Estate Planning & The Art of Artifcts

We’ve all heard the saying, “A man’s home is his castle,” but is that really the case? In my experience, our home has long been the domain of my wife, children, and four-legged family members.  

My wife has a simple, Scandinavian inspired home aesthetic honed after her time living in Denmark. My children tend to embrace the “leave-it-where-you-left-it-until-you-have-to-move-it” approach to home decorating, or rather cluttering. And where or what exactly does that leave me in the equation? I get my home office. The one room in our house that is unequivocally, unabashedly 100 percent me. My stuff, my stories, my memories, and yes, even my clutter, although it’s not clutter to me. It’s my stuff, and I love it.  

Shelves, Shelves, and More Shelves! 

When I say I love my shelves, what I’m really saying is that I love the items that are displayed on my shelves, and coincidentally behind me during every one of my Zoom calls. Three shelves and as many decades (if not more!) of stuff that tells my story and highlights the places I’ve been and the things I’ve done.  

Let’s start with my technology shelf. Yes, I am a geek at heart, having been an electrical engineering student at Virginia Tech back in the day. As we used to say, you can’t spell “geek” without a double “EE.” I have a shelf dedicated to all the tech 'stuff' I have used over the years—my original 1992 Motorola flip phone, a Walkman (remember those?), a few Gameboys, a GPS tracker, and one of my most prized possessions, a Microvision Blockbuster gaming device. Our youngest stares wide eyed at this shelf wondering how on Earth we used to function “back in the day” absent smart phones, tablets, and the like. The older kids however love the shelf and always have a “remember when” story to go with the less ancient ‘stuff.’ 

I have a shelf dedicated to my more active flying days, when I had my own plane. (That however is a much longer story for another day, although I did document it in Artifcts for safe keeping!) 

I also have a shelf (and a windowsill!) dedicated to the places I’ve been and the mementos I’ve picked up along the way. Incense burners from my time in India, and sound bowls from Kathmandu. 

You can tell a lot about me by what’s on my shelves. And although my shelves may look cluttered to some and I have occasionally heard on Zoom calls, “wow, you have a lot of stuff,” I know what each and every item is and, more importantly, my family knows why I have the stuff that I have and what it means to me. What do your shelves say about you? 

What Good is an Office Without Books? 

Another corner of my office is dedicated to my book collection. As my wife likes to note, I was never much of a reader until I met her; she introduced me to the joy of reading and now I have a bookshelf that is a literal time capsule of the years we’ve been together.  

There are travel books for the places we’ve been, and biographies and autobiographies of the events we’ve attended and the notables we’ve seen speak. There’s also a healthy dose of fiction and non-fiction. I haven’t gotten around to Artifcting all my books yet, and I may not at the rate I’m going, but I have Artifcted the ones that mean the most to me. The ones I want my kids to know mattered to me and why. You can check out some of my favorites, including The Unwinding of the Miracle by Julie Yip Williams in my most Influential Books Artifct.   

And Don’t Forget the Walls! 

Some of my favorite ‘stuff’ doesn’t fit neatly on the shelf—a tapestry from my travels in southeast Asia, framed concert posters, and even children’s artwork. If the walls could talk, my office walls would continue to tell my story.

One of my favorite framed moments? My business card from the first company I founded. It’s a long story and a private Artifct, but having that card framed and readily viewable to all who enter my office is really important to me. It reminds me of my father, and my desire to make him proud of me given all the sacrifices he and my mother made for us growing up. It’s a testament to hard work and determination, and a reminder to all my children that anything is possible if you put your mind to it. 

Yes, I really do love my ‘stuff.’ And although I may not have much say over what the rest of the house looks like most days, my office is my castle, my domain, and the ‘stuff’ in my office is much more than ‘stuff.’ It’s my story, my memories.

I hope this piece has inspired you to tackle your office and add to your story, one object at a time. Oh, and once you Artifct your stuff, check out the timeline view where you can visualize your life and why you’re wired like you are! 

###

You can also read previous ARTIcles Matt has written, including Father, World Traveler and Now Downsizer and Stuck In the Middle With Stuff. 

© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

Reading time: 4 minutes 

Paper clutter and digital clutter can transform minor nuisances to major problems when you have a critical need for access to your important life documents. Today we want to flag the evolution well underway to declutter and organize all of life’s essential information via what’s commonly referred to as digital vaults. 

Bottomline: These modern tools can help you and your loved ones to get organized and be better prepared. 

How many email, banking, shopping, entertainment streaming, and even cloud storage sites are you using? Apps exist to help you keep track of paid memberships to ensure you remember to resubscribe or cancel, helping you keep an eye on costs and control the chaos. Check out this story from US News: Money for information on a few. 

