Drew’s Daily Deliberations

More and more families are living a significant portion of their lives online. I am not specifically talking about online games and chat by kids. In a more broad sense, people’s lives are partly digital these days. You bank electronically, you open and manage various accounts online, email accounts for more and more of our communication, and even direct phone calls often end up in voicemail. And this all works very well.

Until the unthinkable happens. With so much information about ourselves occurring in the digital world, protected by various passwords and secret phrases, do you have a plan to ensure your loved ones will be able to gain access to the information they might need if you suffered a tragic accident? Would they even know where to begin?

In the age before computers, you know, up until the late 80s/early 90s, much of this information would likely be stuffed in a drawer or shoe box. It may not have been pretty or organized, but at least it was available. In an emergency, people could search your house and likely come up with much of this information. Of course, people with ill-intentions could as well, but that is another topic entirely.

I for one scan all of my paperwork and file things on the computer. My reasoning is that I can easily duplicate the data to another location, protecting my information from fire or other disaster. And because of “evil doers”, this information is thoroughly protected. All of my utilities are handled online, as is my banking.

With my first wedding anniversary coming up, I realized that my wife, if needed, would not know where to begin. And since I happen to handle _her_ paperwork as well, it would be especially difficult. It got me thinking about how to plan now to avoid issues down the road. This is by no means a complete list, but it helps me sleep better at night.

First, identifying information that needs to be readily available:

• A current will
• Power of attorney information
• Medical/life insurance information
• A list of utility accounts in case others need access to them (to pay them or close them, or what have you)
• A list of online services, and the associated login information. This includes things like bank login, email accounts, online storage accounts, and whatever else is remotely important. Take your time and think about this. Earlier I mentioned voicemail. Someone could need to access your voice mail messages, did you remember to include that password?

Now this information is no good to me if I am incapacitated, so deciding upon two or three people that I can trust completely is needed. Obviously, my wife makes the list. And I figure two others, who are connected to me in different circles, and who can mostly trust each other, should be included. The reason I mention being part of a different circle, is that if I had two close friends, whom I always go skiing with, and something happened to all of us on a trip, my information would again not be readily available. Picking a family member and a friend should suffice for most of us. Since these people will have the keys to my life in their possession, I believe that they need to know each other and trust each other to a large degree.

Once the people are decided upon, all the compiled information should be documented. This could be done on paper, or in electronic format on a USB key or similar. I personally favor the USB method, as it gives me a means to secure the data in a manner appropriate for the recipient. With all this information compiled together, it would be a disaster if it fell into the wrong hands unprotected. Ensure the recipients fully understand the directions you have left, how to access the USB key, and who else has this information and why.

Most importantly, do this today! Tomorrow could be too late. And update this periodically, ensuring new accounts and changed passwords are all accounted for.

Bookmark to: