Do you ever worry about your online accounts just disappearing?

2,481 Views | 28 Replies | Last: 14 days ago by Queso1
NoahAg
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12:09p, 2/4/26
I was resetting some of my online passwords and logged into a life insurance account I only check once a year, and got a message saying we can't find your policy. Turned out it was just a glitch.

But it got me wondering. My IRAs, trading account, savings are all online only. What if I logged in and poof, it's gone? I don't keep hardcopies of anything. Should I at least be saving monthly statements? And print out important policies, documents?
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wessimo
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12:18p, 2/4/26
AG

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TXTransplant
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12:24p, 2/4/26
Funny you brought this up. I literally logged into my Fidelity account last night and my 401k balance was $0. It was just a glitch - I hit refresh and the number populated. But it did make my heart stop for a second.

As far as idle accounts go - I had an old savings account going back to 2012. It only had $100 in it, but I kept it open because it was at the bank my dad uses, so if we ever needed exchange money, we could do it more easily.

A few years ago, the bank transitioned or was sold or something (went from being a CU to just a regular bank). About a year ago, this new bank initiated a $10/month "inactivity fee".

Evidently, Gmail was sending some (but not all) of the emails I got from this bank to junk. So I never received any communication about the fee. But I didn't realize it because I was still getting some emails.

I logged into the account yesterday and it was overdrawn by $5 due to the fee. I closed the account and did not pay the fee. But I was ticked off by the whole situation. So, moral of that story is, if you have accounts you don't use often, at least log in to them on a regular basis to see if anything has changed.
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YouBet
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12:54p, 2/4/26
AG
I do wonder about this from time to time and it would probably make sense to at least download quarterly statements and keep a year on file digitally, if anything.

Had the same thing TxTransplant happen with my wife's 401k and my BP skyrocketed to about 400/300 when I saw $0. It was a glitch. Not a great glitch.
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Heineken-Ashi
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1:11p, 2/4/26
Have always recommended making sure you are with a safe bank and safe brokerage for trading / investing. Your broker might not disappear, but if losses compound enough and there's significant deposit flight, they can absolutely restrict you from pulling out money.
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Captain Ahab
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1:43p, 2/4/26
Buying physical gold/silver | TexAgs
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KingofHazor
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In reply to Heineken-Ashi • 4:50p, 2/4/26
Heineken-Ashi said:
Have always recommended making sure you are with a safe bank and safe brokerage for trading / investing. Your broker might not disappear, but if losses compound enough and there's significant deposit flight, they can absolutely restrict you from pulling out money.

Yep, lots of people, including a client of mine, got locked out of money market accounts during the GFC.
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infinity ag
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6:02p, 2/4/26
Won't you have that information in your 1099s?
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El Chupacabra
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6:53p, 2/4/26
Based on my investing and trading, my online accounts disappear anyway. Don't need any outside help.
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Hill08
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In reply to El Chupacabra • 7:19p, 2/4/26
El Chupacabra said:
Based on my investing and trading, my online accounts disappear anyway. Don't need any outside help.


That made me laugh.
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jamey
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7:44p, 2/4/26
AG
An Electromagnetic Pulse seems like a good initial salvo for WWIII

No idea if big banks or anyone is really protected from that
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Pacifico
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7:55p, 2/4/26
AG
I'm more worried about the IRS making them disappear.
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El Chupacabra
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In reply to Pacifico • 9:37p, 2/4/26
Pacifico said:
I'm more worried about the IRS making them disappear.


Hey, bud, you need that entire IRA? The Qaulity Learing Centur needs it more than you, and it's for the greater good.
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gigemhilo
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In reply to Pacifico • 8:49a, 2/5/26
AG
Pacifico said:
I'm more worried about the IRS making them disappear.


They can't do it without your permission unless they get a lien or garnishment against you. And if they did that, they would have heavily notified you before doing it.
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gigemhilo
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8:51a, 2/5/26
AG
Keep at least an annual statement from any financial account. You would be surprised at how many elderly "forget" they have a retirement account or life insurance policy, or at least don't tell their kids about it.

