WEBVTT 00:00:14.890 --> 00:00:18.350 Welcome back to another Sci -Fi episode where 00:00:18.350 --> 00:00:22.149 psychology and finances collide. Today we're 00:00:22.149 --> 00:00:26.609 going to be talking about digital assets and 00:00:26.609 --> 00:00:30.309 how you can look at your world of estate planning 00:00:30.309 --> 00:00:34.770 through the lens of digital assets. And what 00:00:34.770 --> 00:00:38.369 does that mean? We have attorney Emily Baggett 00:00:38.369 --> 00:00:40.710 with us today who will be talking about that 00:00:40.710 --> 00:00:44.530 with us. And just to kind of tease you a little 00:00:44.530 --> 00:00:47.390 bit, we talk a little bit about what digital 00:00:47.390 --> 00:00:51.570 assets are, but I just kind of want to quiz you 00:00:51.570 --> 00:00:54.869 for a moment. Think about it. What do you think 00:00:54.869 --> 00:00:58.649 those include? And I will say, I'll tell on a 00:00:58.649 --> 00:01:01.909 group of folks that I did pull in a live class 00:01:01.909 --> 00:01:05.689 not too long ago when I asked them to identify 00:01:05.689 --> 00:01:09.510 just from their brain what they viewed as digital 00:01:09.510 --> 00:01:14.930 assets. A lot of them were tying it to assets 00:01:14.930 --> 00:01:19.290 that are already tied to a beneficiary designation 00:01:19.290 --> 00:01:23.469 or to a payable upon death or transferable upon 00:01:23.469 --> 00:01:26.890 death. So those aren't the digital assets that 00:01:26.890 --> 00:01:30.409 we're necessarily talking about here. Maybe some 00:01:30.409 --> 00:01:33.430 of them, but mostly the digital assets that you 00:01:33.430 --> 00:01:36.629 don't think about on the day to day, such as 00:01:36.629 --> 00:01:41.280 crypto, monetary accounts. points accounts, online 00:01:41.280 --> 00:01:45.519 accounts, creative content, social media, shopping, 00:01:46.060 --> 00:01:49.519 subscriptions, memberships, and even think about 00:01:49.519 --> 00:01:55.700 your Android phone and your Apple phone, whichever 00:01:55.700 --> 00:01:59.319 you subscribe to and actually where would that 00:01:59.319 --> 00:02:02.409 go? So, Emily, it's so great to have you today. 00:02:02.489 --> 00:02:06.150 I know that you have a disclaimer that you need 00:02:06.150 --> 00:02:10.169 to read before we even begin and that is so legalistic 00:02:10.169 --> 00:02:15.270 and I love it. That is the required disclaimer 00:02:15.270 --> 00:02:17.810 states that the views presented today in anything 00:02:17.810 --> 00:02:21.009 I say are my views and not necessarily represent 00:02:21.009 --> 00:02:23.409 the views of the DOD or any of its components. 00:02:23.659 --> 00:02:26.560 And if I do talk about certain products or services 00:02:26.560 --> 00:02:28.819 during the podcast, I'm using them only as an 00:02:28.819 --> 00:02:31.780 example and the DOD does not approve, endorse 00:02:31.780 --> 00:02:34.759 or authorize any company as products or services 00:02:34.759 --> 00:02:37.099 today that we talk about. So I always just have 00:02:37.099 --> 00:02:39.379 to say that before I get started with anything. 00:02:39.639 --> 00:02:43.159 Well, thank you, Emily. And I will say that Emily 00:02:43.159 --> 00:02:47.219 did provide a podcast episode earlier if you 00:02:47.219 --> 00:02:51.289 want to scroll down and find a an episode just 00:02:51.289 --> 00:02:53.930 specifically on traditional estate planning. 00:02:54.069 --> 00:02:57.349 This is not Emily's first rodeo on the Sci -Fi 00:02:57.349 --> 00:02:59.930 podcast. So really I should say welcome back. 00:03:00.949 --> 00:03:03.349 Thank you, Olivia. I'm glad to be back and I'm 00:03:03.349 --> 00:03:05.949 excited to be here today to talk about something 00:03:05.949 --> 00:03:09.069 that has become very, very important to me in 00:03:09.069 --> 00:03:12.210 the estate planning world as an attorney as we 00:03:12.210 --> 00:03:15.080 move into more. This is becoming a bigger and 00:03:15.080 --> 00:03:17.039 bigger issue, I think, for everyone. And something 00:03:17.039 --> 00:03:20.020 that we all need to be aware of is digital assets 00:03:20.020 --> 00:03:22.180 and what that means and how you can protect yourself 00:03:22.180 --> 00:03:24.979 and your family. And I got to give the audience 00:03:24.979 --> 00:03:28.099 a visual. So during the financial symposium, 00:03:28.680 --> 00:03:33.560 you provided a class called digital assets, your 00:03:33.560 --> 00:03:37.259 role in a changing environment. And you could 00:03:37.259 --> 00:03:41.159 hear a pin drop as you were speaking. Everybody 00:03:41.159 --> 00:03:44.949 was fully focused on you. They had their phones 00:03:44.949 --> 00:03:48.650 out. They were taking their own pictures. They 00:03:48.650 --> 00:03:51.469 were ready to