Happy Birthday to my old man who hit 70 this year, this article is dedicated to you. I write this with a lot of love and a healthy amount of concern for allowing you to age gracefully with peace of mind. To the man that taught me how to administrate my own life, I offer one of my many debts of service in the words below and actions to follow. While I am so happy that this “wasn’t the year”, two things are inevitable, and I’ve already done my taxes.
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Digital Darwinism is the application of Darwin’s Theory of Evolution to the digital economy; we live in an era where technology is evolving faster than businesses can naturally adapt. The success or failure to adopt technology directly affects effectiveness and survival rates. Not only do I see this term as being relevant in business, but very much so in the private realm as well. In the same way that an organization must adopt a forward-thinking strategy, so too must families as it pertains to their legacy. Information inheritance is going to be a critical part of estate management in the coming years and decades. It will be the key to unlocking the future and settling an estate.
Thankfully, ReadyWhen anticipated this challenge and offers a digital and secure legacy management solution where subscribers are guided through the process of uploading documents and information required to build a complete estate plan. If key information is entered into ReadyWhen, loved ones can settle the estate in months versus years.
This is where my story begins.
As my parents get on in years, I want to give them the gift of peace of mind. I want to help empower my parents to use digital solutions, to ease the administrative clutter from their minds, like ReadyWhen to store their important information securely and in an accessible way. My hope is that we can celebrate all they experienced, accomplished and built before their celebration of life.
Every time I attend a funeral, those closest to the deceased are left dealing with a whirlwind of end-of-life logistics that they have not planned for (funeral details, engaging with legal professionals and making important decisions at such a tender, emotional moment of life). My aim is to be fully present with those emotions and that process, as opposed to trying to stay afloat in the details. Having all of the relevant professionals chosen, documents and funeral homes arranged, even down to having flowers and Mum’s funky 1960s Summer of Love playlist decided prior to the service would be amazing.
I don’t need a lawyer to play a VHS tape of my mother and father disclosing how their assets are being distributed. With ReadyWhen, I see a simple, secure, and fast process where my parents can take as many videos as they want, serious or whimsical, and upload them to the ReadyMode feature. Now they can store the right information quickly and then focus on storytelling. That’s a key benefit of ReadyWhen; children, grandkids, and loved ones can enjoy personalized recordings that will become forever memories. Can you imagine how meaningful that never-before-seen footage would be in the absence of a loved one?
I am not looking forward to the day when I have to act on the passing of my parents. But I know it’s coming. With ReadyWhen I can be sure that I don’t have to worry and have forever memories from my parents that I can pass on for generations. I want my kids, kids to know their Great Grandpa. He worked so hard for them, it’s important that he lives on…even if it’s in digital form.