One-page guides you can print, stick on the fridge, and actually finish.

Six steps, in order

• Open a separate savings account at a different bank than your checking — money you don't see every day is money you don't spend by accident.
• Nickname the account something that stops you mid-click, like “Car repairs & real emergencies only.”
• Set an automatic transfer for every payday — even $25. At $25 a week, you cross $1,000 in about 40 weeks without thinking about it once.
• Send half of every windfall straight to the fund: tax refund, work bonus, cash gifts, anything you sell.
• Write down what counts as an emergency — job loss, a medical bill, a car or home repair — and what doesn't, before the moment arrives.
• At $1,000, pause and celebrate. Then set the next marker: one month of essential expenses, then three.

Your 15-minute audit

• List every account with a beneficiary form: current and old 401(k)s, IRAs, life insurance (work and personal), HSAs, pensions, and annuities.
• Ask your bank and brokerage about payable-on-death and transfer-on-death forms — many accounts can pass directly to a person you name.
• Confirm every account names a primary beneficiary — a blank form can send that account through probate.
• Add a contingent (backup) beneficiary everywhere, in case your first choice can't inherit.
• Look for outdated names — an ex-spouse, or a relative who has passed away. In many cases the form wins, even over a will.
• If a minor child is named directly, ask an estate-planning attorney about naming a trust, custodian, or guardian instead.
• Re-check after a marriage, divorce, birth, or death — and put a 15-minute reminder on your calendar once a year either way.

The eight readiness items

• A will — says who inherits what, and names an executor to carry it out.
• A trust review — a conversation with an attorney about whether a living trust fits your family and your state.
• A financial power of attorney — names someone who can handle money matters if you can't.
• An advance health-care directive — puts your medical wishes in writing so nobody has to guess.
• Current beneficiary designations — checked on every retirement account and policy, because those forms usually override a will.
• Asset titling reviewed — how your home and major accounts are owned, looked over with a professional.
• Guardianship for minor children — named in your will, so a court doesn't have to decide who would raise them.
• A digital assets plan — a list of online accounts and passwords, plus one trusted person who knows where it lives.

Copy these into an email

• “What's the exact match formula?” If it's 50% of the first 6% of pay, you need to contribute 6% to collect every matched dollar.
• “What's the vesting schedule?” Your own contributions are always yours — ask when the company's matching money fully belongs to you, too.
• “Is there a Roth 401(k) option, and can I split contributions?” Roth money is taxed now, and qualified withdrawals in retirement can come out tax-free under current law.
• “Which funds are in the lineup, and what does each one cost?” Ask whether there's a low-cost index or target-date fund, and ask for the expense ratios in writing.
• “Can I turn on auto-escalation?” An automatic 1% bump each year raises your saving rate without you feeling it month to month.

Gather these before you sit down

• Your annual income, and how many years your family would need it replaced if you weren't here.
• Every debt that wouldn't disappear with you: mortgage balance, car loans, student loans, credit cards.
• Your existing coverage: the group policy amount through work — and whether it follows you if you change jobs — plus any personal policies you already own.
• Future goals with rough price tags: college for the kids, paying off the house, final expenses.
• A quick health snapshot — medications, conditions, tobacco use — because carriers ask about these during underwriting.
• The monthly amount your budget can comfortably commit, so any coverage you consider fits real life.