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In a previous post Are your Personal Finances Ready for the Unexpected? I discuss the important of being prepared. With the recent earthquakes in Haiti, its a reminder that we all need to be prepared for those unexpected natural disasters. You never know when it will strike but you should be prepare in case it does strike. We all say it will never happen to us but trust me it can happen. Having lived through a natural disaster, I know what it is like. Its not easy but having your personal finances and emergency plan in place helps relieve some stress.
Here are five things you will need to help you prepare financial for a natural disaster:
Emergency Fund – Make sure your emergency fund is properly funded in case of disaster. Do you currently have sufficient funds in your emergency fund to cover the cost of your insurance deductibles or any other expense no cover by your insurance.
Home owner’s Insurance – Do you have proper homeowner’s insurance on your home? Does your current homeowner’s policy cover natural disaster? You want to make sure you are properly covered in case of disaster.
Disaster Insurance – Do you currently have flood, earthquake, fire, tornado, or hurricane in place in case of disaster? If you have this insurance already in place is the coverage adequate? Review your home owner’s and disaster insurance to make these two policies will coverage any damage to your home.
Financial Documents – Create a file to keep copies of all your important documents such as insurance policies, medical documents, and any other documents you may need in emergency. You should keep these in file cabinet instead on your computer. You will probably not have electricity or internet access.
Financial Contact List – Create a disaster contact file. This should include numbers to your insurance company, mortgage company, and debt holders. This list should also be keep with the financial documents so everything you will need is in one location.
Action Step
Here are three action steps:
- Take some time this week to review your emergency fund to make sure its properly funded with enough funds to cover your insurance deductibles and other out of pocket expenses you can anticipate.
- Review your home owner and disaster insurance coverage to make sure you are properly covered. If not, call your insurance provider to increase your coverage.
- Create your disaster plan file folder by gathering all the necessary documents and numbers that you will need in a disaster situation.
Remember take one step at a time to simplify your personal finances.
If you would like more tips to help you simplify your personal finances make sure you subscribe to simple financial lifestyle email newsletter and subscribe to RSS feed for blog updates.
Good call with this list. I actually just updated my will, letter of intent, and life insurance beneficiaries because of this. Post will be up tomorrow.
Something else to think about is sharing a copy of your important documents, policy numbers, and so on with a close family member in another location. This is potentially helpful to you and them in case of a disaster.
In the event of a major or sudden disaster you may not have access to your financial institution. I learned from a friend that suffered in the Northridge earthquake to always keep some cash secure at or near your home just in case.
LeanLifeCoach´s last blog ..Sometimes More Is Less
All good ideas. One thing I’d add: Have some cash.
Some people live on credit or debit cards–which is fine when the power is on and network connectivity is working. But when you lose either of those, the ATMs all go down and shops quit taking cards. In a circumstance like that, having enough cash to cover your ordinary expenses can make a big difference.
Philip,
That is a great tip. Having cash is key when a disaster hits.