Planning for the Inevitable
The Postage Co-Founder Emily Cisek
By Michelle LaRowe
As a long-time nanny myself, it’s only natural for people to choose caregivers to care for their affairs and honor their wishes after they pass.
In early 2020, I had learned that a dear friend of mine had become severely ill, so much so that she was in a battle for her life. Sadly, a few months later, she lost the battle after quite an impressive fight. Upon her passing, I had learned that I had been named the executor of her estate. As I learned more about that role and the responsibilities surrounding it, I learned that locating basic information and documentation was one of the biggest challenges.
Enter The Postage, a digital locker of sorts, which can make gathering this information easier for the person trusted with settling the affairs of another. When I learned about this service, I made a commitment to get my own affairs in order to make it easier for those tasked with taking care of my affairs after I pass, and to share with others, especially nannies, the importance of doing so themselves.
Recently I had a conversation with the co-founder of The Postage, Emily Cisek, and here is what she had to say about nannies and how The Postage can help.
Why should nannies think about planning for after their death?
Death is a difficult subject for many people to think about – let alone have conversations about. Due to the pandemic the topic of death has manifested itself in our day to day lives. Family, friends, neighbors, and colleagues have found themselves forced to settle affairs of their loved ones due to this ongoing virus.
Depending on the state of someone’s life, it can take nearly 500 hours to fully wrap up their affairs – physically and digitally. The concept of death is often related to physical assets and belongings, but our lives are much more complex than that. We live in the digital age where our lives extend past the physical world, and now more than ever, it is essential to properly plan ahead and safely organize your information.
Nannies are inundated into families lives – they know passwords, schedules, doctors and all the other day to day details. A nannies’ role requires a complex understanding of the spoken and unspoken factors of the families they work with. Nannies are one of the few jobs that fully understands all the details that go into everyday life, so creating an end-of-life plan filled with information about wishes, preferences, and information about your accounts can be particularly attractive. Helping loved ones tie up any loose ends and planning ahead of time eliminates the extra stress and puts you in control of what happens after your passing.
What type of information should nannies gather?
The most important categories are essential documents, career documents, and account login information.
Essential Documents
● Birth Certificates
● Social Security Cards
● Information of Important Contact
● Medical Records
● Medication Lists
● Financial Information
● Tax Information
Career Documents
● Certifications
● Childcare Affidavits
● References from past employers
● Contracts from current or past employers
Account Login Information
● Cell Phones & Tablets
● Email Accounts
● Financial Accounts
● Digital accounts
● Home Service accounts
● Subscription Accounts
● Technology services
● Utilities
If a nanny doesn’t have major assets, does it still make sense to plan?
A misconception about estate planning is that one needs copious amounts of money and assets. The truth is that many individuals from all income levels can benefit from estate planning. After your passing, you will want to:
● Designate who will inherit your physical belongings
● Decide happens to the remaining balance of your bank account
● Decide what happens to your vehicle
● Appoint caretakers for any minor children, elderly family members, or pets.
Planning this out, puts you in control of what happens to your financial and physical property. It can also help your family avoid an extended probate process.
Additionally, many nannies find themselves needing to store references from past families, childcare affidavit’s, for the children they work with in case of an emergency, as well as background information, and contracts for their current and past clients. There are many other important documents that need to be stored beyond the organization of major assets, and The Postage provides a simple and secure place to do so.
How do we normalize talking about planning for after death?
Death is a challenging topic to discuss and normalizing this conversation can only occur when we realize that it’s an act of love and protection for your loved ones. When you are gone, your loved ones will be the ones in charge of wrapping up the affairs of your life and will be tasked to handle this while in a state of shock, heartbreak, and grief. Leaving loved ones to decode passwords to home services or financial accounts and trying to unscramble missing documents only makes the grieving process more difficult. Planning ahead, affords your loved ones with time spent healing and celebrating your life, legacy, and the memories they have with you.
In addition to collecting and storing information related to after death planning, how else can the platform be used?
Although, The Postage was born from the realization of the need for after death planning it can also be primarily used as a life organization tool. Our site offers a place to safeguard your passwords, vital accounts and essential documents – whether you just bought a house, put a down payment on a car or need a place for your wedding license to live. Additionally, the average person is thought to have between 70-80 passwords. The Postage provides an all- encompassing password management system that allows users to safely and securely house their various login credentials.
The Postage’s document storage system provides quick access to records, no matter location. In addition to documents, you can protect precious pictures, videos, and audio files that are dear to you. The site allows users to share these files with important people in your life without the fear of file loss or corruption, hackers, and unwanted sharing of information. No one can access an account without a user supplying permission in advance.
What else should nannies know about The Postage?
The Postage is an opportunity to start having the difficult conversation of death with your loved ones. You may find that brings you closer as you start to prepare and enjoy your time on Earth together, without the fear and anxiety of dealing with death. For more information check us out at thepostage.com or on Facebook, Instagram, and Twitter.