Keep annual statements and make sure your spouse/kids know where you keep them.
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LMCane
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In reply to jamey • 8:54a, 2/5/26
jamey said:
An Electromagnetic Pulse seems like a good initial salvo for WWIII

No idea if big banks or anyone is really protected from that


they are running backup tape every night
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YouBet
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9:19a, 2/5/26
AG
This post inspired me to download all of our annual statements today. Hadn't done it in a while.
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Pacifico
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In reply to gigemhilo • 4:39p, 2/5/26
AG
gigemhilo said:
Pacifico said:
I'm more worried about the IRS making them disappear.


They can't do it without your permission unless they get a lien or garnishment against you. And if they did that, they would have heavily notified you before doing it.


Do you really believe that? Congress tells the IRS what they can and can't do.
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gigemhilo
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4:44p, 2/5/26
AG
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gigemhilo
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In reply to Pacifico • 4:45p, 2/5/26
AG
Pacifico said:
gigemhilo said:
Pacifico said:
I'm more worried about the IRS making them disappear.


They can't do it without your permission unless they get a lien or garnishment against you. And if they did that, they would have heavily notified you before doing it.


Do you really believe that? Congress tells the IRS what they can and can't do.


Based on my experience of working with the IRS and IRS collections every day - yes.
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Seven Costanza
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7:11p, 2/5/26
AG
How I imagine this playing out:

"Hi, Schwab. My account is just suddenly gone. Like it never existed"

Schwab: Let me look it up...nope, we don't have any history of your account.

"But I have this statement here that could in no way be doctored."

Schwab: Oh okay. We will create an account for you based on this piece of paper and credit the account with $12,000,000. Glad you had that statement after everything was deleted.


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JohnClark929
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In reply to NoahAg • 7:37p, 2/5/26
I download annual statements.
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Kenneth_2003
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2:45p, 2/6/26
AG
I sit down several times a year and download ALL of my monthly statements. At a bare minimum I catch them all up annually (typically around tax time).

One thing I possibly SHOULD do is start printing annual statements.

Probably wouldn't be a bad idea to at least get a hard copy (or at least a local backup) of all T&C that we generally click "Accept" and move on.
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Kenneth_2003
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In reply to LMCane • 2:48p, 2/6/26
AG
LMCane said:
jamey said:
An Electromagnetic Pulse seems like a good initial salvo for WWIII

No idea if big banks or anyone is really protected from that


they are running backup tape every night

EMP would wipe tape as well. While it's still the best long term solution for single source backup (not-RAID, not multiple location/mirrored) it's still subject to magnetism. Think about it... It's written with a magnetic field, so an EMP can absolutely delete it.
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KingofHazor
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In reply to Kenneth_2003 • 3:09p, 2/6/26
Kenneth_2003 said:
LMCane said:
jamey said:
An Electromagnetic Pulse seems like a good initial salvo for WWIII

No idea if big banks or anyone is really protected from that


they are running backup tape every night

EMP would wipe tape as well. While it's still the best long term solution for single source backup (not-RAID, not multiple location/mirrored) it's still subject to magnetism. Think about it... It's written with a magnetic field, so an EMP can absolutely delete it.

Do you know that for sure?

I've read analysis that says that EMPs require certain conditions to be damaging. I don't personally know, either, and I suspect that only a few specialists know for sure.

Additionally, it would not surprise me to find out that major financial institutions have their "tape" and other digital data protected in a Faraday cage. It also wouldn't surprise me to find out that they don't.
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Kenneth_2003
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In reply to KingofHazor • 3:27p, 2/6/26
AG
Fair... Do I know for sure? Honestly, no I don't. I wouldn't wager my paycheck on it one way or another.

I suppose in truth it would depend on a lot of variables. The earth's magnetic field is relatively stable. There is a magnetic field that accompanies every power line and it oscillates at 60hz. Neither of these will erase the those old tapes in your hunting truck. Faraday cages (mentioned elsewhere in this thread) also only work for the frequencies they're designed for. They aren't a catch all.

I don't know what frequencies are used to write to magnetic tape, and I don't know what attenuation in air would be like for a large scale EMP.
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halfastros81
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In reply to El Chupacabra • 4:06p, 2/6/26
AG
Yeah but that's a completely different kind of problem.
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The Kraken
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9:49a, 2/7/26
AG
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Queso1
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11:39a, 2/7/26
AG
Oh, no, no. No more banks. I'm keeping my blood in my freezer...with my money. /Kramer
They paid for their wars with your tax dollars and also with your untaxed dollars. Inflation is theft.
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