BRRRRRR what happened to spring? This issue of E-News contains material about:

• The February Board Meeting
• Board Elections
• April Annual Meeting
• Access to Digital Financial Records After Your Death
• Phishing
• ASRS’ New PPO Plan
• Spring Prime Times

February Board Meeting

• One of the more interesting reports was given by Jeri Meeks and Pat Schneider. Jeri reported attending the Senior Caucus Meeting with Tara Roesler. The Senior Caucus is composed of AZ legislators interested in senior issues. The meeting was attended by representatives from AARP and ARC and the discussion centered on elder and disabled person abuse. There are several bills related to this topic and Jeri said she would look out for them and report back if that seems germane. She and Tara plan to attend the monthly caucus meetings and they hope some other senior issues will be addressed.

Pat Schneider reported on a meeting that presented data showing that pensions were less expensive to operate than 401K plans. The ASURA legislative liaisons will continue to monitor suggested changes in the various retirement plans.

If you have a question or suggestion for the ASURA Legislative Liaisons please contact Jeri Meeks

• ASURA will again have a table at ASU’s Day at the Capitol on February 19. This annual event lets the AZ Legislators see what sorts of things are going on at ASU and hopefully encourage them to support ASU,

Board Member Election

You have all received your Board Member Ballots but not everyone has voted. Now is the time to take a few minutes and vote as a way to show your appreciation for the candidates’ willingness to help guide ASURA. Short candidate bios for Jane Carey, Larry Carlson, Evelyn Cesarotti, Carl Cross, and Frank Koonce are available at https://asura.asu.edu/BoardBallot. The easiest way to vote is to send an email to asura@asu.edu with the names of the candidates you wish to vote for. If you would rather send in a paper ballot, information on how to do that is available at Board of Directors Ballot (2019) webpage.

Annual Meeting

The Annual Meeting comes early this year, Thursday, April 04. This year's Annual Meeting will be held in the Walter Cronkite Building in Downtown Phoenix and will feature a talk by Professor Chris Callahan, Dean of the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications. Professor Callahan will speak on The Future of Journalism. You will want to get this event on your calendar.

Access to Digital Financial Records After Your Death

Gary Kleemann raised an issue that might be of interest to lots of retirees: Many of us depend on digital accounts with various institutions, such as banks, to manage our financial affairs. We also rely on emails sent to us by these institutions. How can those who need to take over our financial affairs upon our death deal with these things? Of particular interest to Gary is the fact that he is using his @asu.edu e-mail address in connection with his accounts at many institutions. What happens to that address upon his death?

The article “Access to Online Accounts: Helping Your Executor and Loved Ones” makes suggestions for safeguarding your digital assets. The article suggests making a list of your user names and related information. One convenient way to do that is to use a Password Manager  -- see the article “10 Best Password Mangers of 2019” for help in learning about and selecting one of these. Password managers can be a real convenience and safeguard for you now in addition to helping after your death.

If they wish, your executor or loved ones can change the email associated with your accounts to their own once they have access. Or they can continue to use your email address. Most email accounts will stay open so long as they are active unless someone notifies the company that the account should be closed or that the holder is deceased. The account will be automatically closed or suspended when it meets the company’s policy regarding inactivity.  This is true of ASU – your account may be suspended if it is inactive (for a period that ASU does not specify) and will be closed if requested or if notification of the account holder’s death is received. You can check the policy for any other email provider you may use by searching on something like “when does my xxx account expire”, where xxx is the name of your email carrier, such as Google.

For all of the non-financial things that you keep “in the Cloud” such as Facebook, Google, hard drive backups and so forth, there is an article “Is Your Digital Life Ready for Your Death?” published a couple of years ago by the New York Times that can help you plan.

Article by Connie McNeill

Phishing

Phishing is the fraudulent practice of sending emails purporting to be from reputable companies or known friends in order to induce individuals to reveal personal information, such as passwords and credit card numbers or perhaps to buy something recommended by the “friend”. For example, several ASURA members received emails from “Tara Fuchs Roesler” urging them to buy a product.

There are programs that use artificial intelligence to recognize a phishing expedition, but these are primarily for companies. For individuals the best barrier is to be vigilant and not just open every email or click on every link that comes your way. Ask yourself:

• Has this person ever contacted me before and why now?
• Does the “from address” look like something the person would use?
• Does it seem strange that you got the email?

The Phishing.org website has a nice list of Social Engineering Red Flags that can help you think about whether the email is legitimate or not.

Note: Banks and financial institutions will not ask for personal information via email or suspend your account if you do not update your personal details within a certain period of time.

ASRS’ New PPO Plan

Some of our members who have ASRS health insurance plans and transitioned to the new PPO plan are being told incorrect information from their providers. Tara Roesler spoke with Julie Lockwood of ASRS and Julie said that ASRS is trying to educate the providers as quickly as possible but that if an ASURA member has an issue, the member should call the number on the back of their insurance card. United Healthcare will assist them with their provider.

Spring Prime Times

Jeannette Robson has produced yet another wonderful Prime Times which is now available online in color on the ASURA Website.