Bankrate.com
Natural disasters vary in severity, ranging from being merely inconvenient to being deadly. Besides bringing chaos and destruction, they usually pop up at the most inconvenient times, and with little warning. The safest strategy in planning for an unexpected event is to adopt a when, not if, attitude and have an emergency plan in place.
The usual emergency plan considers physical safety and needs. But, if you must evacuate your home, or its contents are damaged, you want to have your financial life in order, too.
Plan for Emergencies
Use this checklist to put together your financial disaster-preparedness kit.
Six Preparational Tasks
- Collect important financial documents.
- Take a home inventory.
- Check your insurance coverages.
- Get a professional appraisal of valuables.
- Create a list of important phone numbers.
- In case of evacuation, have a bag packed.
1. Collect important personal documents and financial documents.
Put important original documents in plastic covers to protect them and to prevent you from accidentally giving away the originals. Place all the original documents in one place, such as a fire-proof box or safe-deposit box. Make copies of documents that you want to have handy or take with you in case of an evacuation. You may want to consider storing an extra set of copies in an alternate location as a precaution.
Here's what to gather:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificates or divorce decrees
- Identification records (Social Security card, driver's license, green card, passport, etc.)
- Titles, deeds, registrations for property and vehicles owned
- Mortgage and other loan information
- Insurance policies, appraisals
- Investment records
- Income tax records
- Trusts
- Wills
- Bank account records
- Credit card statements
- Employer benefit statements
2. Take a home inventory.
Taking inventory of your house?
- Take still photos or video of your home, inside and out, and valuable possessions.
- Review your inventory every two to three years to keep it up to date.
- Augment the video or photographs with a written record. List each item and its value, as well as any identifying numbers where appropriate.
- Put your inventory records in a safe place, such as a safe-deposit box. Make copies of your records.
Next: Check your insurance coverages. >