learn. They were hungry for this 00:03:51.469 --> 00:03:54.770 information. The questions that you posed, the 00:03:54.770 --> 00:03:58.629 hands that were raised, it was amazing. So I 00:03:58.629 --> 00:04:03.030 want to know specifically what even got you involved 00:04:03.030 --> 00:04:05.930 in providing this kind of training? Well, to 00:04:05.930 --> 00:04:08.689 be honest, when I first read our will, when I 00:04:08.689 --> 00:04:11.699 got to Redstone, there was a clause in the will 00:04:11.699 --> 00:04:16.339 that I had been out of state planning and for 00:04:16.339 --> 00:04:18.019 a little bit and there was a clause that I had 00:04:18.019 --> 00:04:20.819 not seen and I said what in the world is this 00:04:20.819 --> 00:04:23.860 clause so I started looking at it researching 00:04:23.860 --> 00:04:26.560 it and then we were asked to the other attorney 00:04:26.560 --> 00:04:30.339 in the office and I were asked to do a professional 00:04:30.339 --> 00:04:33.399 development for Fort Rucker and I said well why 00:04:33.399 --> 00:04:35.740 don't we talk about this digital assets clause 00:04:35.740 --> 00:04:38.399 does anyone ever talk about it what it means 00:04:38.670 --> 00:04:42.209 how you actually do it. And he said, no, I don't 00:04:42.209 --> 00:04:45.230 really think so. And I started looking at it 00:04:45.230 --> 00:04:47.810 from a more of a practical standpoint of what 00:04:47.810 --> 00:04:50.589 does this mean for someone when you're actually 00:04:50.589 --> 00:04:53.029 doing it? I mean, we see the clause in the wheel, 00:04:53.050 --> 00:04:56.649 but does anyone ever explain this clause to anyone 00:04:56.649 --> 00:04:58.910 when they come in? I mean, we check the box and 00:04:58.910 --> 00:05:02.230 say digital assets, yes. But does anyone explain 00:05:02.230 --> 00:05:05.209 it to the client when they come in and really 00:05:05.209 --> 00:05:07.990 say this is what you need to do step one, two, 00:05:07.990 --> 00:05:10.519 three, and that's where this kind of all came 00:05:10.519 --> 00:05:12.720 about and where I got started when I first got 00:05:12.720 --> 00:05:15.399 here to Redstone and it's become kind of my pet 00:05:15.399 --> 00:05:18.620 project since then and making sure that we're 00:05:18.620 --> 00:05:20.639 making sure our clients know about it and then 00:05:20.639 --> 00:05:23.680 just in general when I talk to folks and that 00:05:23.680 --> 00:05:26.139 meet my daily life. And if I'm understanding 00:05:26.139 --> 00:05:29.000 correctly, this clause was the one that came 00:05:29.000 --> 00:05:32.199 out in 2018? Well, it was the clause that we 00:05:32.199 --> 00:05:35.519 put generally in all of our wills that does relate 00:05:35.519 --> 00:05:39.220 back to the Revised Uniform Fiduciary Access 00:05:39.220 --> 00:05:42.259 to Digital Assets Act that did pass in Alabama 00:05:42.259 --> 00:05:45.639 that went into effect in 2018. So it does relate 00:05:45.639 --> 00:05:48.459 back to that act. That's why it came about. So 00:05:48.459 --> 00:05:51.519 yes, you're right. Okay. So seven years ago, 00:05:52.189 --> 00:05:56.209 And I'm still, as a financial counselor, learning 00:05:56.209 --> 00:06:00.149 more and more about digital assets. So it's not 00:06:00.149 --> 00:06:05.050 something that is greatly known to the masses. 00:06:05.470 --> 00:06:07.649 A lot of folks, if you were to ask what a digital 00:06:07.649 --> 00:06:11.990 asset was, they might give you some good monetary 00:06:11.990 --> 00:06:15.629 digital assets, like online banking and online 00:06:15.629 --> 00:06:18.199 investments, but... When we really get into the 00:06:18.199 --> 00:06:20.220 weeds, there are a lot of folks that don't even 00:06:20.220 --> 00:06:25.920 know how to access how you would apply some digital 00:06:25.920 --> 00:06:28.060 link to a family member that could take over 00:06:28.060 --> 00:06:31.100 that in the future. Right. And I think that's 00:06:31.100 --> 00:06:34.399 the challenge that we have as in the financial 00:06:34.399 --> 00:06:37.589 world and legal world. where do you kind of put 00:06:37.589 --> 00:06:39.509 that all together? Because I think it's been 00:06:39.509 --> 00:06:41.990 so easy to say for the lawyer, well, this is 00:06:41.990 --> 00:06:44.069 your legal advice and for the financial person, 00:06:44.410 --> 00:06:46.569 this is your financial advice. But this is kind 00:06:46.569 --> 00:06:49.769 of a component of it all kind of comes together 00:06:49.769 --> 00:06:52.470 because everything has a password and it's our 00:06:52.470 --> 00:06:55.350 username potentially in its own right, in its 00:06:55.350 --> 00:06:59.310 own world. And how do we make sure that the client 00:06:59.310 --> 00:07:02.279 or the family