Liz Weston: Why you (and I) should name a ‘trusted contact’

By LIZ WESTON of NerdWallet

If you’re young and healthy, adding a “trusted contact” to your financial accounts probably sounds like a far-off task for when you think your memory or judgment is going. Trusted contacts can be useful if those things happen, but also in other situations — if you are displaced by a natural disaster, are out of reach while traveling, end up in the hospital or suffer a brain injury. There’s no harm in naming someone now; you can change your trusted contact or contacts whenever you want. Think of this measure as insurance. You don’t need to use it for it to be a valuable protection.