Emergency Preparedness
/As of May 1, 2024, the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) has issued 25 major disaster declarations in multiple states impacted by winter storms, flooding, tornadoes, wildfires, landslides, and mudslides. As of this writing, there have been 670 confirmed tornadoes with 35 major tornadoes with devastating destruction.
While a bank safe deposit box should protect against most disasters, most financial records, such as bank and credit card statements, are available online, as are income and real estate tax records when needed. Your attorney, CPA, or financial planner may have copies of your legal, tax and financial planning documents. However, you likely have important documents in your possession stored in filing cabinets, drawers or even fire-proof safes that need additional care.
Reconstructing lost records and assets, although not likely an initial impulse when disaster strikes, may be challenging to say the least in the weeks that follow. Having your financial and medical records and important contact information (with account numbers) will be crucial to the success of the recovery process. It is recommended to have this information compiled, and in a secure place outside of your home.
Some items to include are: passwords, computer backups, family communication plan, marriage certificate, divorce decree, adoption records, child custody papers, passports, pet ownership papers, vehicle titles, home improvement records, photos of your home inside and out, home inventory photos (drawers and closets included), as well as in your wallet (driver’s license, insurance and credit cards). These items should be scanned and stored electronically in the cloud, saved to an external drive, or physically copied and placed somewhere secure outside of your home.
Identifying important records and understanding how and where to access them before disaster strikes, be it one of nature or more localized, such as a house fire or basement flood, will help avoid problems and help you to recover with less effort.
- Pam Smitson, CPA, CGMA, Smitson Erhart-Graves Financial Advisors
