I feel really sorry for asking this question, and I don't really like to think about it. But, my wife is often asking me this (and many other questions) and I believe it is one that we should all think about.
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In the "natural" banking system, the money in my bank account would be divided between wife and kids, unless I have ask for something else to happen in a will. But, with the crypto money you have, there is no real system. If you keep your money in an exchange, it might be that family members can claim those back after your death, but it isn't an easy road to walk. And one important thing for this to work is that they actually need to know about your values and where they can be found.
Private keys, 2FA, Trezor, Ledger, and who knows what...
Unless you have family members with clear knowledge on the topic, few people will understand anything if you say private keys, 2FA, Trezor, Ledger, and in fact, they have really no understood about Bitcoin, Ethereum, Steem, Hive, Litecoin, and all the other currencies.
And that is when the problem comes up. The people around you might know that you are dealing with cryptocurrencies. But, they haven't got a clue how and where to look if something should happen to you. As a result, your values will most likely die together with you and end up on the eternal list of cryptos that cannot be reached or used by anyone. I remember a Big Bang Theory episode that dealt with Bitcoin, and they were so happy that they mined some Bitcoin in the start. But, they then saved the wallet keys on a pendrive (Sheldon did). But, when Leonard lost the pendrive, Stuart discovered it, formatted it, and sold it in his comic books store. The end... no way to get those Bitcoins back.
And that is why I will ask you once again... what will happen to your digital money, to your cryptos, if something should happen to you? If you fight a disease, you will have time to fix things, set things in order, and explain... but if something suddenly should happen, what will happen then?
Recently, I have had two people that I knew (not personally), but still I had knowledge of them and have met both of them, who died in tragic sudden accidents. One died in an accident in a river, while the other had a heart failure, went into coma, and he never woke up. As a result, neither of the persons had any chance to instruct their loved ones about their crypto belongings.
This has served as a little wake up call to me, and I know want to share this with you as well. It is important, at least if you want your investments and earnings to stay alive even when you are dead.
Have you thoughts about this before?
I have had this on my mind for a while, but I really need to take some steps for this to be something that we are all prepared for.
What about you? Do you have someone who could access your belonging, and even know where you have crypto stored if something should happen to you? What is your plan? Or is your plan to stay alive for a long time, so you don't really care about this?
I would love to hear from you!
This is an original article written by me for Project Hope! First published on Steemit
Well this is something I worry about... and you should because you never know when your time is up. While I realize my plan is very low level it is better than the nothing that a lot of people have in place should they meet their untimely end.
I made a flash drive with a text file detailing all of my keys and 2fa overrides and put them on an encrypted and password locked flash drive and gave it to a family member, I made a redundant copy and gave it to another family member. I did not give them the password (shitty of me, i know) the password is in my will with instructions to give it to these family members should I get hit by a truck or something.
While neither of these people have the technical know-how to retrieve this stuff on their own, I would imagine they could find someone that does.
Wow, this was a fantastic comment, and I have already shared the link directly to it with somebody, because it actually is a very good guide on how this can be fixed. I also believe like you, that if they have the passwords needed, they will get the know-how and fix it if something should take place!
Thanks again, brilliant comment, and you gave me some great ideas here :)
My wife and I were having this discussion the other day. I have bank accounts all over the place. They serve different purposes. My intent is not to hide money, just to separate it for different goals. In addition, brokerage accounts, and crypto. She pointed out that she doesn’t know where I keep money or how she would get it if needed. She finds it difficult to keep track of her own finances, let alone my crazy network of accounts. I need to make a chart of accounts for her so at least she knows where to look.
Hehe... this sounds familiar. The thing is, if they don't know where to look, they will not find it. That is true about the bank account, and about crypto. And this might feel like a mess to someone who doesn't like dealing with money and accounts and so. But, it is knowledge we need to pass on if we want to money to live on! :)
I have thought about this a lot my self. It is difficult to hand keys over without compromising security. I use an application called LastPass which has a premium service will send out an email to a family member showing them how to access some of my portfolios. As long as you check-in it assumes you are alive so if you don't check-in, it will send out the email. It stores an encrypted file with some private keys with some instructions. However, I didn't risk using it with all my cold storage due to security concerns. There is probably no perfect option.
Wow, I didn't know about this premium function in Last Pass :) I am going to check it out and read more about it! Sounds interesting.
There are other after death emailer services too that will send out an email if you don't check in.
Lol this must be cruel but a wise point to think of it though :p
Very good topic friend, it is true, we must instruct our relatives and explain to them where the keys are and what to do, I know it is not easy but it is something that is necessary
I just recommend that you read through the comment of @gooddream to this article. It is one of the best solutions to the problem I have seen so far, at least if you don't want to share the keys right now, but you have a solution in case something should happen to you!
What a question @unbiasedwriter
But very sharp, we will all die at some point even if many do not like to talk about it, it is something necessary.
The truth is I never thought about this. Particularly my wife is already getting into this blockchain and cryptomoney, I am teaching her to make transactions, we will open her accounts soon in Binance and poloniex at least, maybe some other. I'm not thinking about dying soon, I'm 36 years old, I hope to live some more time, but anything can happen and it's good that what one may have invested time in is not lost... By the way, The Bang Bang Theory is great, he, he,
Wow, what a great thing to have your wife getting into the topic, getting exchagne accounts and more. That is giving her such an advantage if something should happen. I don't plan on dying anytime soon either, but better stay on the safe side no matter what. And yes, The Big Bang Theory is great :)