Category: News

Estate planning has expanded beyond tangible assets to include our digital life. These digital assets, which include everything from our social media accounts to our online banking information, play a significant role in our daily lives. Yet, their fate after our demise remains a largely unexplored territory. Brad Dozier discusses the importance of including your digital life in your estate plan and provides valuable insights into how you can protect your online legacy for yourself and your loved ones in the ever-evolving world of technology. 

Understanding Digital Assets

Digital assets are defined as any online property or account that has value. They can be divided into two categories: sentimental and monetary. Sentimental digital assets include photos, videos, emails, and social media posts that hold emotional value to us and our loved ones. On the other hand, monetary digital assets consist of online accounts with monetary value, such as bank accounts, investments, and cryptocurrency. Identifying and listing your digital assets is essential to ensure they are properly accounted for in your estate plan.

Including Digital Assets In Your Estate Plan

One of the main reasons why including digital assets in your estate plan is crucial is to avoid potential legal issues and conflicts for your loved ones. Without proper planning, your digital assets could be lost, inaccessible, or fall into the wrong hands after you pass away. This can cause significant distress for your loved ones, who may want to access or manage these assets. Moreover, without clear instructions, they may struggle with making decisions regarding your online presence and accounts.

Legal Complications Surrounding Digital Assets

 The lack of clear laws and regulations surrounding digital assets adds to the complexity of estate planning in the digital age. Different states have varying laws on how these assets are handled after death, making it necessary to consult with an experienced attorney who can guide you through the process. 

Additionally, many online service providers have their own terms of service agreements that users must agree to when creating an account. These agreements may restrict access to the account or data after death, further complicating matters. Because of this, it is important to review and understand these agreements and make arrangements for your digital assets accordingly.

Protecting Your Digital Assets

To ensure your digital assets’ safety and proper management, it’s critical to take proactive measures. One way to do so is by creating a comprehensive list of your digital assets and the necessary login information. This should be kept securely and shared with a trusted person, such as your estate planning attorney or executor. Additionally, you can specify in your will how you want your digital assets to be handled after your death. Another option is to use an online service specializing in digital estate planning, which can help you securely store and manage your digital assets.

Continuing To Review And Update 

As technology evolves rapidly, reviewing and updating your digital estate plan regularly is important. This includes keeping track of any new accounts or changes in login information. It’s also crucial to discuss your digital assets with your loved ones and make sure they are aware of your wishes. By actively managing and updating your digital estate plan, you can ensure that your online legacy remains intact for future generations.

Final Thoughts

As technology continues to advance, so does the importance of including your digital assets in your estate plan. By taking the necessary steps to protect these assets, you can ensure that your online legacy is preserved and managed according to your wishes. Consult with a skilled attorney who can help guide you through the process and provide personalized advice for your specific situation.

Every organization and every business require financial services to operate effectively. Some people will also require financial services for their personal lives, and this means that ordinary people, whether doing business or not, will need financial management products in their day-to-day lives. If you are an upcoming graduate in financial studies, there is a light at the end of the tunnel because your skills are in high demand. However, like any other career field, competition for a job as a finance graduate is one of the things you will have to overcome.

Since there are several financial career options that you can choose based on your studies, identify the field you want to concentrate on. You could be an accountant or finance manager, an auditor, a financial analyst, a banker, investment manager, credit analyst or risk manager among many others. You can concentrate on two or more and still shine on your way to success. Once you choose your career path, apply the best strategies to get a finance job and be prepared to succeed when you land that job. Here are some tips on how to succeed in your finance career. 

How to Land a Finance Job Fresh out of School

Landing a job as a finance graduate can be overwhelming due to the competition, but this does not mean that it is impossible. Use these tips to increases your chances of getting your dream job and if you are lucky enough you may find employment even before you graduate.

• Get updates on financial news: Look for business journals and periodicals that you can be reading every day to know what is happening in the world of finance. According to Wasif Vimawala, the information you gather here will expand and sharpen your knowledge that you need to stand-out when called for a job interview.

• Garner other relative credentials: While your degree in finance studies is a great qualification to help you get a finance job, other credentials such as CFA or SIE will increase your chances of being considered. The good thing is that you can complete the first few levels of the courses and still stand out. Sometimes even indicating that you’re currently looking into a program may be a benefit. 