member knows how to use it? And 00:07:02.279 --> 00:07:04.759 it's one of those things that there's not really 00:07:04.759 --> 00:07:07.620 a right or wrong answer potentially. There's 00:07:07.620 --> 00:07:10.839 different ways to get to the right answer. So 00:07:10.839 --> 00:07:13.779 that creates another hurdle of when you don't 00:07:13.779 --> 00:07:16.379 have a right answer because there's many right 00:07:16.379 --> 00:07:18.839 ways to do something in this world. And I think 00:07:18.839 --> 00:07:22.220 that's for folks like us. We have to just always 00:07:22.220 --> 00:07:26.779 stay. I mean, I got ready for the financial symposium 00:07:26.779 --> 00:07:29.339 in March for now in July. There's been things 00:07:29.339 --> 00:07:31.680 that I found that have changed since in those 00:07:31.680 --> 00:07:33.740 little bit of time frame when I was getting ready 00:07:33.740 --> 00:07:36.040 to come talk to you today. And it's amazing how 00:07:36.040 --> 00:07:38.660 fast things can change just in a couple of months. 00:07:38.980 --> 00:07:42.319 And if that's frustrating for you and this is 00:07:42.319 --> 00:07:44.259 your profession, this is something that you're 00:07:44.259 --> 00:07:47.500 supposed to know, how frustrating is it for the 00:07:47.500 --> 00:07:51.360 consumer who may have thought they knew where 00:07:51.360 --> 00:07:54.040 to find this. And then yet again, it has changed. 00:07:54.300 --> 00:07:57.519 So what I will say, what is tried and true, and 00:07:57.519 --> 00:07:59.560 I know that you're going to provide some options 00:07:59.560 --> 00:08:02.680 in the future here, but we're kind of similar 00:08:02.680 --> 00:08:06.600 generation, our upbringing and where we are. 00:08:06.899 --> 00:08:10.800 And I have to say that when I have worked with 00:08:10.800 --> 00:08:16.220 widows or widowers, the thing that was most beneficial 00:08:16.220 --> 00:08:21.060 was something that was written and that was available 00:08:21.060 --> 00:08:26.120 to be held in hand. by a family member post death. 00:08:26.620 --> 00:08:29.500 And usually that's in the form of like a digital 00:08:29.500 --> 00:08:33.639 password keeper or a digital password booklet 00:08:33.639 --> 00:08:36.960 where the family member has written down all 00:08:36.960 --> 00:08:40.659 the online accounts and any other accounts that 00:08:40.659 --> 00:08:44.620 may not be online, but here are all of the things 00:08:44.620 --> 00:08:48.159 that I want you to have access to. And here's 00:08:48.159 --> 00:08:52.440 the password today. but just know that that password 00:08:52.440 --> 00:08:56.120 could have changed over several months. So that's 00:08:56.120 --> 00:08:58.899 where now we get into even further in the weeds. 00:08:59.019 --> 00:09:01.279 It's one thing to know where these are located, 00:09:01.840 --> 00:09:05.220 but then how digitally, if that password has 00:09:05.220 --> 00:09:09.080 changed, where do we go from there? That's one 00:09:09.080 --> 00:09:12.440 of the exact issues is that, yes, people like 00:09:12.440 --> 00:09:14.820 to write things down, but when you write things 00:09:14.820 --> 00:09:17.879 down, Like you said, passwords are gonna change. 00:09:18.100 --> 00:09:20.720 Are you gonna remember to update the password? 00:09:21.580 --> 00:09:24.559 That creates, and I said earlier, we might talk 00:09:24.559 --> 00:09:28.039 about some products, the password managers. That 00:09:28.039 --> 00:09:31.120 is a product that is available out there. An 00:09:31.120 --> 00:09:33.980 example is OnePassword. I had a client recently 00:09:33.980 --> 00:09:36.559 in my office that they gave me permission to 00:09:36.559 --> 00:09:40.580 share this. They've used that product for over 00:09:40.580 --> 00:09:44.049 a decade now. They find it very beneficial because 00:09:44.049 --> 00:09:47.570 it creates passwords for them. It's the 16 -digit 00:09:47.570 --> 00:09:51.129 password. I mean, I guess I can come up with 00:09:51.129 --> 00:09:53.309 a 16 -digit password, but I don't know about 00:09:53.309 --> 00:09:56.210 you, but I use the same passwords over and over. 00:09:56.309 --> 00:09:58.240 So if you probably could figure out... There 00:09:58.240 --> 00:09:59.820 are probably four of them, actually. I probably 00:09:59.820 --> 00:10:02.100 shouldn't say that. But if you probably could 00:10:02.100 --> 00:10:04.440 create, you know, if you figure out what those 00:10:04.440 --> 00:10:07.259 four are, I mean, they're not that, I mean, it's 00:10:07.259 --> 00:10:08.460 pretty easy to figure out, actually, probably. 00:10:08.840 --> 00:10:10.220 But, you know, I mean, honestly, if you could 00:10:10.220 --> 00:10:11.879 figure something out about people and figure 00:10:11.879 --> 00:10:14.779 out their rhythm, then you might figure out their 00:10:14.779 --> 00:10:17.340 passwords. I mean, we're all told not to write 00:10:17.340 --> 00:10:19.779 down your passwords anywhere. I mean, we all 00:10:19.779 --> 00:10:21.940 have them stored probably somewhere fairly easy. 00:10:22.269 --> 00:10:25.070 But you have to think about that too. So that 00:10:25.070 --> 00:10:27.429 is another option to think about if you have 00:10:27.429 --> 00:10:30.230 a password manager and there's different options 00:10:30.230 --> 00:10:32.629 out there. There's some very secure options. 00:10:33.029 --> 00:10:36.190 There are ones for family members that you have. 00:10:36.330 --> 00:10:40.470 I was looking at some today that honestly, minimally 00:10:40.470 --> 00:10:43.389 a month when you think about it long term, that's 00:10:43.389 --> 00:10:46.289 you have to wait, I'm paying that a month. You 00:10:46.289 --> 00:10:48.230 probably pay that to go through and get a cup 00:10:48.230 --> 00:10:50.730 of coffee that when you go through a drive through. 00:10:50.940 --> 00:10:53.379 That's a very good point. And what would you 00:10:53.379 --> 00:10:55.919 say to the naysayers? Because you might have 00:10:55.919 --> 00:10:58.700 some folks like me listening in the audience 00:10:58.700 --> 00:11:02.200 like, oh, not another subscription, not another 00:11:02.200 --> 00:11:06.019 thing that might put me at risk digitally for 00:11:06.019 --> 00:11:09.379 someone if they do crack the code and get into 00:11:09.379 --> 00:11:13.679 my passwords. What would you say to the audience 00:11:13.679 --> 00:11:17.799 the greater reward for going ahead and paying 00:11:17.799 --> 00:11:20.340 for that? We're going ahead and planning this 00:11:20.340 --> 00:11:23.879 now. What kind of frustration would that save 00:11:23.879 --> 00:11:28.039 the person who is left behind? Well, I think 00:11:28.039 --> 00:11:31.019 as the person that's left behind, if you don't 00:11:31.019 --> 00:11:34.980 know anything or say everything is kind of paperless 00:11:34.980 --> 00:11:38.120 right now, you do know that you get the usernames 00:11:38.120 --> 00:11:42.240 and passwords, but say mom or dad didn't forget 00:11:42.240 --> 00:11:44.620 or forgot to tell you, well, there's the bank 00:11:44.620 --> 00:11:47.389 password. They put bank account. Well, what if 00:11:47.389 --> 00:11:49.169 mom or dad didn't tell you what bank it goes 00:11:49.169 --> 00:11:53.909 to? So let's say, let's go to my phone and then 00:11:53.909 --> 00:11:57.690 look in, looked in the apps where there's two 00:11:57.690 --> 00:12:00.610 banks in here. Well, so I've got two banking 00:12:00.610 --> 00:12:03.149 apps in here, so that's pretty easy. We probably 00:12:03.149 --> 00:12:05.389 can tell the user and password will be one of 00:12:05.389 --> 00:12:07.750 those two banks, but either one of those two 00:12:07.750 --> 00:12:10.210 banks aren't gonna really help you. I mean, so 00:12:10.210 --> 00:12:12.669 you have to think about those things. No one's 00:12:12.669 --> 00:12:15.269 really gonna help you when it gets down to it. 00:12:16.190 --> 00:12:19.190 You're already in a state of grief, and then 00:12:19.190 --> 00:12:22.070 here we go on top of that. I mean, think how 00:12:22.070 --> 00:12:23.809 many times you know you've entered the right 00:12:23.809 --> 00:12:27.149 password, and it's, you know, you're like, I 00:12:27.149 --> 00:12:28.929 know I've entered the right password, and it's 00:12:28.929 --> 00:12:31.669 not clicking in for some reason, and how frustrating 00:12:31.669 --> 00:12:34.669 that is. Or you know you get three chances to 00:12:34.669 --> 00:12:36.409 enter a password, especially on the banking one 00:12:36.409 --> 00:12:38.190 sometimes, and then you're locked out, you're 00:12:38.190 --> 00:12:40.889 done. So then therefore, if you're locked out 00:12:40.889 --> 00:12:45.460 of account, what happens? And then sometimes 00:12:45.460 --> 00:12:47.399 they'll talk to you, sometimes they won't, sometimes 00:12:47.399 --> 00:12:49.600 then maybe it requires a court order. So you 00:12:49.600 --> 00:12:52.419 have to be very careful on some of these things, 00:12:52.460 --> 00:12:54.919 what you're doing when you are accessing usernames 00:12:54.919 --> 00:12:57.620 and passwords, that you're not making sure you're 00:12:57.620 --> 00:13:00.240 not making any mistakes. So as the person that's 00:13:00.240 --> 00:13:02.820 left behind, it is you want to leave them clear 00:13:02.820 --> 00:13:04.720 instructions, but you also want to make sure 00:13:04.720 --> 00:13:06.840 that they have access to everything they need. 00:13:07.340 --> 00:13:09.360 To do those, follow your instructions of what 00:13:09.360 --> 00:13:12.019 you want them to do. I think that's awesome. 00:13:12.120 --> 00:13:14.820 And it's not just to save them frustration, but 00:13:14.820 --> 00:13:19.559 it's also to get them your full estate as intended. 00:13:20.100 --> 00:13:22.419 When you were providing the training and the 00:13:22.419 --> 00:13:25.879 symposium, I too was hanging on every word. And 00:13:25.879 --> 00:13:28.840 I was thinking, wow, you talk about not only 00:13:28.840 --> 00:13:31.340 the monetary accounts, like when people think 00:13:31.340 --> 00:13:33.580 of digital assets, this is where their mind goes 00:13:33.580 --> 00:13:36.940 to online banking, investment accounts, credit 00:13:36.940 --> 00:13:40.139 cards, or digital. payment accounts like you 00:13:40.139 --> 00:13:43.899 mentioned PayPal and Venmo. But then you started 00:13:43.899 --> 00:13:48.399 getting into points accounts. Where do your airline 00:13:48.399 --> 00:13:53.100 miles go? That's cash when you really think about 00:13:53.100 --> 00:13:58.600 it. That is an asset that could greatly and positively 00:13:58.600 --> 00:14:02.929 impact this person's life. finally open the doors 00:14:02.929 --> 00:14:06.590 for travel or what have you. Hotel points and 00:14:06.590 --> 00:14:09.850 other reward points that we'll get into in a 00:14:09.850 --> 00:14:14.809 minute, but having these in your digital portfolio 00:14:14.809 --> 00:14:18.350 as well or your estate planning, I would say 00:14:18.350 --> 00:14:20.889 estate planning guide or your digital password 00:14:20.889 --> 00:14:24.330 keeper or the password manager that you're referring 00:14:24.330 --> 00:14:28.450 to, what say you on that topic? When you think 00:14:28.450 --> 00:14:32.110 about those we have so many folks that are government 00:14:32.110 --> 00:14:36.669 employees or contractors and work for the Department 00:14:36.669 --> 00:14:40.470 of Defense that you do have to go TDY a lot and 00:14:40.470 --> 00:14:44.769 when you go TDY you get those points and I didn't 00:14:44.769 --> 00:14:46.750 realize I talked to so many clients that you 00:14:46.750 --> 00:14:49.590 know what we use ours they say to take our vacation 00:14:49.590 --> 00:14:52.029 or we gift them to our children so they can take 00:14:52.029 --> 00:14:56.610 a vacation. Those add up so fast that You want 00:14:56.610 --> 00:14:58.509 to be able to leave those drill. It's basically 00:14:58.509 --> 00:15:01.389 like you're leaving a free trip to you want a 00:15:01.389 --> 00:15:03.289 free trip to Paris and you're walking away from 00:15:03.289 --> 00:15:05.330 it. Would you really walk away from a free trip 00:15:05.330 --> 00:15:07.850 to Paris? Would you want to not take that free 00:15:07.850 --> 00:15:09.850 trip or free trip to wherever you want to go 00:15:09.850 --> 00:15:12.289 around the world? But you have to think about 00:15:12.289 --> 00:15:15.990 that how you don't want to leave a vacation because 00:15:15.990 --> 00:15:17.850 a lot of times it is a vacation when you think 00:15:17.850 --> 00:15:19.789 about it. You just have to pay for your food 00:15:19.789 --> 00:15:22.490 and what happens when you get there. But sometimes 00:15:22.490 --> 00:15:25.200 folks have that many points. and you want to 00:15:25.200 --> 00:15:28.279 make sure again you're leaving a trip behind 00:15:28.279 --> 00:15:30.919 that you want that last family trip that your 00:15:30.919 --> 00:15:33.639 family could be taking for themselves that you 00:15:33.639 --> 00:15:36.299 could leave them. You've left that behind that 00:15:36.299 --> 00:15:38.759 they could have and I always call it the death 00:15:38.759 --> 00:15:41.820 book. I always say have your death book. Sometimes 00:15:41.820 --> 00:15:44.379 mine's called in case I get hit by a bus here's 00:15:44.379 --> 00:15:46.970 what you need to know. So that's what I call 00:15:46.970 --> 00:15:50.610 mine. Sometimes I have other ones. I tell clients, 00:15:50.769 --> 00:15:52.870 name it whatever you want, but you have that 00:15:52.870 --> 00:15:54.809 with all the things and all the instructions 00:15:54.809 --> 00:15:58.169 and then separately have the book where everything 00:15:58.169 --> 00:16:00.750 is for your passwords and things of that nature. 00:16:01.350 --> 00:16:04.809 So everybody knows where everything is and your 00:16:04.809 --> 00:16:06.610 heirs and whoever is going to handle things for 00:16:06.610 --> 00:16:09.450 you know where they can find things. And as I 00:16:09.450 --> 00:16:13.460 read through some of the terms and agreements 00:16:13.460 --> 00:16:17.340 that you provided in snapshots. American Airlines, 00:16:17.659 --> 00:16:20.840 Delta Airlines, it looks like United Airlines 00:16:20.840 --> 00:16:26.379 off the top will allow you to transfer from 500 00:16:26.379 --> 00:16:30.259 to 100 ,000 miles, but then others will not allow 00:16:30.259 --> 00:16:33.639 you to transfer. So another what's in it for 00:16:33.639 --> 00:16:39.500 me to getting my loved ones to create this death 00:16:39.500 --> 00:16:45.139 book so hey I can take over with your password 00:16:45.139 --> 00:16:48.879 with your account I can take over these miles 00:16:48.879 --> 00:16:52.360 because some of them are non -transferable and 00:16:52.360 --> 00:16:55.080 so that's that's something to consider as well 00:16:55.080 --> 00:16:57.500 I mean a lot of folks would like to believe oh 00:16:57.500 --> 00:16:59.860 well I'll just take care of that when that happens 00:16:59.860 --> 00:17:03.179 surely we can transfer those and I have a funny 00:17:03.179 --> 00:17:06.660 story for you I have someone in my life who recently 00:17:06.660 --> 00:17:11.279 talked about person that he knows who is passing 00:17:11.279 --> 00:17:15.319 and this person has had plenty of time due to 00:17:15.319 --> 00:17:19.559 the diagnosis to plan their estate. This person 00:17:19.559 --> 00:17:25.599 had a rewards account with a massage service. 00:17:26.259 --> 00:17:30.000 Well, you are only allowed to transfer so many 00:17:30.000 --> 00:17:34.799 of those hours of that service to someone else. 00:17:35.109 --> 00:17:39.190 So how do you go around that then if you can 00:17:39.190 --> 00:17:44.069 only use that? Now obviously we are not encouraging 00:17:44.069 --> 00:17:48.089 any criminal or illegal activity whatsoever. 00:17:48.710 --> 00:17:52.349 But if my husband passes and he has these reward 00:17:52.349 --> 00:17:54.990 points and he's built this up I would like to 00:17:54.990 --> 00:17:57.390 use those reward points. I would like to use 00:17:57.390 --> 00:18:00.890 this. Whether it is for those massage services. 00:18:01.089 --> 00:18:03.029 Now maybe massage is gonna be a little different 00:18:03.029 --> 00:18:05.750 because you know female coming in rather than 00:18:05.750 --> 00:18:08.410 a male, you know, different type of thing. But 00:18:08.410 --> 00:18:11.049 then again, where I was going with that, a lot 00:18:11.049 --> 00:18:14.589 of folks just have this belief that a business 00:18:14.589 --> 00:18:17.589 or a company will have compassion on you and 00:18:17.589 --> 00:18:20.670 just give you what you're asking for. But that's 00:18:20.670 --> 00:18:24.730 not how the world works. No. And unfortunately, 00:18:25.170 --> 00:18:27.809 they will stand on their terms and agreements 00:18:27.809 --> 00:18:31.250 all day long. And they will just say, well, according 00:18:31.250 --> 00:18:33.690 to terms and agreement number and spit it out 00:18:33.690 --> 00:18:36.789 whatever number it is. And they won't really, 00:18:36.970 --> 00:18:39.470 they don't really get past that, because they 00:18:39.470 --> 00:18:42.630 hear so many, unfortunately, stories. And if 00:18:42.630 --> 00:18:44.369 they did that, if they've been the rules, again, 00:18:44.470 --> 00:18:45.630 you've always heard this, if you've been the 00:18:45.630 --> 00:18:47.049 rules for one, you have to have been them for 00:18:47.049 --> 00:18:49.869 all. And so they go by, this is what the rules 00:18:49.869 --> 00:18:52.089 are. And that's why I always say when you are 00:18:52.089 --> 00:18:54.569 looking at, say for example, the airline miles, 00:18:55.049 --> 00:18:57.650 every carrier is different. Some of them will 00:18:57.650 --> 00:18:59.710 allow a straight transfer to any family member. 00:19:00.170 --> 00:19:03.650 One of them is just allow to the spouse. One 00:19:03.650 --> 00:19:06.549 of them you have to pay to transfer. So I always 00:19:06.549 --> 00:19:09.630 say look at the ones, look at each one of them, 00:19:09.710 --> 00:19:12.190 their terms and agreement. Decide if you can 00:19:12.190 --> 00:19:14.190 fly the one, in my opinion, fly the one that 00:19:14.190 --> 00:19:16.369 allows you to transfer to anyone. That's the 00:19:16.369 --> 00:19:18.829 one I prefer to fly. Again, I'm not endorsing 00:19:18.829 --> 00:19:21.309 any one of them at all. And the same thing on 00:19:21.309 --> 00:19:23.670 the hotel points. Really look at the terms and 00:19:23.670 --> 00:19:26.259 agreements when you are making decisions. If 00:19:26.259 --> 00:19:28.039 that is something, if you're a points person, 00:19:28.220 --> 00:19:30.759 I'm a points person, except I like to earn my 00:19:30.759 --> 00:19:33.460 points at Chick -fil -A because I'm a, you know, 00:19:33.819 --> 00:19:35.579 my son and I eat at Chick -fil -A way too much. 00:19:35.720 --> 00:19:38.420 I think I've said that before to folks. So, but 00:19:38.420 --> 00:19:40.779 you know, but those kind of points are important 00:19:40.779 --> 00:19:42.859 too. You know, there's food points. We haven't 00:19:42.859 --> 00:19:45.200 gotten there yet, but you know, some people are 00:19:45.200 --> 00:19:47.900 food points and you don't want to walk away from 00:19:47.900 --> 00:19:50.380 that chicken sandwich either. So, and I think 00:19:50.380 --> 00:19:53.440 that's, that is the, that's the best thing to 00:19:53.440 --> 00:19:56.859 do. for the integrity and the character, right? 