How to organise your family's financial information in one secure place
A simple, practical way to gather your accounts, super, documents and passwords so your family isn't left guessing — without creating a security risk.
Most of us carry our financial life in our heads and across a dozen apps. It works — right up until someone else needs to step in. If you were suddenly out of the picture, could the people you love find your accounts, your super, your documents, the password to your phone? For most families the honest answer is "not easily". Here's a calm, practical way to fix that.
The short answer
Make one organised inventory of everything that matters — accounts, assets, documents, key contacts and how to reach your logins — and keep it somewhere secure but reachable by the people you trust. The goal is simple: nothing important is lost, and no one is left guessing.
Why a pile of passwords isn't a plan
The common approaches all have a failure mode. A note in your phone is locked behind the one device no one else can open. A shared spreadsheet is readable by anyone who finds it. A list in a drawer goes out of date the moment you change a password. What you want is a single, current, organised place — protected, but openable by the right person at the right time.
What to gather
Work through your life in categories. You don't have to do it all at once — start a list and fill it in over a week:
- Accounts & passwords: banking, email, phone, key logins.
- Superannuation: fund, member number, beneficiary nomination. (See what happens to your super when you die.)
- Bank accounts: everyday, savings, offset, credit cards.
- Property & investments: mortgage, shares/ETFs, crypto.
- Insurance: life, home, car — and any cover inside super.
- Documents: will, passports, certificates.
- Cross-border: anything in India — NRE/NRO accounts, mutual funds, PPF/EPF, LIC, property. (See the NRI India assets guide.)
- People: executor, accountant, lawyer, and the beneficiaries you'd want to reach.
Our free Cross-Border Account & Estate Checklist walks you through each of these with space to write the details.
Keep it current
An inventory is only useful if it's up to date. Two habits keep it alive:
- Review it once a year — a calendar reminder is enough.
- Update it when something changes — a new account, a moved password, an updated nomination.
Keep it secure and reachable
This is the balance that matters. You want strong protection so a stranger can't read it, and a clear path for the right person to open it when needed. That's the exact problem an encrypted vault is designed to solve: your information is encrypted on your own device so no one — not even the provider — can read it, while you decide who can. If that "encrypted so only you can read it" idea is new, our plain-English explainer on zero-knowledge encryption is a good next read.
What to do this week
- Start the list — open the checklist and fill in what you know.
- Fill the gaps over the week as you remember accounts.
- Decide who should be able to reach it, and make sure they know.
- Set a yearly reminder to review it.
It's a small effort now for an enormous relief later — for you, and for the people who'd otherwise be left piecing it together.
Frequently asked questions
What information should I keep for my family? Your accounts and key logins, super and its nomination, bank and investment details, insurance, important documents, any overseas assets, and the contacts (executor, accountant, lawyer) your family would need.
Isn't a spreadsheet good enough? It's a start, but a plain spreadsheet is readable by anyone who finds it and easily goes out of date. An encrypted, current inventory is safer and more reliable. See safer ways to store family passwords.
How do I keep it secure but still let my family reach it? Use an encrypted vault where your data is unreadable to outsiders and you choose who can open it — that's the balance of protected and reachable.
This guide is general information to help you get organised. ShareMyVault is a secure place to store and share your information; it isn't financial or legal advice.