Investor Column | Preparing a digital roadmap for your life
Digital vaults and cyber risk management are fast becoming requisite parts of estate planning. Let’s talk about using a digital vault to ensure your online banking, investments, insurance, and social media accounts live on after death. I’m sure, and if you are like me, you have close to 100 digital accounts.
“A digital vault is a secure repository for sensitive and valuable documents and digital assets,” says Brad Deflin, founder and CEO of Total Digital Security, protecting private clients, wealthy families, and VIPs from cyber risk. “Digital vaults are held on secure servers, in secure facilities, and off the cloud, but with cloud-like features like browser access.
Remember the old rooms in brick-and-mortar banks for safe deposit boxes? Consider the digital vault like a safe deposit box, a secure place to keep wills, deeds, and birth certificates, for the digital age.
Digital vault companies help you collect, list, and express how you ultimately want to transition your assets. More importantly, they allow organizing your digital footprint for when you are not around anymore. The service allows you to reduce bank and investment accounts from being lost, stolen, or waste by giving control or access to a trusted relative or fiduciary.
Digital vaults allow changing, closing, and managing social media, bank, and investment accounts. Specifying funerals plans and health care directives is another benefit. On a more human level, lockers allow sharing photos and videos, pet care goals and legacies, and even prescriptions.
What are the benefits of a digital vault?
“A good digital vault includes ease of uploading and sharing, says Deflin. “Sharing of documents is accomplished with encrypted sending and tracking for accountability.”
Most digital vault companies provide a road map to convey and achieve clear end-of-life financial and health instructions accurately. Some companies remind users when driver’s licenses or insurance policies need renewing. Others allow adding your login information and passwords for digital accounts.
So how long before everyone has a digital vault?
“The digital vault industry is growing, but not by leaps and bounds,” says Deflin. “There is still a large component of the U.S. population that does not understand or appreciate the value of privacy and its necessity for a functional democracy. Personal information has been called “the new oil,” yet most will still give theirs away for the sake of a “free” product on the internet.”
To protect your assets and family, seek a financially solvent and likely enduring digital vault company. Leaders, for now until the industry shakes out, are Everplans, Cake GoodTrust, ML & W and Easenet.
“Never use a ‘free’ version of anything related to privacy and security on the internet, advises Deflin. “Choose a provider with a known reputation and legacy for products and performance. A good example is SecureSafe, a division of D-Swiss from Zurich.”
Seniors in particular need safeguards that can defend against unscrupulous operators and personal dementia, for example.
“Our services are comprehensive and autonomous and require very little if any user input,” says Deflin. “An engaged and aware user is key to privacy and security, and in the absence of this risk is elevated and should be recognized.”
“Cybersecurity is more about people than it is technology. Cybersecurity technology and innovation are on a tear. They’re advancing at rates never seen in the IT security industry before due to advances in AI, machine learning, remote datacenters, and collaborative intelligence. These advances are also driving affordability and ease of use. The people part is what is so challenging, with the main obstacle being apathy.”
Deflin recommends privatizing your email account, too.
“Email is an attacking vector number one threat. Nothing else comes close, “says Deflin. “Free email providers like Yahoo, AOL, Gmail, et al. are systematically treating our privacy and personal information with frightening levels of abuse. These accounts are honeypots for hackers and where over 80% of all cybercrime damages start. For our clients, we privatize email with personal email domains built for the security and privacy of personal information – not information mining and manipulation of the user.”
Jim Germer is a Bradenton CPA and financial adviser at 3655 Cortez Road W, Suite 110, Bradenton 34210. Call (941) 746-5600 or email jim.germer@ceterafs.com. Securities are offered through Cetera Financial Specialists LLC (doing insurance business in CA as CFGFS Insurance Agency) member FINRA/SIPC. Advisory services are offered through Cetera Investment Advisers LLC. Cetera entities are under separate ownership from any other named entity. This article is designed to provide accurate and authoritative information on the subjects covered. It is not, however, intended to provide specific legal, tax, or other professional advice. For specific professional assistance, the services of an appropriate professional should be sought.