What happens to your money & assets if you suddenly die? Have you planned for this???

Dear Friends,
Have you ever thought about what would happen if you meet with an accident and die? What if you are detected with a major disease like cancer. These thoughts itself are scary and no one wants to talk about it. I think we should seriously discuss amongst our family members. We should plan this so that our family doesn't suffer and live a disastrous life.

We all waste our time scrolling on Facebook or other social media apps. We all should give it a thought as life is uncertain and unpredictable. Today you might be fit but you cannot predict what happens tomorrow. You need to plan this before it's too late.

 There are so many people who die every year due to some or the other disease. According to a WHO report, a major cause of death occurs due to Heart disease, Cancer and road accident. There are many out of these patients who become bedridden and are completely dependant on their spouses or parents for their lifetime.

In today's fast-paced and uncertain world, the kind of life we live in is very hectic. We hardly have time to take care of ourselves. We all are busy making money so that we can retire early and retire rich. Life is unpredictable and we all should accept this fact and plan for it.

I would like to share a story of one of my friend who was successful in his life but he never planned for his death. He was married and had a kid. Once he met with an accident and died. His wife never knew what his total assets were. He never changed his nominee in his bank to his wife. His nominee was his Dad which he mentioned while opening the bank a few years back. When he died, his father received all balance amount, fixed deposit and mutual fund shares that he has bought through the bank. His Father never was shared a penny with his daughter in law (My friend's wife).

My dear friends, please do write down your assets and liabilities in a diary and inform your loved one about it. Discuss your life with your loved one so that they are aware of how you have planned your life. Please change your bank nominee to your loved one and inform them about it.

Whenever you buy an asset whether it is a land, gold or fixed deposit. Please share details with your loved one. Write it down in a diary.

We put in all the effort to make sure we earn enough so that we can fulfil all needs of our family. We at times miss out on sharing these details with our loved ones. It is important to share these details with your loved ones. Even if we miss out on updating even one asset.

Talk to your family, discuss your life with them. Nowadays, we miss on these small things which lead to bigger problems in the long run. Take your eyes off your mobile and take time out for your family.

Remember guys we work very hard all our life to earn as much money as possible. We do all these just to make our family happy. just imagine if they don't even know about the assets you have earned for them. Or if you gave changed your nominee in your bank details to your loved one's name. They should know about it. And most importantly they should also know the procedure to acquire it.

All said and done. Friends, make sure your family doesn't suffer because of your silly mistakes.

And One last important message to you all. "Please take care of yourself. You are very special for your family :-)"

Hope this article will help you plan your life in a better way. If you find this article useful, please do share it with your friend and family members.

Please also do read my article about: 

1. How to safeguard your social media and Gmail data online after you die.

2. Why should you donate blood regularly?

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What happens to your Gmail and Social media accounts if you suddenly die?

Have you ever thought of this? I know we all don't want to die but we all will one day. And we have no idea which day it is. No one knows an exact date. This sends shivers down your spine but let's be practical we all will die one day. We all have our plans on how to make more money or how to plan for a trip to our holiday destination. We start saving money for it for several months in advance. We plan for our wedding and many other things but we do not plan for our death. My purpose is to make you aware of how to plan it in the right manner.

In today's technologically advanced world, we all have an email account which is connected to several of our social media accounts. If God forbid something happens to us, we need to secure our email and social media accounts. These are not given utmost priorities but these are extremely important. Let's look at a few Pros and Cons of deactivating/ memorializing the deceased person's account.

Pros: 
1. The account is safe and closed as you have secured it by informing the support team of the respected social media platform/ email account.
2. You can request for the personal data which is online or you can ask them to delete the data.
3. You can delete and save your data from getting leaked/ misused online.

Cons:
1. The account will be active on social media. People who are connected will assume that he.she is alive.
2. Friends who are unaware will tag the deceased person unknowingly.
3. The deceased person will feature in 'People you may know' section for new friend request.

We will talk about the below-mentioned accounts:

1. Gmail
2. Facebook
3. Twitter
4. Instagram

P.S.: These are chosen based on their popularity

Gmail: 

If you want to close or share the data with your loved ones. Please login into your account. On your profile page click on 'Manage your account' then click on 'Data & Personalization'. Under 'Download, delete, or make a plan for your data', you will find a link 'Make a plan for your account' click here. It will take you to a page called 'Inactive account manager'

Google will start observing activity after your demise for at least three months. It will prompt you to fill all the contact details like contact person's mobile number, email id. The next page will ask for your permission with whom you want to share your data. The third page will ask whether you want to delete your account and data after your demise. I would suggest not to chose this option as it will delete all the hard work that you have done. Once you confirm all these details your account is secured. I am sharing the link for your convenience:  Inactive account manager (Please log into your account to go to the inactive account manager page.)

