Buy the book
LifeRaft Resources
These are the worksheets and tools from LifeRaft. Download them, print as many copies as you need, and work through them with your spouse. Each one goes with a chapter of the book, so you can go back to that chapter for the full explanation.
Document Checklist
Chapter 3
Your first step is to gather everything you have. This checklist lists the accounts, income, property, debts, insurance, estate documents, and tax records most families will want to collect. You don't need every item on it. Putting what you find into one folder is a good start.
Secure Together: Financial Readiness Assessment
Chapter 3 and appendix A
There are seventeen questions, each scored from 1 to 3. They cover how well you understand your finances, whether you can get into your accounts, your relationships with your advisors, and how ready you'd be if something happened to either you or your spouse. It's also printed in appendix A of the book.
Your LifeRaft Tools (Tool 1)
Chapter 4
Start with Tool 1 and begin filling it in. Some of it will be easy, and some of it may raise questions you'll want to take to an advisor. You don't need to finish everything right away.
Tool 1: LIFE Financial Summary. Lists what you own and owe, with the who, what, where, when, why and how of each one, so both of you understand what you have and why you have it.
Your LifeRaft Tools (Tool 6)
Chapter 4
Tool 6: Year at a Glance. One page that shows the whole financial year: income, tax payments, premiums, giving, savings deadlines and filings, each with a date and an amount.
Family Mission Statement Worksheet
Chapter 8
A family mission statement puts into words what your family stands for, so you have something to measure decisions about time, money and priorities against. The worksheet includes instructions, brainstorming prompts and a short checklist for your finished statement. Do it together, or separately first and then compare.
LifeCheck Worksheet
Chapter 9
Questions and prompts for your regular check-ins, with one version for weekly or monthly meetings and one for quarterly meetings. Set aside 60 minutes with your spouse or family, and ask someone to keep time so you stop when you said you would. Keep the filled-out worksheet to glance at in the future.