you're reluctant for time or emotional reasons, you'll find that you can get a lot done in 20-minute chunks. For the same reason, turn to the portions where you indicate your wishes (remembrance service? full-blown viewing and service?) since your voice will provide comfort and solace to those you leave behind.

Note: This review is of the second edition of the book, which was purchased directly from Amazon. A newer version, also with a companion CD-Rom, is available. This link Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To (book with CD-Rom) is to that version; this second link Get It Together: Organize Your Records So Your Family Won't Have To (book with CD-Rom) will take you to the Kindle version.

While the Kindle is a great way to build an archive of reference materials, because the worksheets can take some time, my preference for this volume is to stick with a physical book and CD-Rom.

I've recently retired and am looking forward to years of "re-engaging" with activities I haven't had time to focus on during all those years of full-time work and rearing children. Get it Together is exactly what I needed to provide essential background information and help me organize all the documentation I want my family to have. Now I can travel and do the things I've been looking forward to without worrying about whether my children will be able to figure out what I would have wanted them to know in case something should happen to me.

Get it Together has given me an entree to discuss things with my children and to encourage them to do their own planning for the future.

As a young couple with new kids, we were looking to get organized and plan responsibly for our children, should something happen to us. This guide has helped us in knowing what we needed to get in order (will, living trust, medical directives, etc.), how to accomplish that and got us talking about these decisions. It's so nice to have it all done and in one place! We've given both the guide and planner as gifts.

This book is the most comprehensive I have yet to find. The chapter by chapter, step by step instructions are easy to follow. When you have finished filling out the attached forms in the book (and the included cd) you will have given your loved ones invaluable information needed in an emergency or death and saved them endless hours of hunting valuable information.

We have not only purchased and used this book for ourselves, but have given a copy of the book to each of our children so that they may fill out their information to aid their families.

It is really difficult to get excited about doing the tedious task of getting together your insurance, last wishes, finances, etc. gathered together for when the time comes that your family needs the information. But this truly is the best thing you could possibly do for your loved ones. Having been through trying to sort out what was what due to unexpected deaths, this book will hopefully save others from that particular nightmare. The sections were well though out, the CD rom with the forms was very welcome....can't imagine it could be improved much unless they could automate it to dig through your papers and mind and do this for you. The material was extensive, I would have preferred a bit less information I think, but that is just me- since I admit I am unorganized and hate doing things like this.

Let's be clear - this is not a time management book or a guide on how to set up your own family records retention and filing system - this is a book squarely aimed at the head of a household, whether you live on your own or with your family. And it lays out pretty clearly the why: someday you are going to be incapacitated or dead, and you do not want people's thoughts of you to be sullied with frustration running something like "What a mess! Why couldn't he/she put his house in order? Where are the online account passwords? What do you mean that's in the safety deposit box? What safety deposit box?" and so on. This goes beyond estate planning (with its tax issues, and so on) to the crux of being responsible to your family and close friends.

And that's why I like this book. Here are some key points that I found extremely helpful in the book (all of this is to be recorded in the "important records planner" template provided in the book):

- For any program (like a 401(k), IRA, insurance, etc.) that doles out money list the names and SSNs of the beneficiaries and who has decision-making power if you are incapacitated; and who at the program (say your 401(k)) has been your main contact person
- The location of your safety deposit box (if you have one), a list of what *should* be in there, and where the key(s) are kept
- A password and online account list, including the list of security questions/answers (assuming you remember...)
- Location of any contracts or agreements (say for a rented storage area)
- Location of important equipment or household warranties, user manuals, etc.
- List of anyone (or any organization) that depends on you (including their relationship with you, contact information, what you provide and how often, etc.)

As you can see, these types of things should generate further points of consideration that can help you organize your files (e.g., "Ah...maybe I should keep all the household equipment warranties and user manuals together in a box").

And like any Nolo book, it's well-written and tells you precisely what you need to know as well as important tips to consider. One thing that should be appreciated is the ending of every chapter with a short section on how to keep the information up to date, and what triggers to consider (so if your investment advisor retires, that'd be time to go update the relevant info in your planner.

There are, however, three things that kept me from giving this book 5 stars:

1. I think the book is too focused on the over-55 crowd; there is too much retirement planning information in here and it takes away from the strength of the overall argument - how anyone can use the advice in this book to quickly get their important records together (or at least identified, located and documented).

2. As a result, the tactics and suggestions in this book will clearly help anyone use the records planner template provided to simply keep their day-to-day needs organized (For instance, how many times have you wondered, "Gee, now what was the password for that account?").

3. For all the comments and advice on making sure you note the location of various files and items, no where in the book does she state that you should also note the link (URL) of any online access items; given that you're going to be using a word processing software to document most of the above information (if you use the CD provided in the book), this is an oversight that may render keeping some of the online account information a bit irrelevant (it'd be like saying, "Here's the key to my safety deposit box #438," but then not saying where the box actually is...).

Those, however, are minor quibbles easily remedied in a 2nd edition. And they certainly should not stop you from considering this book. Personally, as someone who's spent a career doing records and information management, this has been helpful to me. Everyone can benefit from this book - especially those left trying to find the pieces of your life-in-process....

This book will help you get started with the seemingly endless task of getting your 'stuff' together. Not only is a great step by step, how to type book to get you started and actually complete this task, it includes a CD with all the forms you need, which are also in the book.

The forms on the CD are in 2 formats, rtf (rich text format) and pdf's. The rtf's can be opened on any windows system with Wordpad, or any number of popular word processors. They can then be edited with your information, saved on your computer and printed out. The pdfs you have to print out blank and then write or type in the blanks. The pdfs can also be opened with macs.

The forms are all in the book, and can be copied and then filled out as well.

This book will make it easy to get together all your pesonal info, your last wishes, thoughts, and many other things together for your loved ones to find when you pass on or become incapable. The only thing that would be easier would be to have someone to do it for you. Which you can do, but you would have to pay them a nice chunk of change to do so.

An added benefit of this book, is you can have piece of mind for yourself, because you will have all your important documents and information all in one place.... finally! To be organized... ahhhh.....