How long does an email account last?

I read your tips on how to create an email account. Thank you so much – I am now a proud owner of a Yahoo email address. The internet thingy is still quite new to me so would be grateful if you can help me out with a small doubt I had. I wanted to know how long can I own this email address? A related question is, how long does an email account last?
Frederick Lawrence

It’s heartening to know I was able to help you get an email address. You made a wise choice in picking the Yahoo! service for your first email account – not that Hotmail or Gmail are bad. But as I have pointed out in another article, Yahoo email is probably the best email ever! Anyway, now that you have an email address, it’s only natural you have these questions.

How long will your email account last – Yahoo email address, in particular?

Nothing lasts forever [cliche, I know]. Your Yahoo email account will last till the time:

• Yahoo ends its email service (can happen),
• the company as a whole closes down (also a probability),
• you don’t login at your Yahoo email account at least once in 4 months (more on this below),
• you cancel the Yahoo account (for details, refer that article),
• you leave the world, or
• the world ends (do you believe in the 2012 prophecy?)

Though Yahoo is probably the best email service, it gives subscribers the least amount of time (4 months) before the account is closed due to inactivity. In both Hotmail and Gmail, this time period is almost 9 months. And why do the free email services have this “period of inactivity”? Well, if a subscriber hasn’t logged in at least once during this time, he/she is doesn’t give much importance to the email account, right? Many users don’t know about this and write in to complain that their email address has expired.

Think I have answered your two questions. On a parting note, I suggest creating a second email account at either Gmail or Hotmail. This way you don’t have to bank on only one service.