While traveling, you may need someone to make payments on your behalf. In these situations, a free printable power of attorney form helps you stay in control. In this post, we’ll show you how to delegate your future transactions with ease.
When To Delegate Your Financial Responsibilities
There are a number of situations where you might have to trust someone with your assets. This will only work out if you trust them absolutely. Here are some reasons you might need to appoint a financial delegate while traveling:
- If you’re going somewhere with limited financial institutions or unreliable internet.
- When you might otherwise lose track of rolling or ongoing expenses/payments.
- If you want someone to manage your investments in real time while you’re busy.
- Getting someone to file your taxes if you’re traveling throughout the tax season.
- If an emergency comes up, and you cannot make financial choices of your own.
- Your loved ones may similarly need access to your liquid assets on short notice.
- Having a delegate also simply lets you focus more on enjoying your time abroad.
Ideally, you should only delegate when there’s definitely no other choice. But you can still do it to save yourself time and effort. Again, it’s vital that you trust whoever will be using your money.
Appointing a Delegate or Agent
If you’re setting up a power of attorney for this, the delegate will be your “agent”. This is usually a close friend or family member. Who you choose runs deeper than trust. They must also know what to do with your money.
Don’t pick someone who’ll squander your investments, no matter how much you trust them. This has to be an objective decision. If you’re dealing with sensitive financial matters, you must have an agent who understands them.
Similarly, they must be dependable on short notice. Many of these transactions and investments will change in value from one day to the next. If you have an agent who can’t find the time, you’ll possibly end up spending more.
Make sure you use an online POA template. This lets you set out exactly how someone can use your finances.
Setting Up Automatic Payments
It’s also possible to make your bill payments automatic if they aren’t already. This could let you skip the process of finding an actual delegate. You may not be comfortable doing this long-term. But, while you’re away, it can help you forget the stress of upcoming payments.
Many people prefer to handle their bills directly. This lets them monitor individual costs and even spot potential errors in the bill calculations. Automating this will leave it out of your hands. You’ll then have less of a clear idea of your current finances.
You can also automate transfers between accounts. This means you can, for example, keep up with your savings and financial goals while traveling.
Your Tax Obligations
If you have a tax professional, give them permission to manage your taxes while you’re away. If you’ll be away during tax season, this is especially important. Self-employed workers have their own tax requirements. However, you should be able to automate these.
You can use your POA to appoint someone to manage your taxes. This could be an accountant or just someone you trust. You won’t need to be incapacitated for this to take effect.
Arranging Backup Delegate Plans
Your delegate might have second thoughts about acting on your behalf. They might even realize they can’t make the decisions you expect of them. Alternatively, they may simply be unavailable when you need them.
Always have a backup delegate or agent. This could come with a full succession plan. You must make sure the people at the top of this plan are the ones you trust most.
If you don’t have a backup agent, your finances might end up in limbo. You won’t be able to sort out vital payments. If you’re incapacitated, even your family won’t be able to easily access your assets.
Storing Your Documents
It’s worth having a copy of any vital financial documents (especially your POA) on cloud storage. This will help your delegate, or even a legal professional, access this information. It must have a password for extra security. To avoid the risk of data loss, keep extra digital copies.
If you do store any physical copies, they must be under lock and key. Only you and the delegate should be able to access it. For example, they might know the code to the safe where you keep your POA. It is once again important that you keep several copies, just to be safe.
Final Thoughts
While traveling, you don’t want to be worrying about bill payments or your investments. Using a power of attorney form lets you delegate this to someone else. With a legally-binding template, you’ll also be able to avoid high legal fees.
We hope you found this blog post on Delegating Your Financial Responsibilities While Abroad, useful. Be sure to check out our post on Strategies For Couples: Plan The Financial Future Together, for more great tips!
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