• Look for internships: You can look for intern opportunities while still in college or after graduation, and once you complete the program, you will have gained some of the required experience and be exposed to greater opportunities for a fulltime job. 

• Make your job hunt a full-time job: You may have all the necessary qualifications, but no job will find you where you are, and therefore you must go looking for it. Use every possible tool not only to sell your skills but also to identify job vacancies when and where they get posted. Take advantage of referrals from people you know as well as the internet to expose your expertise. Once you find these openings, apply to as many as you can until you get your dream job.

How to Succeed at Your First Financial Services Job

Once you get your first job, avoid getting comfortable and aim to climb the ladder. Here are some tips that can help you in building your finance career.

• Take advantage and learn: When you are still early on in your new job, ask questions from the experienced colleagues and learn from them. Wasif Vimawala says that anytime you get a chance to do a new task, embrace it and do a good job while at it. You will impress your boss with your willingness to take chances, and by getting involved in different projects, you will grow in your career. 

• Work on jobs that you can deliver: Never blindly sign up for all tasks simply because they are available or promise to complete a job that you know very well you cannot deliver within the stipulated time. Such letdowns will drag the whole team behind and will not create a good reputation for you in the office. 

• Be creative and innovative: You need to go out of your way to present new ideas whenever you can. It can be a new fund management software you have been looking into or a new finance product among other things. Never feel shy or fear to present your new ideas to the management. This is how people get to know that you are an innovative thinker and it helps you grow in your career. 

• Be a people-person: You will need other people to grow your career and therefore should never segregate yourself. Have a social life after work because you may never know when you will meet someone who will be the source of a breakthrough in your finance career. Again, do not needlessly limit the people you mingle with since people in the entry levels have valuable advice as well. 

Most people think of bad credit as solely affecting their ability to borrow money. While that is the most direct impact of bad credit, it can also hurt your life in a lot of other ways. Others look at your credit as a sign of how reliable you are as a person and will judge you negatively whether or not your situation is your fault. According to Dutchess Partners, these are some ways that Dutchess Partners knows a shaky credit history can impact your life beyond simply obtaining a loan.

While potential employers cannot obtain your FICO score or your full credit report, they can see enough of your credit situation to form a judgement about you. Employers can check your credit with your permission. Applicants are best advised to give this permission if they want the job. Companies will be able to see your debt and payment history. If they see that you have a disproportionate amount of debt, they will draw negative conclusions about your decision-making and reliability. Further, they may not want to hire someone who they believe to be in financial distress since that may propel the job candidate to take risks to improve their own situation. This concern will be even more pronounced with a job that requires an applicant to be around money or to have access to the company’s bank accounts. 

A poor credit history can also doom your chances of obtaining a security clearance if you want to work for or with the government. Security investigators must make an assessment as to how vulnerable each candidate is to blackmail by foreign powers. Usually, it has been workers in financial distress who have compromised the country. When an individual is deeply in debt or has trouble paying their bills, the government will mark this as derogatory information on a background investigation. 

Bad credit may also mean that you will have difficulty finding a place to live. Prospective landlords can pull your credit report and they will see your credit score. Renters that are in financial distress have a higher chance of failing to pay their rent. If the landlord will rent to you at all, they will ask for an extra security deposit that you likely will not have, precluding you from renting. The same process applies to cable and utility companies who will also check your credit before allowing you to begin service with them. They may also want you to put down an extra security deposit at the outset of your service. 

There are many other services that those with bad credit either cannot get or will have to pay extra to receive. Insurance companies will check your credit before allowing you to get a policy. Bad credit may result in higher premiums. Cell phone companies may also run a credit check. 

With that in mind, you have many incentives to take steps to repair your credit if it is less than optimal. There are companies that help consumers fix their credit with advice and consolidation loans that help borrowers get their debt under control. Dutchess Partners is an industry leader in providing these loans to customers and can help you take the first steps towards improving your credit. Dutchess Partners can help you reduce both the numbers of creditors that you owe and the interest rate that you have to pay. Dutchess understands the issues that you face and will help you on the way to building a better financial house.