And what about true life essentials, like the paper copies we keep of everything from warranties, tax filings, and receipts to insurance policies and mortgage documents. Sometimes we keep these because we aren’t certain where the digital version exists or if a paper copy is somehow legally required. We may even have digital duplicates floating around in our email accounts. 

Digital vaults can manage it all, your car title, mortgage information, passport and drivers license, and banking and investment details as well as life’s daily resources (memberships, online accounts, contact lists, and more) to be better prepared for everyday life, the aftermath of natural calamities, and deaths in the family. Vaults have a different scope than home inventory apps, the latter focusing on the tangible stuff. And vaults offer more features than file storage, like Box, Dropbox, or Google Drive, where you can nearly endlessly amass files without rhyme or reason.

The Early Days of Digital Vaults

Some of the first companies in this space emerged following the 2011 tsunami in Japan, others have steadily followed.  

At stake is everything we rely on to make our lives function. And when major calamities strike, we may lose access to important documents, including insurance policies, property deeds, and more, without which a return to any sort of normal is impaired and/or prolonged. A digital solution was needed to help people through these life altering events with less stress, cost, and loss. 

Why go digital? Because files in a cabinet or box are vulnerable. Period. Add to that the fact that more and more of our lives have gone digital, there’s no reason to create a paper trail for loss and misuse when robust and affordable digital options are now available to help us tackle it all securely. 

The Digital Vault Industry Today

The digital vault industry has emerged to not only securely store critical information but to also offer built-in planning tools. How’s that for efficient!  

Avoid getting distracted by bells and whistles, however. Review each vault’s listed features, and ask yourself: Does it meet my core needs? No one vault is exactly like another. Pick the one you’ll actually use and will work best as you work with financial services, insurance, estate planning and other professionals, too. At a minimum, as you review each vault consider: 

• • • Security of the system, how you will sign in and grant others access, and how any of your personal information is being used by AI tools to generate personalized recommendations. 
    • Export options if you terminate your subscription and want to take your assets back out. 
    • Adding new information, meaning is this a tedious manual endeavor or is there support from smart instant scanning and sorting (generally AI-assisted). 
    • Price for the trial period, annually, and lifetime plus any add-on features you “need.” If there is a free model, always try before you buy, and then upgrade if you like it and free is insufficient for your needs. 
    • Unique features. As we’ve said, no vault is exactly like the other and your needs are not identical to others’ either. Trustworthy Certified Experts™ offer customized 1:1 guidance whereas Motivity Care provides a suite of concierge care management services and GoodTrust is supporting estate planning. 
    • Ease of use, because beyond different features each offers, the vaults each look, feel, and organize your information a bit differently as is the ease with which you can securely share information with family and professionals. Don’t forget to test your vault out on the device you will use to get the work done, e.g. desktop computer, laptop, tablet, or phone.

Here are a few examples of digital vaults on our radar, each with an array of unique features, offerings, and specialties.

Artifct Here are a few examples of digital vaults on our radar, each with an array of unique features, offerings, and specialties.

(In alphabetical order; with company tagline.)

• • • Everplans: All the pieces of your world in one place. 
    • GoodTrust: Estate planning made easy, affordable, and secure. 
    • Keylu: Life is chaotic. Keylu brings order. 
    • Motivity Care: Redefining how you manage caregiving. 
    • Prisidio: Your digital vault. For life.™ 
    • Trustworthy: The Family Operating System®

You’ve Signed Up to a Digital Vault: Now What?

If you’ve taken the step to set up your data within a vault, be proactive to ensure your time and money are well spent. Here are a few tips to make the most of your digital vault from our personal experience: 

1. 1. 1. Block time to your calendar over the next few weeks to input your critical accounts, memberships etc.; if you have a filing cabinet or box, start by digitally migrating those contents. Email is another great source to migrate docs you’ve received. 
      2. Turn on any available options for reminders so you keep information updated and fill any gaps you might leave;  
      3. Add an annual refresh date on your personal calendar; of course, if you have a major life event (birth, death, sell a company, etc.), or you move, you should also update your vault information; and, 
      4. Set alerts in your search engine of choice, such as Google Alerts, for announcements from your vault company about events, new or retired features, and policy and price changes in case you miss an email or alert from the vault.
      5. Send feedback to your digital vault of choice. It only makes the product better (for you and for all) for companies to receive feedback. Screenshots and videos are amazing bonuses to include in your email to the company. Don't forget to mention what type of device you are working from (e.g., smartphone, tablet, desktop), if applicable.

With a digital vault, you’ll be better prepared for yourself and your loved ones. We hope you find one that fits your needs!

###

© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.

One of the most unexpected joys of building a company is the other entrepreneurs you meet along the way. Brilliance and creativity, moving the world in a better direction, seem endless. 

