The App I Never Knew I Needed Until…
Have you ever been in New York on a perfect summer day? Sun shining, 80 degrees, light breeze and driving with the windows down? Summer in New York is my favorite time of the year (a close second is Christmas time), but on one particular ‘perfect’ summer day I had a life changing moment. While taking a break from work to grab some food, I was walking into the store and my heart began to pound rapidly for no apparent reason. My hands began to sweat and my vision was starting to blur. Thinking I was having a heart attack, I rushed to the closest hospital nearly passing out on the way there. Thankfully, everything checked out as normal and the heart issues were related to stress and anxiety. This was the first of several panic attacks that I would experience in the coming weeks.
A few weeks later, after a follow up with my GP, I was in the shower (#truestory) and suddenly realized that if something serious were to happen to me (e.g. death or become incapacitated), my Wife would be left alone to manage the finances and all other data associated with my life. Let’s call this my “Life Data”.
Definition: Life Data
/līf/ /ˈdadə,ˈdādə/
Life Data are any and all data associated with, well… YOUR LIFE. This could be as simple as an email account or as complex as a stock management tool you use for day trading. In the old days, our parents kept this information in a filing cabinet somewhere in the house. It contained a folder with as much information as possible, hand-written on a piece of paper detailing out all of their assets and critical information. Fast forward to today and think about how technology has drastically increased our total number of assets. Now, imagine if you left the earth tomorrow. How would your loved one take over the management of all of your digital assets? What would (s)he need to do to get access to every account if you were no longer here? Now, consider that the average person manages more than thirty digital accounts. To name a few: checking account, savings account, money market, stock management, life insurance, 401K, real estate, credit cards, email, social media, health benefits, iPhone/Android pin, and many others. How does your loved one easily get access to these accounts after you’re gone? Sounds daunting.
Back to my story.
While in the shower, I wondered how my Wife would get access to everything she needed, including the assets she didn’t even know about (e.g. my life insurance policy through my job), and go on with her life “stress-free” without me. How difficult would it be for her to locate all of this information (e.g. login info, account numbers, phone numbers, balances, etc.) related to my “Life Data”, while mourning the loss of her husband? How stressful that would be.
It was then that I realized that my Wife not having access to this critical information was a serious problem. Shortly after this epiphany, Vidadata was born.
Vidadata gives your loved ones safe and secure access to your Life Data. As the owner of your Life Data, you tell the app who has access and when (now or after a tragic event). Vidadata also gives you peace of mind knowing that if something were to happen to you, your spouse and loved ones would be okay despite the circumstances. It allows them to mourn properly and not worry or stress over what to do next. All of your info is at their fingertips so that, when they are ready, they can take action and control over your Life Data.
Vidadata is free to use and can be downloaded today for your Apple or Android phone. Download it now and give it a try. It was created to solve a real problem. A problem you may not have thought you had until…
Did you know? In the US alone, there is more than $50B in unclaimed property? More on that in my next post.
