ATLANTA — As more of people’s lives move online, experts say digital assets should be included in end-of-life planning.
While wills, trusts and beneficiaries have long been part of estate planning, money expert Paul Wilczynski says people should also consider what happens to their digital accounts and online assets.
“All of your passports or different kinds of accounts, there’s social media, Venmo, airline miles, hotel points, different kinds of things,” Wilczynski said.
Wilczynski recently released a book outlining steps to help people decide whether their digital history should be preserved, deleted or transferred, depending on their wishes. The book is written for seniors, but he said the advice can apply to anyone.
He recommends first taking inventory of digital assets and then determining who should manage or receive them.
“The third step is to document the instructions, some of them should be deleted, some of them should be memorialized, like you can memorialize your Facebook account; some should be preserved and handed down like photo accounts,” Wilczynski said.
He also said some digital assets, including airline miles and rewards points, have tangible value.
Wilczynski said one important step is keeping a cellphone active until the end of the process because it is often needed for two-step authentication.
“If you turn your cellphone off and somebody tries to get into an account, and the account says ‘okay I’m going to text you a 6-digit code,’ whoops they can’t do that because you just turned off the cellphone.”
Wilczynski said taking time to create a digital plan can help ensure online accounts and assets are preserved, deleted or transferred according to a person’s wishes.
WSB Radio’s Graham Carroll contributed to this story.