Cents and Sensibility
Cents and Sensibility
A hurricane is headed your way. Obviously, you and your family need to head for safety. What should you take with you? There are many possibilities, but you should give strong consideration to protecting your financial records. If they are destroyed, it could mean countless headaches. Protect your records
from disasterOf course, the best time to think about preserving your financial records is well ahead of any emergency . By taking a few simple precautions, you can ensure that your vital financial records will never get washed out, burned up or blown away.
Here are a few preservation suggestions:
>> Know where you keep your documents. Keep a file of all your brokerage statements, insurance policies, annuity contracts, bank accounts, financial planning materials and any other financial paperwork you have. If you know exactly where everything is -- and it is easily accessible -- you won't have to scramble around when you have to leave in a hurry.
>> Minimize the papers you keep. Some people are savers, some are purgers. In terms of financial records, it's good to be somewhere in-between. Saving just those documents you feel are really essential will make it easier to grab the things you need in an emergency.
>> Computerize as much as you can. If you've got the equipment to scan documents into your computer, that's great. But even if you don't, you can do something as simple as creating a document and typing in all your important financial information. However you enter your financial information on your computer, be sure to back it up on a diskette or a CD. Both are extremely portable, so they won't slow you down when you need to move fast.
>> Don't keep everything in the house. If you have particularly important documents, such as your will or your living trust arrangements, you may want to consider keeping them in a safe deposit box in a bank. Your attorney or accountant probably has copies of these documents, but it is always best to err on the safe side.
Guy Steele is a financial planner and head
of the Pali Palms office of Edward Jones. Send
planning and investing questions to him at 970
N. Kalaheo Ave., Suite C-210, Kailua, HI, 96734,
or by email at: gsteele2@pixi.com