A common question from first-time Trustworthy families is, “Why can’t I just use Google Drive, Dropbox or Microsoft OneDrive documents to store my important information?”. The honest answer is you can — and some people do, but we’ve found that using document systems to manage important family information leaves a lot to be desired.

We’ve talked to more than 100 families who used the systems mentioned above and more — Evernote, 1Password, the Notes app, a photo album on their mobile device, Trello, the ubiquitous Excel spreadsheet, a file folder or binder — to manage their important information. We also discovered that it’s pretty normal for families to use multiple different systems at once.

We tried using many of these systems ourselves and, like the families we talked to found they were great for document creation, but fell short in helping us curate, manage, and securely share our important information. 

Here’s where document systems fall short:

1. Documents are an open book.
   You can do pretty much anything you want in a document, but they’re so flexible they lack specificity. You can download a template to help structure your information, but that’s as far as it goes. It’s a static system. The Trustworthy Family Operating System® is purpose-built to help your family get the most out of your important information whenever you need to. It balances specificity and flexibility to add value.

2. Documents start with a blank page.
   There's no resource to guide or help your family become organized and prepared. Trustworthy provides a contextually aware set of categories and suggestions to help you curate the information you have and identify the elements you might need to add. Trustworthy is personalized to your family and life stage.

3. Documents rely entirely on you to keep your information up to date.
   Documents don’t come with reminders to help you keep your information current.Trustworthy adds a layer of intelligent reminders, check-ins, suggestions, and learnings to help you keep your plan current. 

4. Documents are dumb containers.
   There's no context for your information and no way for them to add value on top of your information. Trustworthy adds automation and intelligence on top of your information. We call this data in, value out. For every piece of information you add, we return capabilities, and value on top of it.

5. Document security is a concern.
   For free products and even for some paid products, many people question security. If this product is free, is my information really secure? Why are there encryption plug-ins for this document service? Is it not already protected? Trustworthy is designed and built with your family’s security and privacy in mind. We offer a paid subscription because we never want you to feel like you are the product.

6. Document storage is haphazard and hard to classify.
   You can create folders of information to classify your documents, but you can’t see what’s in a folder until you open it. Do you and your partner have a shared understanding of the organizational system? Trustworthy is beautifully organized into logical, easy-to-understand categories that are relevant for families. You can customize the elements you need over time and Trustworthy grows with your family as life unfolds.

7. Document storage sharing is absolute.
   If you share something with a loved one in a document they can see all of the information. This is fine for some use cases, but in life, you may not want to share everything now. At Trustworthy we call this “sharing temporality”—the ability to share some information now and at some at a future date or event. 

8. Documents don’t come with service (or even support).
   Wouldn't it be great if there was someone to help you navigate the process of creating an estate plan, a will, or finding a lawyer? Our Expert team at Trustworthy can help you get started. We've helped our customers obtain a copy of their birth certificate, find a lawyer for the estate plan and more. Our Expert team is here to help you and your family become more organized and prepared — whatever your needs.

We created Trustworthy, the Family Operating System®, so modern families (ours included) would have a place of record to keep their important information and be better organized and prepared for life. 

If you think your current system falls short of your family’s needs we’d love to see if Trustworthy can help. We’ll help you build a personalized plan that’s specific to your family and fill in any blanks you have as life happens.