The Gmail Inactive account manager

Facebook:

When you log into your Facebook account, there is an arrow-shaped downwards i.e. account's section. Click on the account's section and under 'Help & Support' click on 'Help Centre'. A new page will open and you will a menu bar on top. Click on 'Policies and Reporting' and you will see an option of  'Manage a Deceased person's account'. I have added a screenshot below for your reference. Here you will find all the details on how to manage closure or memorialize the account of a deceased person. I am sharing the link for your reference: Manage a deceased person's account

Facebook

Twitter:

When you log into Twitter, click on the help button at the bottom of the page. Click on 'Rules and policies'. Under 'General guidelines and policies' you will find details about 'How to contact Twitter about a deceased family member's account'. I am sharing the link for your reference: Deceased account

Twitter

Instagram: 

When you log in to Instagram, at the bottom of the page you will see the 'Help' link. Click on this link and it will direct you to the Help Centre. Click on the 'Privacy and Safety Center' then on 'Report something'. Here you will see an option 'Other type of report'. On this page, you will find details on reporting about a deceased person. Please see the image below. I am also attaching the link for your reference: Deceased person's account

Instagram

The data on this account is extremely sensitive and important as it might contain your family's personal photos and details which is available online. There is always a risk that it might get hacked. It's better to get memorialized or deactivated. The intention of this article is to make you aware and not to scare you. I hope for good health and prosperity for all.

Hope you find this content useful. Please do comment if you need any further details on this topic.

Please also do read about my article, I have mentioned the links below:

1. How to secure your family if you suddenly die due to unforeseen circumstances?

2. Why should you donate blood regularly?

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Why should you donate blood regularly?

Why should I donate blood?

The simplest answer would be to save someone's life. This is the beauty of blood donation. Your blood is a priceless gift from the almighty to you. Every year in India there is a shortage of 1.95 to 2 million units every year. It is not only beneficial for you but also to mankind. It hardly requires 20 minutes. You get your BP and Haemoglobin level checked for free. Your blood is also tested for Hepatitis B, Hepatitis C, HIV 1, HIV 2 and many other diseases.

There are many myths about blood donation:

1. It causes Fatigue: Donors will be provided with refreshments and they can resume their work after an hour.

2. Your blood is reduced: Every person has 8-12 pints of blood in their body. Only one pint of blood is taken from your body. Your body recovers that one pint in the next 48 hours.

3. It is a painful process: It hardly requires 20 mins and the only pain is that of a needle pricking.

You only have to donate once in 3 months. Your blood will be used to treat different kind of patients. Let me just tell you about one type of patients that require regular blood "Thalassemia".

"Thalassemia": Thalassemia is an inherited blood disorder that affects the body’s ability to produce haemoglobin and red blood cells. These type of patients require blood every 21 days.

If they do not get blood transfusions done every 21 days. They might feel fatigued, chest pain, shortness of breath, rapid heartbeat, leg cramps, dizziness and faintness, poor feeding, greater susceptibility to infections, jaundice and pale skin, headache, delayed growth.

If they are untreated, then it might result in organ failure.

Who can/ cannot donate Blood?

1, The lower age limit is 18 years and upper age should be between 60 to 70 years depending on the fitness level of the individual.

2. You should have not suffered from acute fever, cold, flu or sore throat at least in the last 10 days. 

3. Your haemoglobin level should meet the minimum requirement.

4.  Anyone whose Blood pressure is not normal is not allowed to donate blood.

5. Anyone who had alcohol in the last 24 hours is not allowed. Even a smoker is not allowed after smoking for 4 hours.

5. Anyone having major conditions like Cancer, Cardiovascular, severe lung disease, Hepatitis B/ C, are not allowed to donate blood.

6. You should not have a tattoo done in the last one year.

7. Any women who were pregnant have to wait for at least 9 months post-delivery for blood donation, Even women who are pregnant are not advised to donate as it would put the life of both mother and child at risk.

8. If you are on medication, you might be disqualified. Please discuss this with the doctor before donating blood.

9. If there has an operation for a major ailment in the last 6 months you will not be allowed to donate blood.

Let me tell you a few benefits of blood donation:

1. Iron stores are reduced: The iron stores are reduced in your blood. There is a condition called hemochromatosis. It is caused due to iron overload. When you donate blood regularly, this disease can be avoided. The symptoms of hemochromatosis are unknown until one reaches mid-age.

2. Improves your cardiovascular health: It reduces the risk of heart attacks and strokes as your iron stores are removed from your body

3. Reduces risk of cancer: Overload of iron stores is said to be the cause of cancer and ageing. Regular blood donation reduces the risk of cancers including liver, lung and throat.

4. Burns calories: Every pint of blood burns 650 calories. However, it is not recommended to donate with the intent of reducing weight.

