People didn't used to have to remember passwords.
My grandfather passed in 2004, and he kept paper records his entire life. He may have had a few passwords and the like he had to remember, but not many.
Now, with much of our activity online, almost everything we need to access has a password.
And as cybercriminals get better at cracking these passwords, they need to be longer, more complicated, more arcane, and changed more often. It's beyond our ability to remember all of the passwords we need without making them incredibly vulnerable.
So, we outsource this to password managers, our browsers, our email programs, etc., and we depend on access to these things to the keys to the proverbial kingdom.
Help! I can't get into this account
But if we're not around with those keys, will our loved ones be able to get in?
A few years ago, a friend from church asked me about getting into this one particular computer program after her husband had passed. Apparently he knew all of the passwords, and she didn't.
That's a scary position to be in. I doubt that her husband of 50 years meant to put her in this position, but it happened.
People can become incapacitated at a moment's notice. That's why it's important to put a few things in place now so that something like this doesn't happen to your loved ones (or you).
A simple account access plan
Aside from a full digital assets plan — which some wills can include — there are simpler activities that will get you most of the way there.
There are likely some steps that you can take in about five minutes that will provide adequate to most of your account information.
Password(s) for your password vault(s)
You probably have a password vault (or several). A password vault is a protected digital area that contains a collection of passwords.
Some examples of a password vault:
- A web-based service like LastPass that lets you access your passwords through a web browser;
- Your web browser itself can offer to remember your passwords for you as an integrated service;
- A standalone application like KeePass that resides on your computer;
- A printout of all the accounts and passwords, possibly from one of the above services
- Your email client that saves your passwords to your email accounts
Being able to get into these treasure troves of access will be very important to your loved ones if you're incapacitated or gone. Make sure the instructions and credentials to get to them are available.
Passwords for your devices
If the keys to your digital house are your password vaults, then access to the devices that have the vaults is also important. (Not just for the password vaults themselves, but also all of the other information on the devices.)
These could be unlock codes for your smartphone, or PINs or passwords for your desktop or laptop.
Make sure these passwords are available and up-to-date. Be sure also to include the devices that you use for two-factor authentication (often a cell phone).
Passwords for your other accounts
Most of these passwords might be already stored in your password vault.
If not, then make sure those passwords are handy. Access to these might be through Evernote or some other backup service.
Passwords and access for your other things
Then there are all of the other places that are under lock and key, like safes, lock boxes, secret rooms, etc.
The five-minute 90% solution
Granted, all of this may take a bit of time to get together. But pulling together 90% of it shouldn't take more than five minutes if you have a password vault set up.
Here's the really quick version that should get you there:
- Directions for getting onto the password vault. This could be a website, username, and password. Or it could be access to a Google account tied to a particular email address. Or a computer login with an application login.
- Directions for getting to the bulk of the digital stuff. This mainly is access to computers, but also could be access to password-protected digital notebooks.
This is a 90% solution, because it gives access to stuff, but it can be a bit disorganized. A more organized plan would be to pull out the important accounts (like financial accounts and other planning accounts) as well as maybe the ones that are disposable or unimportant.
In any case, this is one of those easy things that will give you extra peace of mind in these interesting times.
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