Become Your Own Heir After Being Frozen

destinyland writes "A science writer discovered it's possible to finance your cryogenic preservation using life insurance — and then leave a huge death benefit to your future thawed self. From the article, 'Most in the middle class, if they seriously want it, can afford it now. So by taking the right steps, you can look forward to waking up one bright future morning from cryopreservation the proud owner of a bank account brimming with money!' There's one important caveat: some insist that money 'will have no meaning in a future dominated by advanced molecular manufacturing or other engines of mega-abundance.'"

Comments

Re:You're playing their game

[Lupulack]

On the other hand, it appears that investing my cash in these companies in the business of bilking the terminally optimistic of their earnings *could* be a fine way to ensure my comfortable retirement. Thank you stupid wealthy people!

don't hold your breath

[mxh83]

The future will likely disallow this kind of inheritance. The main problem with cryogenics right now is that it is not possible to undo the damage caused by the cryogenic procedure. People who have invested in companies like Alcor have done so in the belief that a solution will soon be available. As soon as that happens the world will see a new set of laws that take care of all these loopholes. I would image that they will make sure you don't wake up with an advantage you do not deserve x years into the future. It will be more about people wanting to experience the future than benefiting from it

Re:don't hold your breath

[hey!]

Well, they wouldn't outlaw trust funds. They'd regulate and tax trust funds that were essentially scams to take away any advantage from playing dead.

I'd imagine the scenario would work out this way. This scheme catches on, and a few decades from now trillions of dollars are being managed for the benefit of "dead" people. Then some politician comes up with the obvious idea: let's cut the taxes for the living but shifting the burden to the *dead*. You get revived, and discover that you pretty much can recover your principle, but the interest has been used to create a tax-free socialist paradise for the living. That is *if* the laws allow you to be revived. Imagine the debate we're having about retirement demographics, only now it's *revival* demographics. In twenty years a whole bunch of people are going to be decanted and start drawing money out of the system and throwing their antiquated weight around and generally making life less pleasant for the currently living. Let's put it to a vote: shall we revive everyone's great grandpa and create a new class of economic overlords, or should we keep them frozen and continue to tax them?

Unless you can arrange to vote from the cryogenic "grave", you shouldn't count on taking it with you. You *might* evade death, but you *won't* evade taxes.

Re:eternal life: "can" does not mean "should"

[Lupulack]

On the other hand, people in their 20s often pick up and go somewhere they know nobody, where the culture is very different and they have to pick up a whole new set of assumptions. It's called "college".

I think people in general are far more resilient than you give credit for, especially with the benefit of what would likely be advanced counselling methods.

Perhaps it's not to your liking, that's fine. Some people are more embedded in their world than others. I think I would manage fine, a whole new world to learn would be fascinating! Besides, you could likely still make the decision at that time that you didn't want to continue, no need to make it *now*!

Re:Key legal obstacle

[mister_playboy]

Shouldn't this same line of logic apply to corporations and copyrights? Because right now, I would say the system is definitely breaking this "rule against perpetuities"...

Re:There's an easier way

[mister_playboy]

...and with the way inflation works, your 4.3 billion dollars will buy you half a slice of bread once you've been thawed.

Re:eternal life: "can" does not mean "should"

[im_thatoneguy]

Life without meaning? A new world with a new culture and new politics and new sciences and new games to learn?! Are you kidding! That would be the greatest thing ever.

Make new friends. Form a new family. Only this time if they can resuscitate a head then I'm probably nearly immortal so I have at least 10k years before I'm statistically killed in an accident. That's more than enough time to learn a few hundred lifetimes of insights.

So what you're saying is that if your family and friends all died in an accident you would want to die with them and no live your life? If you were orphaned and adopted by a foreign family you think life wouldn't be worth living or have meaning?

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Re:Dead don't inherit...

[DigiShaman]

And yet, they'll still be able to vote. How interesting.

Re:You're playing their game

[The Wooden Badger]

The easy "out" would be that you weren't dead, and you owe them for unpaid premiums.