5. Sense of pride: The most important aspect is that you are helping in saving someone's life. The psychological advantage is that you helped someone who required your blood.

6. You will get a donor card which can be used once to collect blood bag when your closed ones are in need free of cost. These cards have validity for 6 months to lifetime depending on which state you are donating.

I stay nearby a government hospital and they keep calling me every now and then due to shortage of blood. The hospitals keep appealing to people to donate their blood. This is not something money can buy or scientist can generate. It has to be donated. We only can help by doing our bit.

Please donate. There is no substitute for this precious gift. Also encourage others like your colleagues, your family members and friends to donate.

14th June is World Donor Day. Hope next year when I write a blog about it. There are more people aware of blood donation and there is enough blood available with the hospitals. 

Also do read my blog about 'What happens to your Gmail and social media accounts if you suddenly die?'

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Is extending the Lockdown in India enough to cure people from the pandemic Corona Virus (Covid-19)?

The entire world right now is going through the worst phase in the last 100 years. The pandemic Coronavirus (Covid-19) has changed the approach towards living drastically. Our government has taken bold decisions. One of them is the complete lockdown of the country. This also has a huge impact on the economy of the country which was already bleeding.

How has the lockdown helped us in coping with the virus?

The day we found the first Covid-19 patient in India was on 30 January 2020. We imposed a lockdown on 24 March 2020. The world appreciated that we were proactive in imposing a lockdown. Here a question arises that if the first case was on 30 January why didn't we impose lockdown or stopped all the travellers from infected countries to be quarantined from the airport itself. Why were they just informed to stay at home for 14 days? People did not take it seriously and we all are suffering now.

Secondly, we could have imposed a lockdown much earlier but we didn't. The doctors and medical practitioners were of the opinion to impose lockdown when cases of Covid-19 patients started increasing in the 1st week of March 2020. We didn't. The government did not take any opinion of the medical initially I guess. You may check this link: The Hindu report 

The day the lockdown was implemented, there has only been a hike in the number of cases in India. Then how has the lockdown helped? People expected the lockdown will end by 14 April 2020. But it only got extended further for the next one and half months. Till now people have questions about the pandemic, will the Coronavirus end? Is there a solution to this pandemic Coronavirus? 

The government has lifted the lockdown in a phased manner. But if you see the number of cases after lockdown has only increased gradually. From having 5 cases on 2 March 2020 to reaching 50 thousand cases by 5 May 2020 and gradually increasing to 1 lakh cases by 18th May 2020. When the lockdown was lifted on 8 June 2020, the total number of cases rose to 2.65 lakhs. 

This goes to show that we have not utilized the lockdown in the best possible manner. We have failed in our approach. We should have tested as many people as possible and identified corona patients. Lockdown is only a temporary solution to the Pandemic. Unless and until this time was utilized to stop the virus. The planning has failed. This has had terrible consequences on the economy as there is a huge population who are daily labourers. They have suffered the most. People have walked back to their homes without food or water. Their stories are painful. We have failed them. 

Even today, there is no roadmap on how will we reduce the number of cases. Social distancing and Hygiene is good. But is it enough? As in most of the cases, there are no symptoms of the Coronavirus. The government of India is not ready to accept the fact that we have entered community transmission (Stage 3). In the capital state Delhi, as per the last statement made by the Health minister there is no community transmission bur there are 50% of the case which are asymptomatic (means the source of infection is not known). Please see this link: The Free Journal

When we don't know the source of infections that is enough to indicate that we have entered stage 3. But our government is not willing to accept this fact. There are huge implications for not accepting the truth. We will not be able to take decisions in the right direction if we don't accept the fact. 

The lockdown has been lifted. We need to pay attention to a few things here:

1. When there was lockdown the number of cases only kept increasing exponentially from merely 6 on 2 March 2020 to 2.65 lakhs on 8 June 2020. Check this link for the live count: covid19india.org
2. It is estimated to reach 5 lakhs by the end of June 2020 and 10 lakhs by the end of July 2020. 

3. How are we going to stop the virus when the lockdown is lifted. It will spread more rapidly than before if we don't have control. Imagine the number of cases by end of July 2020 in case of the lockdown being lifted. (You may check the worldwide count of Covid-19 cases at Worldometer website
4. Do we have enough beds for patients and to quarantine people in separate rooms?

Take the example of a bus where there are only 30% of people sitting in the bus. What is any one of them has Corona, if he touches any part of the seat of the hand-holders? The other passengers who would touch the hand holder are susceptible to the virus. I would request all you beings to:

1. Avoid travelling unless it is really important. Please make use of the technological benefits we have.

2. Try and travel in your vehicle (if possible).  

3. Try and avoid sitting in any public place or touching anything

4. Push the door of your office with your shoulder.

5. Work from home

Till the time there is no medicine available. Please take these necessary precautions. 

