Why you should consider adding a trusted contact person to your financial accounts
Editorial staff, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management
- A trusted contact person (TCP) is someone you authorize to be contacted by your financial institution, like an emergency contact.
- The institution will only contact them in select circumstances, such as possible financial exploitation, to confirm your current contact information, health status or the identity of anyone able to act on your behalf, like a power of attorney, trustee, etc.
- The person doesn't have access to your account and can't place trades or make cash distributions. Firms can only share the information necessary to address the issue for which they are contacting your TCP.
- A TCP is needed to help prevent financial exploitation or to help you when there may be physical or mental issues that impact your ability to manage your investments.
If you’ve ever given your information to a new doctor’s office, chances are you’ve established an “emergency contact” person that they should reach out to in case of, well, an emergency. But emergencies can happen outside the realm of health care.
For responsible investors, a suitable equivalent is known as a “trusted contact person” (TCP), and many financial firms recommend that you establish one.
Here’s more on TCP and why it may be important to have one for your financial accounts, including your brokerage account.
What is a trusted contact person?
A TCP is someone you authorize your financial institution to contact in certain circumstances, such as if your financial institution suspects financial exploitation, to confirm your current contact information, health status or ID.
What can a trusted contact person do?
Making someone a TCP is not the same thing as giving them power of attorney. They cannot make any kind of trades, transactions or decisions about your account and don’t have access to all of your account information.
A TCP can:
- Let your financial institution know how to reach you. Let them know either by confirming your contact information or giving them updated information in case you move or change phone numbers.
- Verify if you are experiencing a health crisis. If contact attempts have been made and you haven’t replied due to a health crisis, your TCP can keep your institution apprised of the situation.
- Provide them with a new point of contact. If a new person has been given executorship or financial power of attorney, your TCP can provide that information to your institution so that your assets are in the right hands.
Benefits of adding a TCP
While it may seem unlikely that you’d lose touch with your financial institution, in situations where fraud may compromise your accounts – including your email or other methods of contact – it’s important to remember that it’s better to be safe than sorry. The value of adding a TCP to your account now is that you've taken the step to protect yourself if something happens in the future, just like having insurance.
Adding a TCP can help safeguard you from situations that can impact your account. For example, TCPs can be reached if you are suffering from diminished physical or mental capacity, if there's a reasonable belief that you're being financially exploited or if the firm needs to know who is authorized to act on your behalf if either of these situations occur. Like adding two-factor authentication to logins, a TCP is just another layer that ensures your finances are in your control and stay that way. It's important to remember that if you wait to add a TCP when you need one, it may be too late.
How to add a trusted contact
Adding a TCP is as simple as speaking to your advisor or logging into your online account and selecting the option to do so. You may also receive directions via mail or email. You can often add up to two TCPs, who need to be 18 years old or older and someone you trust. It's a good idea to let them know you're choosing them as a TCP so they're prepared (and are willing to be involved). What’s more, keep an eye out for scam emails asking you to set up a TCP – the email should come directly from your financial institution and not any outside parties.
If you’re unsure about how to add a TCP, reach out to your institution by phone, email or secure messenger to receive step-by-step instructions.
Be aware that you’ll likely need this information to set up a TCP:
- Their full name
- Address
- Phone number or email address
The bottom line
For responsible investors, adding a TCP helps protect your accounts from fraudulent activity or other incidents where your financial institution may not be able to reach you.
As your emergency contact, your TCP can tell your institution how to reach you or keep them updated on a crisis in case of emergency.
Like having an emergency contact on file at a hospital, a TCP can be helpful to have on any financial account and may come in handy when you least expect it.
Frequently asked questions
Yes, investors may add more than one trusted contact person to their account. The trusted contacts can be family members, accountants or other reliable third parties, as long as all persons are at least 18 years old.
No, making someone a trusted contact does not give them financial power of attorney or any power to make decisions about the account. It only authorizes the financial institution to contact them in case they can’t get in contact with the account holder.
Editorial staff, J.P. Morgan Wealth Management
