2FA app failure locked me out of my own email for 3 days

Last Friday I switched phones and forgot to disable 2FA on my old device before trading it in. The recovery codes were stored in a notes file that also vanished with the phone. My email provider's backup verification sent a text to a number I updated last year but never confirmed in their system. I spent 2 days on hold and chat waiting for a human to verify my identity. They finally asked me to answer security questions from 2018, which I answered wrong twice. Then they wanted a photo of my ID plus a selfie, and that took another day to clear. I use a password manager now but I'm paranoid about the recovery process, how do you all handle backup access without making it easy for thieves? Has anyone else been stuck by their own security setup like this?

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