00:19:56.859 --> 00:20:00.500 So that you don't feel like you're engaging in 00:20:00.500 --> 00:20:04.339 any kind of illegal activity. If there were a 00:20:04.339 --> 00:20:07.440 company that said, hey, yeah, these are non -transferable 00:20:07.440 --> 00:20:10.980 upon death. I mean, there's discomfort in pulling 00:20:10.980 --> 00:20:13.140 the wool over someone's eyes. And again, that's 00:20:13.140 --> 00:20:15.180 not what we're encouraging whatsoever. But what 00:20:15.180 --> 00:20:18.579 we are encouraging is at the outset, when you 00:20:18.579 --> 00:20:22.099 are signing up for any kind of rewards program 00:20:22.099 --> 00:20:27.410 to look and actually read the terms of agreement. 00:20:28.109 --> 00:20:31.829 Yay! The points are transferable, whether it's 00:20:31.829 --> 00:20:35.450 with your airline, your hotel. Look at those 00:20:35.450 --> 00:20:38.630 things now. Look at them today. So perhaps you 00:20:38.630 --> 00:20:41.910 go ahead and exhaust the points of the one that 00:20:41.910 --> 00:20:45.880 is non -transferable. and then you create a new 00:20:45.880 --> 00:20:49.180 rewards program with a company where they are 00:20:49.180 --> 00:20:52.519 transferable. And who knows? If this podcast 00:20:52.519 --> 00:20:55.400 reaches the right kind of ears on the business 00:20:55.400 --> 00:20:59.420 side, whoa, there's influence there. Maybe we 00:20:59.420 --> 00:21:02.240 need to update our terms of agreement just to 00:21:02.240 --> 00:21:07.259 satisfy consumers. Well, that's funny that you 00:21:07.259 --> 00:21:09.700 say that because there is a current documentary 00:21:09.700 --> 00:21:14.170 on Netflix right now about a cruise that happened 00:21:14.170 --> 00:21:17.589 way back several years ago and what happened 00:21:17.589 --> 00:21:20.029 on this cruise and it was a horrible experience 00:21:20.029 --> 00:21:23.309 for everyone on the boat and unfortunately at 00:21:23.309 --> 00:21:26.769 the time Carnival Cruises did not guarantee that 00:21:26.769 --> 00:21:29.519 you would have you know you would have running 00:21:29.519 --> 00:21:31.500 water, you would have be able to use the bathroom. 00:21:31.680 --> 00:21:33.420 And because of the sewage issue on the boat, 00:21:33.880 --> 00:21:35.980 they did not, I mean, Carnival said stood by 00:21:35.980 --> 00:21:38.140 the terms and agreements. I'm sorry, nobody could 00:21:38.140 --> 00:21:40.119 sue. The terms and agreements said that you were 00:21:40.119 --> 00:21:42.359 not gonna get, you didn't get to have that. Now 00:21:42.359 --> 00:21:44.440 let me say, Carnival did go back and offer people, 00:21:44.579 --> 00:21:46.359 I think, they did make some offers as far as 00:21:46.359 --> 00:21:47.960 what they got. Not that anybody probably would 00:21:47.960 --> 00:21:49.960 want to get on a Carnival boat again after that, 00:21:50.119 --> 00:21:52.400 those three days. But the maritime lawyers that 00:21:52.400 --> 00:21:55.079 were all ready to just jump on that and sue them, 00:21:55.420 --> 00:21:58.099 They could not because of what everyone signed 00:21:58.099 --> 00:22:00.519 when you signed on the dotted line and no one 00:22:00.519 --> 00:22:02.720 looked at that clause, but who would have really 00:22:02.720 --> 00:22:04.480 thought too that when you got on a boat that 00:22:04.480 --> 00:22:06.559 there was going to be a fire on a boat and that 00:22:06.559 --> 00:22:08.240 you would be stuck at sea for that many days. 00:22:08.420 --> 00:22:10.880 But that is something now that has been updated. 00:22:11.319 --> 00:22:14.779 So the pressure from the industry and after what 00:22:14.779 --> 00:22:17.359 happened, the news pressure of those folks being 00:22:17.359 --> 00:22:19.599 stuck on that boat for those three days. But 00:22:19.599 --> 00:22:22.220 that's just one example of the pressures that 00:22:22.220 --> 00:22:24.759 you can create from the Terms and Agreements. 