Why Every Investor Should Consider Naming a Trusted Contact
At Meridian Investment Advisors, protecting our clients and helping ensure every account is structured appropriately is one of our highest priorities. While many investors focus on beneficiaries, powers of attorney, and estate planning documents, there's another important safeguard that often gets overlooked: naming a Trusted Contact.
Although adding a Trusted Contact is optional, it can provide an additional layer of protection and peace of mind for you and your loved ones.
What Is a Trusted Contact?
A Trusted Contact is someone your financial advisor may reach out to if we're unable to get in touch with you or if we have concerns about your well-being or possible financial exploitation.
Think of this person as an emergency point of contact rather than someone with authority over your accounts.
A Trusted Contact can help us verify your contact information, confirm your health or safety status, or assist in reconnecting us with you when necessary.
What a Trusted Contact Cannot Do
One common misconception is that a Trusted Contact has access to your financial accounts. In reality, their role is very limited.
A Trusted Contact:
- Cannot access your account
- Cannot view balances, holdings, or statements
- Cannot make transactions or changes to your account
- Cannot make investment decisions
- Has no ownership interest in your assets
It's important to note that a Trusted Contact is not the same as a beneficiary, joint account owner, trustee, or power of attorney.
Their role is simply to help us reach you if circumstances warrant it.
Who Should You Choose?
When selecting a Trusted Contact, we generally recommend choosing someone other than your spouse.
While spouses are often the first person who comes to mind, they are frequently already listed as joint owners or beneficiaries. In addition, spouses often travel together and may experience emergencies or unforeseen circumstances at the same time.
Instead, consider naming:
- An adult child
- A sibling
- A close friend
- Another trusted family member
- A person who would likely know how to reach you if we cannot
The best choice is someone who knows you well, can be relied upon in an emergency, and would be willing to assist if needed.
Why This Matters
Unfortunately, financial exploitation and fraud targeting investors continue to increase. Additionally, unexpected health events, accidents, or life changes can sometimes make it difficult for financial institutions to reach account owners.
Having a Trusted Contact on file provides an additional layer of protection and gives your advisory team another resource to help safeguard your interests when concerns arise.
While we hope we'll never need to contact your Trusted Contact, having one in place can make a meaningful difference if the unexpected happens.
Take a Few Minutes to Add This Important Safeguard
Naming a Trusted Contact is a simple step that can help protect your financial well-being and provide added confidence that someone can be reached if concerns arise.
If you would like to add, review, or update a Trusted Contact on your accounts, our team is happy to help.
Contact us today to learn more about this important account protection feature and ensure your accounts are up to date.