They say that there are only two certainties in life – death and taxes. Several major companies and celebrities seem to have found a way around the latter, but try as we might, no-one has conquered the former, despite the fact that on average we are all living longer.

Some of the eagle-eyed amongst you may have noticed that there was no Money Matters article last month. Mrs Downes and I were away, enjoying some winter sunshine and celebrating my 60th birthday.

It was a perfect opportunity to reflect and plan. The evenings were long and quiet, so, amongst the cocktails, we sat and talked about the future. I’ve always argued that you make better short-term decisions if you have a long-term plan and that is as true in planning for the inevitable as it is in any other walk of life.

Think about the time when we’re unable to plan anything more
Mrs Downes wants me to prepare a ‘Death Box’ for her, containing all of the information that she might need in my absence. I’m not just talking about a copy of my will, my choice of funeral hymns and a final love letter. When you take time to think about it, there will be quite a lot in my ‘Box’!

The will, of course. But Mrs D has always reminded me that I could be worth more dead than alive, so how does she know how to access those funds – life assurance and pension policies need to be there too. And how about those preciously guarded PINs – she will need to know those to be able to get her hands on any money in my current accounts. Not that there’s that much, but you get the point.

And then there is the mass of online information. I can’t remember all of my passwords, so what chance does my dearly beloved have?

We all plan our lifetime finances – we need also to think about the time when we’re unable to plan anything more.