How to include online services, important documents and digital family mementos in your estate plan

Your digital life may seem difficult to organize. Locked behind disparate accounts, spread across devices and out of mind because they are out of sight, it may seem challenging to wrangle all your digital belongings. And unlike tangible items like heirloom jewelry or vacation homes, or intangible but well-established considerations like financial securities and accounts, aspects of your digital life aren’t always top-of-mind when building and maintaining an estate plan.

But neglecting these things may create difficulty for your family members later on, and could lead to the loss of items with incredible value – both sentimental and monetary.

As the number and types of digital property are continually growing and are locked within a hodgepodge of accounts and subscriptions, getting a handle on your digital estate can be tricky. A diligent, steady approach to keeping inventory of your digital life can help bring order to this process.

What is part of your digital life?

Their scope and nature continues to evolve, but common examples include financial accounts, service accounts, legal and financial documents, cloud storage, health records and media collections (movies, e-books and the like). Email and social media accounts would also fall under this umbrella.

Priceless family photos or videos that would have previously lived in physical albums or tapes may now live on your phone or other devices. These, also, are considered digital property. In addition to memories you’ve captured are things you’ve created: intellectual property like designs, literary materials, blogs, websites and program code for which you own the copyright.

It’s helpful to take a gradual approach to thinking through your digital life, rather than trying to compile one big list from the get-go. If you start now, a little at a time, you can account for it in your planning in a comprehensive, thoughtful way.

Consolidated storage

For digital property not tied to specific service accounts, including photos, videos and PDFs of health records and legal paperwork, you may consider setting up a cloud-based backup system to consolidate devices, accounts and services. A financial advisor, estate planning attorney or trusted family member can help you access these tools so you can organize them while maintaining gated access and rigorous cybersecurity.

For online accounts, it’s a good idea to change passwords regularly for security reasons. A secure password manager can make it easier to manage strong, complex passwords while providing a simpler way for loved ones to access the accounts if needed.

Organizing now for less stress later

There can be other benefits to organizing your digital life. Inventorying your digital belongings and accounts can also help you eliminate subscription charges from services you no longer use. It can also help to simplify access to important accounts in the case of an emergency. That way if, for example, you became incapacitated your loved ones could access things medical clinic portals or utility bills on your behalf.

Creating an estate plan is an act of love. By making your intentions clear with a holistic, comprehensive plan, you help reduce additional stress and friction for your loved ones. While the idea of a digital life may feel new or complex, accounting for these items in an estate plan follows the same foundational principles as with any other asset.

And with all planning practices, it’s better to have a plan too early than to need one suddenly. Your professional team can assist in accounting for your digital life in your long-term plan.

Complement your retirement plan with a health savings account for the things Medicare doesn’t cover

Retirement is an exciting time and a new phase of life worth celebrating with family and friends; however, planning for retirement can sometimes bring uncertainty. Things like changes in your personal life, market fluctuations and uncertainty around Social Security can raise questions in even the most detailed plan.

Although Medicare covers a variety of medical expenses, it isn’t the all-encompassing healthcare coverage many people assume. Fortunately, you can leverage the benefits of a health savings account (HSA) to accumulate additional savings for medical and health care-related expenses.

An HSA can help cover health care costs that Medicare doesn’t, along with dental, hearing and vision expenses. With comparable – and, in some cases, better – perks than a 401(k) or IRA, your HSA can help you save and prepare.

Who is eligible for an HSA and what are some other requirements?

• Anyone with a high-deductible health policy can qualify for an HSA. It is not limited to employees.
• There are no income limits affecting eligibility.
• You do not need earned income to contribute to an HSA.
• The HSA belongs to you, not to your employer. If you have a qualified high-deductible health policy through your employer but your employer does not offer an HSA, you can still open an HSA.
• An HSA can be set up through any qualified trustee or custodian.
• You may sign up for and contribute to an HSA as long as you have not yet enrolled in Medicare Part A or B. Once you enroll in Medicare, however, you may no longer make contributions to your HSA.

An HSA is a tax-advantaged medical savings account that allows you to set money aside and withdraw funds to pay for qualified medical expenses. HSA accounts are unique in that they are triple tax advantaged. Contributions to an HSA are tax deductible, earnings are tax free, and distributions from HSA accounts are tax and penalty free if the funds are used to pay for or reimburse yourself for qualified medical expenses.

HSAs can be especially useful because they are not “use it or lose it” accounts. Unlike flexible spending accounts, unused HSA dollars roll over every year.

The annual amount you can contribute to an HSA depends on whether you have single or family health coverage, if you have continual coverage throughout the year, and if you are eligible to make a catch-up contribution (for age 55 and older). For 2026, HSA contribution limits are $4,400 for an individual or $8,750 for a family. Individuals 55 and older can contribute an additional $1,000 catch-up contribution for a total of $5,400 per year.

Distributions that are used for other purposes beyond qualified medical expenses are subject to tax and a 20% penalty if you are under age 65. If you are 65 or older, you can use your HSA much like a 401(k) and withdraw funds for any purpose but will have to pay income taxes on withdrawals made for nonmedical purposes.

Thinking ahead

If you or your spouse have creditable health insurance from a group employer, then you could consider delaying Medicare enrollment and continuing to contribute to your HSA, even once you turn 65. Something to consider is that if you decide to delay enrolling in Medicare beyond age 65, when you do eventually enroll, Medicare will automatically give you six months of retroactive benefits when you do enroll. This means if you decide to delay enrollment, you’ll need to stop contributing to an HSA six months before you do decide to enroll in Medicare. If you do delay enrollment, this may also impact how much you can contribute in that final year, depending on when in the year you enroll.

Your decision to delay may depend on the benefits coverage between Medicare and your employer, plan costs or your current tax picture and the tax advantages you gain by contributing to an HSA. No two individuals face the same situation when it comes to their health care benefits. Depending on your personal circumstances, goals and budget, an HSA may help you to maximize your benefits.

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Four red flags to watch for.

Medicare fraud has huge costs for older adults. In 2024, scammers were charged with major fraud totaling billions. Scammers contact Medicare recipients to steal Medicare or Social Security numbers and file false claims. Protect yourself by watching for:

• “Too good to be true” promises:  Free medical supplies or medications, tests not ordered by your doctor, or “pre-approvals” for new plans with better benefits may be scams.
• Unexpected asks for personal information:  Medicare won’t call you unless you request it. Don’t share your Medicare number with anyone calling unexpectedly.
• Suspicious links:  Scammers send fake emails or texts with links to steal your data. Don’t click unexpected messages.
• Threats to terminate benefits:  Your coverage can’t be taken away for not joining specific plans, for example.

Source: National Council on Aging