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She Doesn’t Get It – Redux

tumblr_nurz73kQrz1unv2fuo1_250A young writer recently wrote a web piece titled “If You Have Savings in Your 20’s, You’re Doing Something Wrong.” The article contained the following gems:

  • People who are saving in their 20s are people who don’t set their sights high. They’ve already dropped out of the game and settled for the minor leagues.
  • Your 20s are not the time to save; they’re the time to gamble. $200 a month isn’t going to make the dent that a $60,000 pay raise will after spending all those nights out networking.
  • We don’t have kids. We’ll be renting for the foreseeable future, and we have no problem eating McDonald’s when we’re skint.

Several quick points:

1.  If this advice was from a 40 year old looking back on life, it would be less laugh
able that it is coming from a 20 something trying to justify her lifestyle.

2.  I am not sure I know anyone who received a $60K annual raise but she seems to think they are plentiful.

3.  The value of the monthly $200 expenditure she mocks is $1 million after 45 years.

4.  If she continues to spend what she makes, she will rent forever, not just the foreseeable future.

5.  The writer and the 2 million plus people who liked her article on Facebook are likely constituents of Bernie Sanders because they are counting on others to provide for their retirement.

 

The Facebook Death Mask

Facebook today announced a change in its policy towards the accounts of deceased users.  It will now allow a user to designate a “legacy contact” to manage the account of a deceased user.  Previously, Facebook froze the account of a deceased user which left the account in a state of virtual purgatory.

What you need to know:

1.  To designate a legacy contact, go to Settings, choose Security, and then Legacy Contact at the bottom of the page.

2.  Stupidly, you may not designate a contingent legacy contact so do not choose someone you travel with frequently or who might kill you in a murder-suicide.

3.  Legacy contacts may not alter what you have previously posted.  If something is embarrassing while alive it will remain embarrassing post mortem.

4.  This might all be for nothing anyway.  How fun will Facebook be if one cannot post a picture of himself with the most hated man in Kentucky?

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Really Dead, But Virtually Alive

Ever wonder what happens to your social media accounts after death?  Most likely not, but the below chart nicely illustrates how the various providers treat them.

Three quick points:

1.  Your will should have a clause authorizing the social media provider to follow the directions of your executor.

2.  Write down your passwords and let your executor know where they are located.

3.  Even after the account is deactivated, the NSA likely has a copy of it (and your emails and phone calls) in its Utah data center.

Digital-Demise-Infographic

 

Semper Fi

A former Marine signed onto Facebook last week and announced he was going to take his own life.  He documented the process with graphic photos including a final post that said “Im leakinging good now.”   While he lay dying in an unoccupied building, his Marine Corps. buddies were frantically trying to locate him and plead with him to not kill himself.  After his death, Facebook did not remove the graphic photos of his final moments because “they did not violate the terms of community service.”  Eventually, Facebook temporarily removed the account pending a ruling from his family.  In a nutshell, if a person dies, the options for his Facebook account are to memorialize the account or for the family to remove it.  Meanwhile, the former Marines used Facebook to reach out to their comrades who might be struggling and offered to drop everything they were doing to assist one another.

Several points:

1.  People should address their digital assets in their wills and give their executor the authority to dispose of or transfer the digital assets.

2.  One can always count on Facebook to do the wrong thing.

3.  The brotherhood of the Marines is awesome beyond description.

 

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All Posts By Jay Brinker

I am an attorney located in Cincinnati, Ohio who practices in the areas of estate planning, probate, asset protection, and small business advice. I make a difficult and bewildering process as simple as possible. Most importantly, I provide "more for less" for my clients.