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| 6-step personal finance emergency plan |
| By Bankrate.com • Bankrate.com |
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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.
| Use this checklist to put together
your financial disaster-preparedness kit. |
| If you'd like to print out the
list, see the PDF
version. |
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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.
3. Check your insurance coverages.
The Insurance Information
Institute, a nonprofit industry trade group, recommends looking
at your insurance coverage in four key areas: the structure of your
house, your belongings, your liability to others and your living
expenses if you're forced out. The goal is to be able to rebuild
your house in the event of a disaster and replace everything in
it. To that end, experts recommend replacement value insurance for
the contents of your home and extended-replacement-value insurance
for the house itself.
- Sit down with your insurance agent and review your options to
make sure you're covered for specific types of events, such as
flooding.
4. Get a professional
appraisal of valuables.
When you get the appraisal, be sure your current insurance
policy provides adequate coverage limits for the appraised items
or have riders for them.
5. Create a
list of important phone numbers.
Include in your list of phone numbers:
- Banks and other financial institutions.
- Employers.
- Insurance agents.
- Power, light, gas or other utility companies.
6. In case of
evacuation, have a bag packed.
Keep in the bag:
- Copies of important documents.
- Extra cash.
- Important phone numbers list.
- Photos of your home inventory.
- A camera to document any damage upon your return.
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Get more information on disaster preparedness: |
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