Earlier this year, I rambled a bit about my love for 1Password. Here’s some more. Lately, I’ve had some personal events in my life that caused me to reassess my finances and take stock of this and that. It shocks me a little bit that I’m still finding web sites that I haven’t logged in 1Password, even after using it for most of this year. The number of online IDs I’ve created is staggering.

I just can’t imagine how I would securely keep up with all my passwords without 1Password now.

What’s more, it’s become obvious to me that a program like 1Password is extremely important in a household like mine where one person handles most of the money management (yours truly). If that’s you too, think about what a nightmare it would be for your spouse if something happened to you and they had to figure out how to log into your accounts.

For example, I recently discovered that I had completely lost the account number for one of our IRAs after doing some nuclear-grade spring cleaning not long ago. Since I didn’t have the username for the IRA’s site in 1Password either, there was no way to get access. Fortunately, I eventually came across it in a dusty old file where I had scribbled down some usernames.

So my recommendation is this:

  • Get as much into 1Password as possible
  • Slap a secure master password on it
  • Write down the master password and tell your spouse where it is

I even recommend using the Notes section of 1Password to record various answers to the ridiculous security questions that so many web sites require you to answer these days. You don’t want your spouse to have to guess your third grade teacher’s favorite color just so they can look at a savings balance.

No one wants to play the Newlywed Game during a time of crisis. So take a moment and head that off.

And on that super happy note of tragedy and despair, Happy Holidays! No more posts this week, but I’ll be back soon.