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| Home > Fact
of the Week 2011 >Financial
Preparation |
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12-19-2011
Preparedness
Facts of the Week
by
Elizabeth Hall, Emergency
Services Specialist -
Kings County Public
Health Department |
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Preparation
of Your Financial Data
Printable
PDF
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If you were given only five minutes to leave your home,
what would you do?
The first thing to do would be to gather your family and then get your
prepared family disaster plan and disaster supply kit. What about all your
personal and financial papers? Do you even know where they are? Could you
find them all in an emergency? Think about what would happen to them in
a disaster like a fire, flood or earthquake. In the event of a disaster,
whether it occurs naturally or is man-made, people lose their possessions,
their homes, or even their lives. Have you thought about how difficult
it would be to rebuild your life financially, physically, and emotionally,
even if you had all of your financial and personal information? What if
it had all been destroyed? How would you take care of your bills if you
had no records? How would you file your insurance claim if you had no record
of what was lost? Imagine the time and work involved in replacing all these
essential papers! |
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What
if something happened to you? |
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Lets take it one step further. What if something happened to you and
your adult children were left behind to manage your estate? Would
they know what insurance policies you have, where you keep your
bank account information, safety deposit boxes and birth certificates?
Would they know what types of loans, credit cards and other debts
you have to manage? What about power of attorney? Have you planned
for them to pick up where you left off? Overwhelming? Yes it is,
but how much more overwhelming will it be after the disaster. Preparation
is the key! As with any overwhelming project like the dreaded term
papers back in the day, if we just break it down in small pieces
at a time, we can accomplish it.
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Next,
Complete a Household Inventory |
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This
mission, should you choose to accept, can be
a daunting one to say the least; however, in
small steps it is doable. Your household inventory
should note your possessions and can be done
in several different ways. You can go from room
to room and write a description of your belongings,
or using either a video or digital camera, you
can take pictures of each room. Whichever method
you choose, you still need to write a brief description
of each item, including cost, age, manufacturer,
and model and serial number if available. Open
closet doors and photograph or note the contents.
If you have any expensive items, try to include
receipts or appraisals for them. Don’t
forget to inventory your attic, basement and
garage as well. Include a photograph or video
of the outside of your home and note special
landscaping, patio, deck and any other improvements.
This inventory of possessions will not only prove
what you owned should there be any emergency
that causes destruction of your belongings, but
will also help provide value of items. Your insurance
company will be able to respond faster with this
documentation.
After
you gather together all of your information,
make a copy of everything. Get certified
copies of those documents that require certification.
Choose a trusted person to hold on to those
papers and send a complete copy of all of
them, including any computer disk/thumb drives
to that person. Keep your originals on file
in the chosen location and be sure to update
that file regularly. Most importantly, be
sure to tell your family where they can find
both sets of documents. If you keep one copy
in a safety deposit box, keep only one key
and give the other to a trusted individual
outside our home.
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Save
yourself and your family from countless hours
of work |
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By
taking the time now to prepare your personal
and financial records, you can save yourself
and your family from countless hours of work
and worry in case the papers are destroyed, and
you will be able to concentrate on your safety
and the safety of your family. |
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Financial
Data Details
The following list details some of the information that you would
want to include in your documentation:
- Credit
card numbers
- Bank
account numbers
- Insurance
policy numbers
- Social
security cards and correspondenc
- Automobile
license plate numbers and
registration cards
- Drivers'
license numbers
- Automobile
titles
- Birth
Certificates
- Death
Certificates
- Marriage
Licenses
- Passports
- Copies
of wills
- Home
loan information
- Personal
loan information
- Stock/bond
certificates
- Real
estate deeds and titles
- Savings
Bonds
- Divorce/custody/adoption
papers
- Tax
returns
- Armed
services papers
- Benefits
information
- Medical
records
- Immunization
records
- Pharmaceutical
prescriptions
- Eyeglass
prescriptions
- Important
receipts
- Business
incorporation record
- Business
contracts
- Computer
backups
- Household
inventory
- Funeral
wishes
- Address
book with numbers for friends,
relatives,
attorney, accountant, broker, doctors, vet, etc.
- Additional
vital records as per your
situation
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Be
Responsible - Be Ready - Be Prepared!
Teaming
Up for Emergency Preparedness
Elizabeth Hall
Kings County Public Health Department
Hanford, CA 93230
(559) 852-2634
www.kingscountyoem.com
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