Disaster preparedness is a practical step everyone should take to keep themselves and their family safe during all kinds of emergencies. And while having water, canned goods, and medical supplies on hand is one step toward disaster preparedness, it’s not the only thing you should do. You should also have a financial first aid kit ready to help make survival during and recovery from an emergency that much easier.
Three Essential Measures
There are three essential steps to take when putting together your financial first aid kit:
- Set up all income sources as direct deposit so you don’t have to rely on the mail to get expected monies.
- Itemize all the items in your home and all of your accounts on a smartphone or in a notebook, leaving room to later create a disaster recovery log.
- Put all of your important documents in a safe place such as a fireproof safe.
Let’s take a look at each of these steps in detail.
Direct Deposit
Cash flow is vital after a disaster, but if you’re waiting for checks to be delivered or forwarded to a temporary address then you’re going to be at a big disadvantage. Schedule a direct deposit for any employer income, investment income, assistance and other income sources.
Property Itemization
Getting the right value for damaged property is an important part of getting your life back together after a disaster. By keeping an itemized list of all the property in your home you can better prove the value of your losses to the insurance company. Having this record of what you owned will assist you in making a detailed log of all the damages you endure during a disaster. A smartphone is ideal for both of these tasks, as you can use the phone’s camera and you can download one of many apps dedicated to property itemization and disaster logs.
In addition, having a separate list of all of your account information such as bank account numbers and insurance policy numbers will make it easier for you to access information that may have been destroyed in the event of a disaster.
Preserving Documents
Our lives are ruled by fragile paper documents that need to be kept safe from disaster. From your birth certificate to Social Security card, bank statements to insurance policies, marriage certificate, deeds and titles to various legal documents there’s an almost endless list of items you need to be able to access after a disaster. In addition to keeping the originals in a fireproof safe, you can also keep copies in a safe-deposit box (or vice versa), or keep copies scanned and uploaded to a secure storage cloud.
Your WealthPath may be littered with unexpected obstacles, but Kramer Wealth Managers is here to help you find a way to deal with all of them. Contact us today to see how we can keep the pathway clear and organized!
