SubscribeWhen I think of preparing for an emergency, I typically think of first aid kits, flashlights, and food storage. In the aftermath of a disaster, it’s hard to imagine that money matters will be a top priority, but as things begin to settle down and get back to normal, you may find that the financial side of things is a significant source of stress and concern. The government might be there to help if the disaster is serious enough, but even if you can secure a little assistance from Uncle Sam, this assistance typically comes in the form of loans that must be paid back (with interest). Any grants you receive would only be enough to meet immediate needs, not to repair or recover your possessions. The good news is that, as always, you can make things easier on yourself and your family by planning ahead.
Create a financial disaster recovery kit by gathering the following items together and storing them in a safe location, whether it be a home safe or a portable, waterproof bag (such as these options from Shelf Reliance).
- Legal Documents: birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce papers, child custody papers, passports, driver’s licenses, social security cards, naturalization papers and residency documents, military/veteran’s papers, powers of attorney (including healthcare powers of attorney), will or trust documents
- Medical Information: records of past procedures, allergies, pre-existing conditions
- Financial Documents: cash (as ATM or bank services may be disrupted), bank statements, insurance policies, credit card numbers, a list of phone numbers for financial institutions and credit card companies where you have accounts
- Residential Items: an inventory of household possessions, appraisals of valuable items (jewelry, art, antiques, heirlooms), home improvement records, deeds/titles and other ownership records for property such as homes and automobiles
- Critical Computer Files: multiple backup copies of important documents from your personal and work computers
- Contact Information: a list of names, phone numbers, and e-mail addresses of family members, friends, business contacts, and emergency assistance agencies in your area, such as the Red Cross
*Information taken from 2008 pamphlet “Putting Down Roots in Earthquake Country: Your Handbook for Earthquakes in Utah,” distributed by the Utah Seismic Safety Commission. This report and any updates are available at:
http://geology.utah.gov/online/pdf/eq_handbook.pdf
August 11th, 2009 at 11:34 AM
http://www.Foodstoragemadeeasy.net has TONS of good ideas about getting your house in order. They have a notebook they sell with 2 week timelines that will get your house in order in just ONE YEAR! It’s a great find and I use it myself daily. It talks about all the paper/electronic info you should gather and how/where to store it.
Check it out.
August 11th, 2009 at 1:36 PM
Great ideas. My dad was a fireman, and to prepare just in case of a fire, he put all those things in a fireproof safe. He also took a video camera around the house to document what was inside for insurance purposes. Always good to be prepared!!
August 11th, 2009 at 2:58 PM
We have all of our documents in a fireproof safe and we even keep some pictures as well!
August 11th, 2009 at 5:18 PM
We need to get more organized. I can see from this blog that there are more organized ways to keep documents and financial information!!! Thank you for the ideas – my daughter-in-law keeps hers in the freezer in a huge ziplock. We have a small freezer so that wouldn’t work for us.
August 11th, 2009 at 5:29 PM
Thank you! It really is easy to forget about these items.. but really they are so important!
August 11th, 2009 at 8:14 PM
We just bought a waterproof/fireproof file box and with this list I now know exactly what to put in it. Thank you.
August 11th, 2009 at 8:40 PM
Remember to put *some* of your wealth/income into precious metals. They’ll protect your assets in the event of hyper-inflation due to Obama printing huge amounts of worthless dollars.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:18 PM
This is a good thing to know what to gather and where to keep it, Ours is just in different spots. Thanks for the info.
August 11th, 2009 at 9:41 PM
Wow, I’ve got some work to do. I thought I had everything I needed in our fireproof safe. Got to brush up on things around here. thanks for the tips!
August 11th, 2009 at 10:00 PM
Being financial prepared for an emergency is the hardest of all preparations for me. I live on a set income and just making ends meet can be difficult. I am looking for the Lord’s guidance in this area and praying that I can put money back for emergencies.
