LETTER OF INSTRUCTION AND DIGITAL FOOTPRINT

[WinniWoman]

So our newly hired Financial Advisor recommended we get our entire on-line footprint on paper and consolidated and also to write a letter of instruction (a non legal document) to compliment our will. An explanation of where things are, how we want our burials to be, an obituary if we want, last words, etc.

I started working on it today, since it is gloomy and rainy- perfect for this morbid task.

Hours later I cannot believe how many user names and passwords we have for all kinds of accounts- banking, brokerage, investment, credit cards, billing companies, social media- omg. It seems endless! I am including the websites, phone numbers, account numbers, beneficiary info. if applicable. Holy Cow! I am exhausted and have a lot more work to do!

Prior to this I had just folders in my file cabinet with this stuff written inside with the paperwork.
I also had some post-it notes in my drawer with user names and passwords for some websites.

Dilemma now is, though I am going to put this on a USB and put it in one of our 2 safes, per the FA he wants it on paper in a safe place as well as things like USB's can become obsolete like the floppy disk did. Well- if I put it in the safe- it has the info. as to how to access the safe on it! LOL!

Right now I have an envelope in a drawer in our home which tells our son how to access the safes.

We do not have a safe deposit box as we do not have a physical bank. Well- we do- but it is an hour away (just our checking account there) where my husband works and he is retiring soon and we will be moving anyway in another year or so. We use it mainly as an on line bank and to make ATM withdrawals sometimes or the rare instance when we need to make a physical deposit. We will probably keep it even after we move- at least for a while.

Also, we worry about theft. At least before, the information was spread out in the folders and post-it notes. Now it will all be consolidated in one spot and easy for thieves to access information about everything we own and our identities! No need for a thief to sift through tons of stuff!

If we give our son a copy we have to worry about it getting stolen form him.

Has anyone done this task and how did you handle it in terms of security? Any tips appreciated.

 

[bluehende]

We have consolidated a lot of accounts. The kids also know where our cash is. We tried to talk to the kids about funerals etc and they would have none of it. Both kids are also on our safety deposit box where we keep a lot of the paperwork they will need.

 

[WinniWoman]

Just the forums I belong to- and social media like Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, TUG! LOL! Everything today requires user names and passwords. Apps on my cell phone! Timeshare accounts! Utility companies accounts. The insurances, etc. etc.

It's unbelievable. I am taking a break from this tomorrow and will start up again on Tuesday. You would be surprised how many you have once you really sit down to do it.

In the letter of instruction I have written that I want to be cremated and where my ashes should be spread and what music to play as this is done. Also, I have written what I hope are some comforting words for my son and husband. But I need to work on it a bit more.

 

[klpca]

We just went through this in Oct. Passwords that had been written down were old and didn't work, for the most part. The cell phone was the most valuable since most of the apps had the password stored. So perhaps to simplify things, just keep your cell password up to date, then use a password storage app (LastPass, Chrome?) to store your passwords. Then you just need to keep that password up to date in your written documents.

 

[Talent312]

I have all of my account names+passwords on an excel file.
It prints as two full pages, each two columns, single spaced.
It's organized by categories: Financial, Travel, Merchants, etc.
A copy is in our wall safe. I test our kids (adults) on the code.

One of the kids is on our checking account for emergency use.

I showed them the safe and explained that it had no gold bars,
bearer bonds, or stacks of cash... just the means to find them.
.

 

[VacationForever]

We put burial (cremation) wishes when we did our estate planning and is part of advanced health care directive. I personally do not find the need to leave user and passwords for my beneficaries. Leaving passwords on hardcopy is risky business.

Bank and investment accounts are consolidated to one company. When it comes to our home, it is easy to figure out which utility company and internet provider to call. The biggest deal is that credit card bills have to be paid. But one can follow the breadcrumbs. Look at the bank account and figure out which credit card companies get paid each month.

I have a sealed letter with instructions for my son on what to do on my/our sudden demise - basically call the trust attorney and our financial advisor.

Oh, and specific instructions on timeshare... run like hell and don't take them.

 

[artringwald]

I use the Dashlane program to automatically store all my usernames and passwords. Whenever I change a password, Dashlane updates it's encrypted database. Dashlane also lets you save all of the usernames/passwords as a printable file. A printout of the file is kept in our safe deposit box along with the password to access Dashlane, and our son has access to the box.

A friend of our son's died suddenly and his widow had a terrible time trying to get access to all his online accounts. It really made me think about how best to document everything.

 

[WinniWoman]

We just went through this in Oct. Passwords that had been written down were old and didn't work, for the most part. The cell phone was the most valuable since most of the apps had the password stored. So perhaps to simplify things, just keep your cell password up to date, then use a password storage app (LastPass, Chrome?) to store your passwords. Then you just need to keep that password up to date in your written documents.

