Are You Ready for Your Digital Afterlife?

We know to make sure our heirs can access our online bank accounts, but what about the rest of our digital selves? As more and more meaningful parts of our lives enter the virtual world, how do we value the assets we leave behind online? What are they worth and to whom?

In this episode of the Ideas podcast, we wonder: What’s a good way to pass on 10,000 photos from all those family vacations? Does a viral social media account have real-world value after you die? Could our endless streams of online consciousness become the stuff of meaningful memorials? These are questions for the digital age we all inhabit, whether we’re 8 or 88. And they’re questions for the usually old-school world of estate planning, which Beth Smith, of Morgan Stanley Wealth Management’s Strategy and Advisory Solutions, knows well.

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The host Ashley Milne-Tyte is a contractor of Pineapple Street Media. The guest speakers are neither employees nor affiliated with Morgan Stanley Smith Barney LLC. (“Morgan Stanley”). The views and opinions expressed herein do not necessarily reflect those of Morgan Stanley. The information and figures contained herein has been obtained from sources outside of Morgan Stanley and Morgan Stanley makes no representations or guarantees as to the accuracy or completeness of information or data from sources outside of Morgan Stanley. Morgan Stanley is not responsible for the information or data contained in this podcast.

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