How long will it take to make the Coronavirus (COVID 19) medicine:

There have been speculations that some countries have found medicine. But when they test it on the human body nothing is working right now. Some labs are preparing the vaccine and have declared that they would be ready by this year-end or next year with the vaccine.

All you beings who have read this. Please stay safe and take care of your family. We will all fight and win against this pandemic Coronavirus. Hope we the medicine as soon as possible.

Stay Safe. Stay Home. Stay Healthy.

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Dharamshala - A heaven on earth

Dharamshala (Also known as Dharamsala) is a hill station in Himachal Pradesh. It is at a height of 1946 meters from sea level. This is a beautiful holiday destination. The best time to visit is from October to May.

I will tell you how you can visit this place without spending a lot of money. 

You can go by road to this place from Delhi. There are flights also available but they are from limited cities like Mumbai, Delhi, Bangalore and Kolkata. The weather here is unpredictable and the flight might get delayed by hours while landing. I would rather suggest you to go by road. There are buses directly available from Delhi. You can go to the ISBT bus depot and catch a bus from there. You can also fo to Pathakot via train or bus and take a bus to Dhamarshala. Once you reach Dharamshala, you can find good hotels at a price of INR 1000 to INR 1500/-/.  Dharamshala is divided into two parts mainly Mcleod Ganj and Lower Dharamshala. Both are 7 to 8 kms away from each other. You can take local buses to reach either place. The fare is INR 30/- only. If you take a private car it will cost you INR 1100/-. The places to visit are Triund, Dal Lake, Dalai Lama temple, Nadi Lake, St John Church, Dharamshala Cricket Stadium, Kangra Art Museum, Tea Garden, War Memorial, Bhansunag Temple, Mc LeodGanj Square.

I will give you a small brief about all these places:

Triund: If you love trekking then you should visit this place. It is situated in the Kangra valley. It is 2875 meters above sea level. There are guides available locally.

Triund

Dal Lake: Similar to the Dal Lake of Kashmir there is a Dal Lake in Dharamshala and is known for its natural beauty. Please have a look.

Dal Lake, Dharamshala

Dalai Temple: This is a place where the monks of Buddhist beliefs meditate. Please note that you can visit this place but photography is not allowed at all.

Dalai Lama Temple

Nadi Lake: One of the scenic beauties of Dharamshala is this lake where you can find a waterfall. The
place is simply awesome. Don't miss it.

Nadi Lake

St John Church: It was built in 1852 and it is known for its beautiful carving on the glass. It also is known for the Bell Tower, The bell if rang can be heard at a distance of 18 km. Currently, it is locked as there were attempts previously to steal it.

St John Church

Dharamshala Cricket Stadium: This is situated at a height of 1460 meters and serves as an international cricket stadium at the highest from sea level. It is open for visitors from 9 am to 5 pm. The tickets to visit is INR 20/- only. I would suggest you to go as early as possible to avoid the crowd.

Dharamshala Cricket Stadium

Kangra Art Museum: It has all the history of Dharamshala. You must visit this place to know how it evolved over a period of time. The ticket price starts from INR 30/- onwards and INR 100 for foreigners. There are other charges photography and videography.

Kangra Art Museum

Tea Garden: If you are travelling from Palampur to Dharamshala, you will see tea plantation on either side of the road. If you are visiting the Kunal Pathri temple in Dharamshala you will see these tea plantations. These Tea plantations are popularly known as 'Kangra Tea'.

Kangra Tea Garden

War Memorial: This is a memorial dedicated to the armed forces who have sacrificed their lives for the country. Lush green and Nicely maintained.

War Museum

Bhagsunag Temple:  It is said that Lord Shiva himself has prevailed at this temple. This is a very sacred place in Hindu religion. Do visit the Bhagsu falls and enjoy the peaceful ambiance in the lap of nature. You can take a dip in the cool water of the pool which is set up in the premises of the temple.

Bhagsunag Temple

Mc LeodGanj Square: This is where you can find hotels for stay.

Mc Leodganj Square

If you are planning a visit to Dharamshala, I think 2 days are more than enough. The costing would be:

The per-day hotel stay - INR 1500/- (during peak season from March to May this might increase).
Food expenses - INR 500/- is enough unless you are a monster eater.
Travel and Tickets - If you take local buses the cost would be less than INR 200 for 2 days. But if you are hiring a private car it will cost you around INR 1100/- per day.

If I calculate the entire cost it comes around INR 4500/-. for 2 days.

A small tip: Try and walk from one destination to other if the distance is less than 3 Kms. That way you will be able to enjoy the scenic beauty.

Hope you find my story can help you plan better. Do write back to me with your feedback.

Also, do visit my blog (the link is mentioned below) on how I went to Dharamshala and other places unplanned.

Unplanned Travel Story

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