The only thing is, I do not have that many apps. on my cell phone and I do not have any banking/financials on my cell phone.

I am probably being silly, but I am even afraid to store this kind of thing on a cloud service.

 

[WinniWoman]

I use the Dashlane program to automatically store all my usernames and passwords. Whenever I change a password, Dashlane updates it's encrypted database. Dashlane also lets you save all of the usernames/passwords as a printable file. A printout of the file is kept in our safe deposit box along with the password to access Dashlane, and our son has access to the box.

A friend of our son's died suddenly and his widow had a terrible time trying to get access to all his online accounts. It really made me think about how best to document everything.

Do you use the premium service or the free one?

 

[geekette]

usernames and passwords? Nah, I don't put that down, most is in my head and logging in as me might be problematic. I have company names and their customer service 800 number along with what types of accounts are there.

I don't have a lot of accounts all over the place, which is by design for my convenience, but turns out to be handy for whoever has to deal with it when I'm gone.

Good exercise for us all, reminds me that I have updating to do since the bulk of my savings moved to Schwab last fall.

 

[taterhed]

LastPass is an amazing program and will track your passwords as you use them and you can export file to paper or 2 Excel.

I highly recommend it.

Tater on my Note8 tapatalk

 

[Glynda]

The only thing is, I do not have that many apps. on my cell phone and I do not have any banking/financials on my cell phone.

I am probably being silly, but I am even afraid to store this kind of thing on a cloud service.

I don't allow my app One Password or Apple's Keychain to store my banking or other financial passwords either.

 

[Patri]

I just bought a new book to record all this info. Now it is in a small book by my computer, but I even there use codes for my passwords, so only I know what they are. I think it is good to have this stuff available to the kids. If they can get into our online accounts, they can shut them down without the hassle of sending every company a copy of the death certificate, etc. When my dad died I closed their Facebook account. Did the same for DH a few years ago when he became disabled. I hate when people post condolences on the dead person's page. With access to the information, heirs can close accounts with cable, eBay, Paypal, etc. quickly. Otherwise, they may not even know the parent has money sitting there. If you trust your kids, all will be well. If not, well, sorry for your luck.

 

["Roger"]

There are a lot of good password keepers and people are going to like whatever they use. (I am somewhat embarrassed that I had recommended one that I thought was great. The problem was the developer came out with an all new version that stunk. Given that the old version was no longer supported I had to make a massive transition to a new password keeper.)

The two things that I myself would look for in any password keeper:

Will it operate on multiple platforms syncing between them. (One password keeper that works both on my computer and cell phone that automatically syncs any updates on either one.)
A one time charge as opposed to a subscription.

One safety feature that I miss from my old password keeper was that I could set the maximum number of tries at the master password for my cell phone. I set it at six. That way, if I lost my phone, no one could hook it up to a high speed computer that randomly tried to break the code. I don't know if any of the current password keepers have such a feature. My current one does not.

With regard to your opening inquiry, most of my important information is kept within my password keeper. (On almost all of them you can put lots of information beyond passwords.) Several relatives know how to get access to the file with the master password kept in a separate place.

One thing in my password keeper that I highly recommend is which, if any, credit cards are used for automatic billing (utility bill, subscriptions, whatever). This way if you have your credit card compromised and a new one issued, or, when a card expires with a new card automatically issued, you know who you have to contact with your new credit card number (or expiration date).

In case you are interested, I now use SafeInCloud and I am totally satisfied with it, but given my prior experience I don't know if you should take that as a recommendation or a disrecommendation.

 

[riverdees05]

Thanks for the postings.

I use mSecure to keep passwords, and other information. I have a copy of the password in our lock box. This thread did remind me that I need to update our information in others areas, ie. Automatic Payments to credit cards, etc. Also, when we recently updated our wills, we also updated our Power of Attorney to include digital accounts. Has anyone found a good write up for end of life write-up and everything that needs to be included? This reminded me of the accounts that send you a code on your phone that has to be put into the second phase of logging in. What does one do if they don't have that phone number?

 

[bogey21]

So our newly hired Financial Advisor recommended we get our entire on-line footprint on paper and consolidated and also to write a letter of instruction (a non legal document) to compliment our will. An explanation of where things are, how we want our burials to be, an obituary if we want, last words, etc.

Mine is 32 pages in a 3 ring binder which I have had for about 10 years now. 5 pages are Instructions and Wishes; one page Bank Accounts; one page login IDs and PWs; one page Utility Bills; one page My Race Horses; etc. Other pages are pictures of my Driver License; Birth Certificate; Life Insurance Policies; etc. You get the idea. The reason for having it in a 3 ring binder is so I can keep it updated which I do every 2 or 3 months. I keep it in my safe...

