# Documents and access: if something happens > A one-page money map, access without shared passwords, and documents your family can find in a hurry. - Course: [Personal Finance: Budget, Safety Cushion, Debt and Investing](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance.md) - Module: How to protect what you have? - Lesson 27/32, ~17 min - Source: https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/documents-and-access ## Money nobody could reach **Alex Tutor:** Back to Sam's family, whom you're still helping. Hanna from Klasna's finance team shares a story that sounds familiar. **Hanna:** Last winter my father spent three weeks in hospital. His pension went to his card, his bills were paid from his phone, and none of us could reach either. Two late fees and a lot of panic. **Sam:** That's us. Rent, kindergarten and the card payments all go from my account. My wife wouldn't know where to start. **Alex Tutor:** So the risk isn't only losing money. It's money that exists but nobody can find or reach. Two things fix most of it: a **money map** and a plan for access. **Sofia:** What goes on the map? **Alex Tutor:** Everything someone would need to find: each account and card and what it's for, debts with payment dates, insurance policies with numbers and phone lines, savings, regular bills, where the documents are, and whom to call. **Alex Tutor:** And what never goes on it: PINs, passwords, codes, full card numbers. The map says what exists and where. It doesn't open anything. > **Exercise:** Which of these belong on Sam's family money map? Select all that apply. ## Access without sharing passwords **Sam:** Wouldn't it be simpler to give my wife my banking password? **Alex Tutor:** Simpler, but risky. Bank rules usually forbid letting someone else log in as you, and a shared password makes it harder to show that a transfer wasn't yours. The rules from the fraud lesson apply inside the family too. **Alex Tutor:** Better: each adult has their own account and card, with some everyday money of their own, and the essentials don't depend on one phone. Check what your bank offers, such as a card for a family member or regular payments. **Sofia:** And if someone can't act at all? In hospital, say. **Alex Tutor:** Legal tools exist for that, such as a power of attorney. How they're made and what they cover is a question for a notary or a lawyer, and rules change, so check them for your situation before you need them. **Alex Tutor:** And if the worst happens, money in one person's accounts usually can't simply be used by the family: it goes through a legal process that takes time. That's why the other partner needs a buffer in their own name. > **Exercise:** Sam is in hospital for two weeks and can't use his phone. Rent is due in five days. Which setup keeps the family going **best**? ## Paper, copies and a grab bag **Alex Tutor:** Paper matters too. Keep the originals together in one place everyone knows: IDs, the rental contract, the child's documents, loan contracts and insurance policies. **Alex Tutor:** Then make copies: scans in a protected online folder with a strong password and login confirmation, and a paper set with someone you trust in another city. **Sofia:** And a grab bag, in case the family has to leave fast? **Alex Tutor:** Yes: copies of the documents, the money map, a charged power bank and some cash for a few days of food, transport and a room, in case cards or networks stop working. The rest of the cushion stays in accounts. **Sam:** If we had ten minutes to leave, I wouldn't remember half of our bank names. > **Exercise:** Match each item with where it should live. ## A map that stays true **Alex Tutor:** A map helps only if it's current and someone knows where it is. Review it once a year and after every change: a new card, a closed account, a new policy or loan. **Sam:** Who should know where it is? **Alex Tutor:** Your wife, and one trusted person outside your home, in case you're both affected. Tell them where it is, not just that it exists. **Sofia:** The phone number linked to the bank goes on the map too, I guess. **Alex Tutor:** Yes, and it must stay active. If a number is abandoned, the bank's codes could end up with a stranger. > **Exercise:** **True or false:** a money map is only useful if at least one other person knows where it is. ## One evening to set it up **Sam:** Let's do it tonight. Where do we start? **Alex Tutor:** Start with what you already have: open the banking apps and list every account, card, debt and regular payment. Don't fix anything yet, just write it down. **Sofia:** Then fix the gaps the list shows, like everything depending on Sam's phone. **Alex Tutor:** Right. Then the paper folder and copies, then tell the people who need to know. The review date goes in the calendar last. > **Exercise:** Put the steps for setting up Sam's family map and access in order. ## Your turn: Sam's money map **Sam:** Draft the first page for us. My wife should be able to use it without calling me. **Alex Tutor:** Six headings: accounts and cards, debts, insurance, savings, regular bills, documents and contacts. One line or two under each. **Sofia:** With real details, but nothing secret. **Alex Tutor:** Exactly. Use what you know about Sam's family; where you don't know a detail, write what should go there. > **Exercise:** Draft the first page of Sam's family money map under six headings: accounts and cards, debts, insurance, savings, regular bills, documents and contacts. One or two lines each. Use what you know (rent 16,000 UAH, kindergarten 4,500, a credit card in Sam's name, savings about 10,000) and nothing secret. > **Key ideas** > > - Money can be lost by being unreachable: accounts nobody knows about, bills paid from one phone. > - A **money map** is one page listing accounts and cards, debts, insurance, savings, regular bills, documents and contacts. It never holds PINs, passwords, codes or full card numbers. > - Don't share banking passwords. Give each adult their own account, card and buffer, and set essentials so they don't depend on one phone. > - Legal tools such as a power of attorney exist for when someone can't act; check how they work with a notary or lawyer. Money in one person's accounts usually can't simply be used by the family after a death. > - Originals in one known place, scans in a protected folder, a paper set in another city, a grab bag with copies and some cash. > - Review the map yearly and after every change, and tell two people where it is. **Alex Tutor:** Next: all three pieces together, in a protection checklist for Sam's family. - Previous lesson: [Phone scams: calls, codes and fake platforms](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/fraud-calls-and-codes.md) - Next lesson: [Case: Sam's family protection checklist](https://productovi.com/courses/personal-finance/protection-checklist-case.md) --- Productovi Learning. Free, no sign-up needed to read.