00:22:25.319 --> 00:22:28.180 from something like that. And not only do we 00:22:28.180 --> 00:22:32.359 want to pressure businesses so that they actually 00:22:32.359 --> 00:22:35.299 have terms and agreements that are satisfying 00:22:35.299 --> 00:22:38.980 to all involved, we also want to pressure family 00:22:38.980 --> 00:22:42.460 members to get off their duff already and do 00:22:42.460 --> 00:22:45.740 something about their estate planning. I've had 00:22:45.740 --> 00:22:48.980 several clients come in as we are talking about 00:22:48.980 --> 00:22:52.819 in financial planning in and of itself. And as 00:22:52.819 --> 00:22:55.619 we go through the different steps, okay, so we've 00:22:55.619 --> 00:22:58.160 gotten through these topics. Now let's talk about 00:22:58.160 --> 00:23:01.819 estate planning. Oh, I don't want to do that. 00:23:01.920 --> 00:23:04.460 I don't have the money for that. And as I'm looking 00:23:04.460 --> 00:23:07.819 at their spend plan and I see a surplus, yes 00:23:07.819 --> 00:23:11.740 you do. And here's the what's in it for you if 00:23:11.740 --> 00:23:14.740 you do this. And so that's all we're trying to 00:23:14.740 --> 00:23:18.059 get across today. And so we're ending getting 00:23:18.059 --> 00:23:20.519 close to our 20 minute segment. We don't want 00:23:20.519 --> 00:23:24.240 to lose folks. We have a lot more to say on this 00:23:24.240 --> 00:23:27.960 topic. So, Emily, I want to leave this episode 00:23:27.960 --> 00:23:31.539 with you. What would you say to those folks as 00:23:31.539 --> 00:23:34.279 we are putting that pressure on to the family 00:23:34.279 --> 00:23:37.480 members to really start thinking, not just thinking 00:23:37.480 --> 00:23:39.799 about it anymore, but actually taking action? 00:23:40.059 --> 00:23:42.339 You have to think about if something were to 00:23:42.339 --> 00:23:47.099 happen, what is the plan? I mean, we plan everything 00:23:47.099 --> 00:23:50.039 in our lives down to the minute sometimes, every 00:23:50.039 --> 00:23:52.920 day of our lives. So what is so different about 00:23:52.920 --> 00:23:55.859 why are you not planning for what's gonna happen 00:23:55.859 --> 00:23:58.680 when you're gone? Or what if something were to 00:23:58.680 --> 00:24:02.759 happen to you? Say you were to have a stroke, 00:24:02.940 --> 00:24:05.039 a heart attack. What's gonna happen to your spouse? 00:24:05.519 --> 00:24:08.019 What's gonna happen? You're in the hospital for 00:24:08.019 --> 00:24:10.140 days, months. What's gonna happen to your children? 00:24:10.619 --> 00:24:12.539 Those kind of things can happen too. That's why 00:24:12.539 --> 00:24:14.640 the estate planning documents are so critical. 00:24:14.839 --> 00:24:18.180 because of the powers of attorneys, the advanced 00:24:18.180 --> 00:24:20.640 medical directives. It's not just necessarily 00:24:20.640 --> 00:24:22.819 about your will, what happens after you die. 00:24:23.039 --> 00:24:25.180 It's about what happens if something happens 00:24:25.180 --> 00:24:27.359 to you while you're still here and you can't 00:24:27.359 --> 00:24:30.380 make decisions for yourself too. Perfect. And 00:24:30.380 --> 00:24:33.900 just to kind of help allay some of the fears 00:24:33.900 --> 00:24:37.599 that some folks may have, if we go back to the 00:24:37.599 --> 00:24:40.799 digital monetary assets, some of that is already 00:24:40.799 --> 00:24:43.480 taken care of and folks don't need to do anything 00:24:43.480 --> 00:24:47.940 else. If it's an online banking account, there 00:24:47.940 --> 00:24:51.779 usually is a payable upon death that the account 00:24:51.779 --> 00:24:57.019 holder had to sign. Long ago was that. So it's 00:24:57.019 --> 00:25:00.160 not just about docs in order or documents in 00:25:00.160 --> 00:25:02.539 order. It's also about having those conversations 00:25:02.539 --> 00:25:05.420 with your spouse or your loved ones. When was 00:25:05.420 --> 00:25:07.920 the last time you updated that payable on death? 00:25:08.119 --> 00:25:10.740 And like you said before, what is the name of 00:25:10.740 --> 00:25:13.859 the bank and all those things? So, so yes, there 00:25:13.859 --> 00:25:16.519 are digital assets that are already taken care 00:25:16.519 --> 00:25:19.359 of, whether it's through that payable on death 00:25:19.359 --> 00:25:23.400 or designation of beneficiary or transferable. 00:25:23.609 --> 00:25:26.309 on death like such as with investments but again 00:25:26.309 --> 00:25:32.609 having those hard conversations and then if those 00:25:32.609 --> 00:25:36.009 are not tied to something already making sure 00:25:36.009 --> 00:25:38.470 that you're just speaking to an attorney of what 00:25:38.470 --> 00:25:41.289 the next steps might be. Next episode coming 00:25:41.289 --> 00:25:44.690 up we're going to continue to dive into other 00:25:44.690 --> 00:25:48.650 digital assets that you may not have ever considered. 00:25:49.350 --> 00:25:53.009 digital asset. And if you found this podcast 00:25:53.009 --> 00:25:56.829 helpful please remember to rate us wherever you 00:25:56.829 --> 00:25:57.730 listen to the podcast.