George

 

[pedro47]

To the OP, your thread is very important and I just want to say Thank You for posting this topic.
Job well done.

 

[artringwald]

For any password keeper, including Chrome's ability to sync passwords between multiple machines, someone learning the master password would be able to log into your accounts from any computer. I would not recommend enabling the feature to access the passwords from any machine. With some password storage programs you can export an encrypted file and copy it to the other machines you use.

 

[klpca]

For any password keeper, including Chrome's ability to sync passwords between multiple machines, someone learning the master password would be able to log into your accounts from any computer. I would not recommend enabling the feature to access the passwords from any machine. With some password storage programs you can export an encrypted file and copy it to the other machines you use.

While I completely agree with you, every single time that one of my accounts has been hacked, it has been on the other side, in one of the mass hackings. I use long letter passwords, of course upper/lower cases, plus numbers & special characters, and don't ever use them on more than one account but at times I wonder why I bother. On my phone I use my fingerprint for everything, plus two factor authentication for everything important. I do use chrome to sync on my phone and PC, but that's a risk I have to take because I can't possibly remember all of my passwords and I use my phone more than my PC. Plus it's easy enough to log out of chrome. I suppose that someone could manage to hack my phone but hopefully not.

 

[artringwald]

While I completely agree with you, every single time that one of my accounts has been hacked, it has been on the other side, in one of the mass hackings. I use long letter passwords, of course upper/lower cases, plus numbers & special characters, and don't ever use them on more than one account but at times I wonder why I bother. On my phone I use my fingerprint for everything, plus two factor authentication for everything important. I do use chrome to sync on my phone and PC, but that's a risk I have to take because I can't possibly remember all of my passwords and I use my phone more than my PC. Plus it's easy enough to log out of chrome. I suppose that someone could manage to hack my phone but hopefully not.

Come to think of it, none of our personal accounts have been hacked, but 4 or 5 accounts were part of a mass hacking. The only good news is that each mass hack gave us a free credit monitoring service for 2-3 years. It's amazing how many companies are so negligent with security.

 

[WinniWoman]

usernames and passwords? Nah, I don't put that down, most is in my head and logging in as me might be problematic. I have company names and their customer service 800 number along with what types of accounts are there.

I don't have a lot of accounts all over the place, which is by design for my convenience, but turns out to be handy for whoever has to deal with it when I'm gone.

Good exercise for us all, reminds me that I have updating to do since the bulk of my savings moved to Schwab last fall.

All of our investment accounts are with one company, but we do have a couple of banks. But I will tell you we have tons of log ins for various other sites as well- like the ones I mentioned above and then some! And then, don't forget I am married so my husband has his! LOL!

 

[WinniWoman]

Thanks for the postings.

I use mSecure to keep passwords, and other information. I have a copy of the password in our lock box. This thread did remind me that I need to update our information in others areas, ie. Automatic Payments to credit cards, etc. Also, when we recently updated our wills, we also updated our Power of Attorney to include digital accounts. Has anyone found a good write up for end of life write-up and everything that needs to be included? This reminded me of the accounts that send you a code on your phone that has to be put into the second phase of logging in. What does one do if they don't have that phone number?

Power of Atty has to specifically mention "digital accounts" on it?

 

[riverdees05]

Yes on POA list digital accounts, not individual accounts or at least in Tennessee.


Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

 

[VacationForever]

All of our investment accounts are with one company, but we do have a couple of banks. But I will tell you we have tons of log ins for various other sites as well- like the ones I mentioned above and then some! And then, don't forget I am married so my husband has his! LOL!

Why do you need to track password and user accounts? All that is needed is a list of banks, utility companies, credit companies or whoever you have a financial account with. Your beneficiary should be able to go down the list and contact one by one with proof of a death certificate and a trust/will as a named beneficiary to sort out payments and to close your accounts. After all, one is not supposed to log into a dead person's account.

 

[WinniWoman]

Why do you need to track password and user accounts? All that is needed is a list of banks, utility companies, credit companies or whoever you have a financial account with. Your beneficiary should be able to go down the list and contact one by one with proof of a death certificate and a trust/will as a named beneficiary to sort out payments and to close your accounts. After all, one is not supposed to log into a dead person's account.

I guess my OCD kicked in and I am putting everything down- even to make it easier on ourselves because there are so many of them.

The social media ones are supposedly important for a beneficiary to have those as well the FA said.

My husband and i weer laughing last night as we said knowing our son he won't be able to deal with anything anyway and will probably just burn the list. LOL!