What About Your Online Life? Things to Ponder Now

Plan to Protect Your Online Life
Just like many other people I have one of those toolbar add ons added to my internet browser. Nine times out of ten there is one similarity day after day- people love make money online stuff. Who can blame them, having a successful endeavor that can allow you freedom without leaving you destitute is a great thing to have or to aspire to have.

What I wonder when I see how popular these things are is whether or not people consider how connected to the internet so many of us are? We read the news, socialize, pay our bills, store our photos, research our schoolwork and try to further our career all right here in the same place together every day. Every day there is someone doing exactly what I am doing now, blogging and reaching out to people.


But What Does That Mean For Your Loved Ones Once Your Gone?

Many people may feel like death is far away from them and for many it may be, but it is the factor of the unknown for which we should plan. In planning we protect our work and our loved ones and without planning we leave them to navigate tricky if not heartbreaking waters.


You just never know. A month ago I was perfectly fine- young and healthy- and then recently I found I had a liver tumor. Granted at this point after a month of testing it looks to be benign- but I can tell you within this last month it occurred to me just how inadequate I had planned to protect my family in my absence. It was a huge stress to me while I was awaiting all the testing and results. It just isn't utilizing My Digital Afterlife for personal connection which is one small piece of the puzzle- it is life insurance and connecting the dots for people who have no idea about the myriad details in my life. Including my online life.

The most important people in my life are the ones I want to decide what to do with my accounts. Do I want my accounts memorialized, do I want someone to close out my blogs etc? These are areas I have to discuss with my partner and setup to be taken care of in My Digital Afterlife account and as soon as humanly possible I am setting up life insurance and seeing a lawyer. It may seem like bad ju ju or whatever but honestly after going through what I went through I would rather be safe than sorry.

If your still wondering what could possibly go wrong with seemingly unimportant aspects of your life, I urge you to read some of these articles that chronicle the varying experiences of online lives after death both positive and heart wrenching.

• Facebook After Death
  

• Haunted By Real Life on the Internet                                                                                                                                                                                           
• Yahoo will give family slain Marine's e-mail account

You can take one simple step today that can solve problems later.It really is never too early.

Sign up now and take a small step towards protecting your loved ones. 

Military Families-Thinking About A Digital Inheritance

Military Families- Securing Digital Details 

When we were testing out the idea of our site, one group of people we felt like it was really important to speak to were people who were at some point-either currently or in the past- serving as a deployed soldier. Everyone has a friend or relative who puts their lives on the line serving our country so the difficulty of having a loved far away from home is something near and dear for so many of us. At our company we have both friends and relatives who serve in different branches of our country's defense so this is an issue we are familiar with as well. We researched it even further by making it a point to speak to other military people who we didn't know as well.

My Digital Afterlife is designed to be versatile enough to use long term like a personal journal or short term to store details that someone close to you made need. Each account is designed to be utilized in whichever way the member chooses- so if you wish to leave a couple of details for a loved one about online accounts you can or if you wish to add more you can do that too.

Options Geared Toward Active Military

Easy Membership Plans for Long Term or Short Term Use

The reason why I even discuss this is that My Digital Afterlife chose it's pricing structure specifically to give flexibility to you if you are deployed or looking to use the account short term. You may choose to use the service temporarily while you are away at little or no cost and you can ensure that precious details about your online and personal lives can be found by family or friends.

Different Pricing for Different Needs

The membership plans are monthly and quarterly and if you cancel your acccount with the first 90 days it is free. After the 90 days you can cancel at anytime and we can delete your account for you. Your account is always private and no one in administration can see any of your private personal items within your account- those are for you and your recipients only. In the future we hope to add even more membership plans and offer even more flexibility to new and present members.

All membership fees go to maintaining the site and keeping security updated in order to protect our members and we continue to look at ways to evolve the site to be more user friendly and offer more helpful services.

Military Discount

Right now we are offering a special discount just for military families which reduces the cost of any plan by $3.00 - MILI03- good until 3/31/11 and it locks in the lower pricing on your membership indefinitely.

If you can think of any functions you might like to see added to the site in the future, please email me- Meghan Ryan,  Manager of Operations- meghanr@mydigitalafterlife.com.

New Year Resolution- Write Down Your Story

As with all New Years this one brings with it a renewed sense of passion to do all the things I have been meaning to do. I try throughout the year to relish in my completed goals and renew my zeal for those yet to be finished but there is something about the change of year that really brings home the value of having goals and reaching them.

I wouldn't usually make a suggestion as far as others resolution  but this year I decided to share one of mine and ask you to consider it too. This year I am going to write a story for my children about myself. I am hoping you might join me in this goal, and if you come across a story that really means something to you please email me for the blog if you are willing to share- meghanr@mydigitalafterlife.com.

We all have a story and all of our stories are valuable even if it may not seem so sometimes. I truly believe in this. As generations before us have come together by sharing their life stories so can we continue to come together in this life by sharing with each other the moving and invaluable experiences we have experienced. In the coming weeks as I consider my own life and my family I will decide on a story to share with you as well, after all it is only fair.

Best of luck on all of your endeavors and a Happy New Year!

Writing a Dying Letter

I read an article today about Elizabeth Edwards passing away. I was struck by a comment made by someone close to the family. They were talking about her preparing her family for her death by writing a "dying letter", a way to pass on her wisdom and stories.

This hit really close to home because I believe in the value of this act so much. I believe it will truly mean something to her family. My Digital Afterlife gives the ability to not only write a letter like Mrs. Edwards but also more- important information, videos, and pics.

When we began this mission it was with soldiers and single parents in mind but as time has gone on our vision and our hope is that anyone can be able to coordinate something such as this, that many will find comfort from it, and that we can continue to endeavor to do whatever it takes to facilitate something that is valuable to families and friends.

As always we wish only the best for her family and all families that endure the heartbreak of losing someone they love.