This is Part 3 of the article that I started writing few days back. Click the links to read Part 1 and Part 2. In this part I will highlight different types of personal information to save and secure forever. I don't mean months or years, I mean decades. Planning to backup all personal information should be given a serious thought so that it is available to you and your key family members when needed. Let's go over specific information in our life that demands a secure backup.
1) Saving a soft copy of personal documents like passports, visas, insurance, health related docs etc.
It is always a good idea to have a soft copy of your Passports, Visas, & Insurance docs. When you lose the originals these copies will help you in filling out the information when applying for new originals. You will not know what information would be needed by your loved ones when you are not around. Saving and sharing copies of these originals will help your family members when they are in need (for example when claiming insurance benefits). Without these copies you and/or your family members will have to spend lot of money and time when needed.
2) Saving work related data and education related certificates.
Allocate time to backup all your work related data like 401K documents, stock options, ESPP, RSUs or any other work area benefits. Did you ever go through the pain of ordering original degree certificates? If yes, you know what I am talking about. Sit down and make a copy of all your degree certificates and mark sheets. May be ask your spouse to help and I am sure you will have some good laughs going through your marks and grades.
3) Saving vehicle titles, home titles & any property related docs.
If you have a living trust you should have already covered your properties and vehicles in it. Please read Part 2 of this article if you haven't started preparing a Will/Trust. It is always a good idea to save a copy of your vehicle titles and home titles. BTW, never keep vehicle titles in your vehicle so that you don't lose them when your vehicle is lost or stolen.
4) Saving photos, videos etc. Basically plan to backup your PC, laptop, tablet, smart phone etc.
We spend enough money to capture best moments and important occasions in our life. We cherish those moments by watching the photos and videos in which they are captured. Generally these photos & videos are saved on your personal PCs or smart phones. Imagine losing access to your PC or smart phone for various reasons like virus attack, hardware malfunction etc - a sickening feeling. Saving a backup of these photos & videos will save you from such nightmarish disappointments. Losing every photo from first year of my kid's life or some irreplaceable pictures is a huge deal to me. So to be extra cautious I actually do 2 backups - one to the cloud and one to external hard drive.
5) Saving financial information in a secured way
Last but not least it is always important to save these backups in a secure way. Someone getting access to your backup copies is another nightmarish disappointment. Do your research and find a trustworthy cloud storage service to save your backups in a secure way. I personally prefer Google drive because first 15GB is free per account and then it is only $1.99 per month per 100GB and the next level is $9.99 per month per 1TB. If you are like me 100GB offering should be good enough to start with. When I reach the 100GB limit, instead of signing up for the next level 1TB offering, I plan to create another account with 100GB storage offering.
Bottom line: Scan all your originals. If you don't have a direct access to scanner try out the CamScanner app in android market or iTunes. Save all your important originals in a bank safe deposit box or a private safety locker. At minimum keep one backup copy of originals in a hard drive and another backup copy in a cloud storage. Most important: share access details with your spouse and don't forget to update your backups frequently. Not taking these actions now might cost you money and/or time down the road.
This is the last part of the article I planned. In future if I find something new I will write Part 4. Please feel free to send me an email or use the comments section below for any inconsistencies or additional information you might want to share.
If you find this interesting, please consider social sharing. Thanks!
1) Saving a soft copy of personal documents like passports, visas, insurance, health related docs etc.
It is always a good idea to have a soft copy of your Passports, Visas, & Insurance docs. When you lose the originals these copies will help you in filling out the information when applying for new originals. You will not know what information would be needed by your loved ones when you are not around. Saving and sharing copies of these originals will help your family members when they are in need (for example when claiming insurance benefits). Without these copies you and/or your family members will have to spend lot of money and time when needed.
2) Saving work related data and education related certificates.
Allocate time to backup all your work related data like 401K documents, stock options, ESPP, RSUs or any other work area benefits. Did you ever go through the pain of ordering original degree certificates? If yes, you know what I am talking about. Sit down and make a copy of all your degree certificates and mark sheets. May be ask your spouse to help and I am sure you will have some good laughs going through your marks and grades.
3) Saving vehicle titles, home titles & any property related docs.
If you have a living trust you should have already covered your properties and vehicles in it. Please read Part 2 of this article if you haven't started preparing a Will/Trust. It is always a good idea to save a copy of your vehicle titles and home titles. BTW, never keep vehicle titles in your vehicle so that you don't lose them when your vehicle is lost or stolen.
4) Saving photos, videos etc. Basically plan to backup your PC, laptop, tablet, smart phone etc.
We spend enough money to capture best moments and important occasions in our life. We cherish those moments by watching the photos and videos in which they are captured. Generally these photos & videos are saved on your personal PCs or smart phones. Imagine losing access to your PC or smart phone for various reasons like virus attack, hardware malfunction etc - a sickening feeling. Saving a backup of these photos & videos will save you from such nightmarish disappointments. Losing every photo from first year of my kid's life or some irreplaceable pictures is a huge deal to me. So to be extra cautious I actually do 2 backups - one to the cloud and one to external hard drive.
5) Saving financial information in a secured way
Last but not least it is always important to save these backups in a secure way. Someone getting access to your backup copies is another nightmarish disappointment. Do your research and find a trustworthy cloud storage service to save your backups in a secure way. I personally prefer Google drive because first 15GB is free per account and then it is only $1.99 per month per 100GB and the next level is $9.99 per month per 1TB. If you are like me 100GB offering should be good enough to start with. When I reach the 100GB limit, instead of signing up for the next level 1TB offering, I plan to create another account with 100GB storage offering.
Bottom line: Scan all your originals. If you don't have a direct access to scanner try out the CamScanner app in android market or iTunes. Save all your important originals in a bank safe deposit box or a private safety locker. At minimum keep one backup copy of originals in a hard drive and another backup copy in a cloud storage. Most important: share access details with your spouse and don't forget to update your backups frequently. Not taking these actions now might cost you money and/or time down the road.
This is the last part of the article I planned. In future if I find something new I will write Part 4. Please feel free to send me an email or use the comments section below for any inconsistencies or additional information you might want to share.
If you find this interesting, please consider social sharing. Thanks!
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