With most of our lives existing online, paper trails are slowly becoming a thing of the past. Retirement is a great time to collect, review and create an inventory of your digital properties and assets. Not only for your own peace of mind but to help executors, power of attorney and trusted friends and family who may need access to this information after you pass away.
Just like physical assets, digital assets can hold monetary or sentimental value (and sometimes both!). For example, a monetized YouTube Channel or cryptocurrency could have considerable monetary value, while platforms like Facebook or Instagram may hold sentimental value. Each platform will have different policies about account transfers and access so it’s important to look into these to see what your options are.
Also consider the items stored on your phone and computer like photos, unpublished journals, manuscripts, artwork etc. and what you’d like to happen to them after you’re gone. In the past these items could be found in a safety deposit box at a bank, an accordion file folder in an office, or at the very least, scattered amongst belongings at home. With the digitization of key documents, recordings, accounts and contact information, it’s now more important than ever to keep everything organized in one place and stored securely with your legal will and power of attorney documents. Whether you choose paper, a USB, an external hard drive or the cloud, the most important thing is the people you need to have access to it know where it is.