I have a book I recently bought to put all my financial, insurance, and other legal info into. This should be a great help to myself and my family when necessary.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:05 PM
Another thing to think about is that you may not be at home to grab whatever you set up in case of a fire or earthquake, so it is a good idea to make a second copy of many of the items listed above. Also scanning your family pictures onto disks/flash drives would keep the memories safe in case of a disaster. Give the second copy to a family member or someone else you trust who wouldn’t live right by you. When I lived in Florida (hurricane country) my mom in Atlanta had copies of anything important in a safe place at her house. Give some thought to this. A safe deposit box at a bank may be another option, but not if the bank gets hit by the same disaster you do.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:48 PM
I may be picking up some of those document protector bags you sell. I love the idea in a previous post of putting them in the freezer–not sure all the benefits of that but I like it
I really need to inventory my home, and a flood/fireproof safe. I keep copies of some documents in our 72 hr kits.
August 11th, 2009 at 10:56 PM
always a good idea to think of the “other” side of emergency preparedness. We have a fireproof safe, but we haven’t put recent items in it. It’s a good reminder to get your head back into planning for the future and things that we hope will never happen, but sometimes do.
August 11th, 2009 at 11:01 PM
Thank you for the information. It’s easy to forget that these are just as important as the food you have stored.
August 12th, 2009 at 5:38 AM
This is so important! I dont know what I would do if I lost all my kids pictures to a fire or flood! I need to invest in something to keep them in. Thanks for the info!
August 12th, 2009 at 7:00 AM
While we have made great strides to make sure we have things like wills, DPOAs, etc. they certainly are not protected as much as they should be.
We have some backups of pictures (and I believe wills and such) at my husband’s office. He has a safe that he keeps work things in and his employer doesn’t mind him having a couple CD’s of pictures in there. We have a supply of cash in the house, I never thought about having some at the office too.
August 12th, 2009 at 7:24 AM
I was just thinking this morning that I need to get all our paperwork better organized, and get a house inventory completed for insurance purposes. Tornado season is comming–again, and the paperwork needs to be gathered up and put in a safe place. Thanks for the reminder!
August 12th, 2009 at 8:32 AM
This is something I have been trying to get my friends juiced up financial health checkups and fitness programs. I think ONE has actually started working on getting her financial house in order. It sure makes sleeping at night much easier these days! Thanks! Lot of good ideas.
August 12th, 2009 at 11:31 AM
Great ideas! I mostly only think of food and first aid for when disaster strikes, but have been trying to start saving up $$ in small bills in case I need to buy something but the store doesn’t have the correct change then I won’t be stuck paying $20 for a small necessity!! I need to start putting some of those other ideas to use!! Thanks!!
August 12th, 2009 at 12:15 PM
You know, I have all our important docs in one place, but they are NOT in a wet proof case or anything and could get destroyed really easy. I’m going to make some changes today!!! Thanks!
August 12th, 2009 at 1:00 PM
great ideas
August 12th, 2009 at 2:30 PM
Wow, lots more to think about than I have been thinking about…:-) Thanks for the info! I better get going on it
August 12th, 2009 at 4:22 PM
Great ideas. Remember your firebox needs to be small enough to carry in an emergency (some are fairly large and heavy–one would be lucky to make it to the bottom of the driveway with it!)
August 13th, 2009 at 12:00 PM
I have some of this information collected and gathered together, but I definitely need to do more on my household inventory and computer files. Thank you for the reminder.
August 13th, 2009 at 9:04 PM
This is a great reminder. I have been meaning to put all of my documents and such together for years. Maybe now I’ll get it done.
August 14th, 2009 at 1:40 AM
Thank you for the handy list, these are the types of things I wouldn’t have thought about until after the fact.
August 14th, 2009 at 7:52 AM
I’ve really been wanting to open a safe deposit box with a good majority of these things and then keep a copy of it all at home. Also, scanning these documents into your computer and storing the digital file somewhere else can be another back-up.
September 3rd, 2010 at 7:24 PM
That was a good topic you wrote.