One-Page Tech Sheet Every Couple Should Fill Out

What the sheet is

It's a single page that tells your spouse how to get into the things that run your household. It is not a list of every password you own.

You only need to write down the keys that open everything else. If your spouse can unlock your phone, get into your email, and find where the rest of your passwords are kept, they can handle the rest.

Fill out one sheet per person. Even if one of you handles most of the tech, you both have accounts the other may need.

The seven things to write down

1. Phone and computer passcodes. The code to unlock your phone and the password to log in to your computer. Your phone is where most security codes get sent, so this one matters most.
2. Your main email address and password. Almost every account you have sends its "forgot my password" link to your email. Whoever can get into your email can reset nearly everything else.
3. Where your passwords are kept. If you use a password manager, write down its name and the master password. If you use a notebook, write down where the notebook is. If your passwords are saved in your web browser, say which browser and on which computer.
4. Where your security codes go. Many banks text a code before they let you in. Write down which phone number gets those texts. If you use an app for codes, write down the name of the app.
5. Your money accounts. List the name of each bank, retirement account, insurance company, and credit card. You don't need account numbers here. Your spouse just needs to know what exists and who to call.
6. Bills, phone, and internet. List what's on autopay and which card or account it comes out of. Add your cell phone carrier and internet provider, plus the account PIN if you have one.
7. Photos and important files. Say where they live. That could be iCloud, Google Photos, an external drive in the desk drawer, or the computer in the den.

One more tip that surprises people: don't cancel a loved one's cell phone right away. Banks and other accounts will keep texting codes to that number for months.

Where to keep it

Keep it on paper, in a locked or fireproof box at home, and tell your spouse where it is. A sheet nobody can find doesn't help anyone.

• Do write it by hand or print it and delete the file afterward.
• Do keep it with your other important papers, like your will and insurance policies.
• Do tell one trusted person outside the house where it is, such as an adult child.
• Don't save it as a document on your computer or email it to yourself.
• Don't tape it to the monitor or leave it in a desk drawer.
• Don't carry a copy in your wallet or purse.

When to update it

Check the sheet twice a year. An easy way to remember is to do it when you change the clocks.

Update it right away any time you:

• Get a new phone or change your phone number
• Change your email password
• Open or close a bank account or credit card
• Switch phone or internet companies

The sheet

Use this template. One sheet per person.

• Phone passcode
• Computer login password
• Main email address
• Main email password
• Where my passwords are kept
• Master password (if I use a password manager)
• Phone number that gets my security codes
• Code app I use (if any)
• Banks and credit unions
• Retirement and investment accounts
• Insurance companies
• Credit cards
• Bills on autopay, and what pays them
• Cell phone carrier and account PIN
• Internet provider
• Where my photos and files are stored
• People to call (attorney, financial advisor, tech help)

Do it together, this week

Sit down together and fill out both sheets in one sitting. Then trade and try it: can each of you unlock the other's phone and open their email using only what's on the page?

If you get stuck on any part of it, call 785-380-8545 or email help@capcity.tech. We're happy to walk you through it.