Imagine our delight to be introduced to a jewelry designer who loves stories as much as we do here at Artifcts. This Valentine’s Day we’re shining a light on her beautiful work and the stories and art all around that inspire her and motivate her through it all.  

Should you be shopping for yourself, a friend, or other loved one this Valentine’s Day, our guest today is offering Artifcts members a 20% discount* to bring home a modern heirloom with heart. Use the code LOVESTORY at checkout.

With that, we so hope you'll enjoy this special edition of ARTIcles by Artifcts! 

_________________

Tanja Cesh is the type of woman who believes “How it’s made matters.” She’s unwavering in her commitment to preserving heritage craft and helping to lift up the artisan sector where vulnerable people, often women, have been undervalued for generations.

Through her travels, it’s Nepal that captured her heart and her imagination. She’s built her jewelry, apparel, and tabletop brand, Mulxiply, (pronounced “multiply") hand in hand with Nepali artisans with whom she now counts among her friends.

“The Nepali people love their country. Over the decade plus since I’ve been traveling there, I’ve seen a growth in the young energy and the value placed on the “maker” culture.”

Lucky for all of us, we can embrace that cultural movement through the stories and products Tanja creates.

“Stories, whether it’s what the inspiration was, or about the people who wear the jewelry, or how it was made, are so important. It’s exhausting being a modern consumer. AI thinks it knows us, reduces us to data points, but being approached that way is anything but personal or motivating.”

Tanja takes pride in the fact that together, she and the artisans are creating products you want to buy and want to pass down for generations. “This isn’t the type of stuff you buy out of guilt and turns up quickly in secondhand shops.”

While we chatted, Tanja spoke briefly about her art and design background, but it was her stories about her mother, her aunt, and her meetings with other artisans that seemed to truly shape her ethos and designs for Mulxiply. What better way to share her story than through her own words. 

Meet the Creator of Mulxiply, in 5 Artifcts, by @TanjaC

Artifct #1: Mom's Embroidered Jacket by Sigrid Olsen

Early learnings in fashion and design

“While this is a photo of our wedding, the artifact I'm highlighting is my mom's jacket... from a designer named Sigrid Olsen [...] I learned so much for Sigrid about how things work in [the fashion and design] business, but also how to keep things truly personal and with a story.”

Artifct #2: Dad's Vintage German Telefunken Radio 

Nostalgia meets mid-century design turned personalized marketing

“This radio has always been in my life. My parents brought it with them when they moved to America from Germany [...] Towards the end of his life, my dad struggled with both cancer and dementia [and] listened to music all the time until the day he died. [...] We used this radio as a prop in my company Mulxiply's Fall/Winter 2024-25 photoshoot.” 💕 

Artifct #3: Polaroid of Mom 

A single vintage photo inspires an entire jewelry collection 

“Years ago, I found this mysterious Polaroid of my mom captured in a moment [...] so stylish in her bob parted in the middle, sitting around a table with friends listening to music, candles flickering, drinks and conversation flowing. This photo became the inspiration for the Mulxiply Fall/Winter 2024-25 Jewelry Collection.”

Artifct #4: Vintage German Book "Sternstunden der Menschheit" by Stefan Zweig 

An eye for good design, even in the hardbound variety 

"I have no idea what this book is about as I've never read it. There is a collection of them — all beautifully bound with handmade paper, each book with a different pattern and color. [...] There is so much intention to how this book was made, and I appreciate the handmade nature of it. [...] We also used this book in Mulxiply's Fall/Winter photoshoot as a prop for the model to hold."

Artifct #5: Gold Bangle from Mom made by Zee Sipantzi 

Cherishing the old, and Artifcting it for always 

"This simple bangle was handmade by jeweler and family friend Zee Sipantzi. My mom had several pieces of jewelry made by Zee. [...] I wanted to Artifct it quickly as I'm not quite sure how much longer it will last. This is one of the cherished pieces I was able to keep after she passed and was the inspiration for the Ridge Collection I designed for Mulxiply."

_________________

We hope we inspire you as always to take a fresh look at the 'stuff' in your life, stuff of old and anything new you bring into your life. Where do they come from? Why do you love them? Artifct to share and preserve it all.

Happy Artifcting!

###

ABOUT MULXIPLY 

MULXIPLY was born out of recognition that fashion can be fair, art can be healing, and design can change the world. Working with our artisan team in Nepal, we are able to empower our artists to share their craft, economically impact their communities, and elevate their place in society. In doing so, we are elevating art and artisan. We couldn't do it without you.

* Offer valid until 11:59 pm EST on February 14, 2025. Valid online only. May not be combined with other offers.

© 2025 Artifcts, Inc. All Rights Reserved.