| As victims of Hurricane Katrina and other recent | | | | location is in a bank safe deposit box or water |
| disasters have found, when you have to function | | | | fireproof safe in your own city. The second |
| after a major disaster, being without your birth | | | | location is in a safe deposit box outside of your |
| certificate, social security card or bank account | | | | area or state. Many of the banks in the |
| numbers can be a huge problem.But with this | | | | hurricane-ravaged areas ended up being as |
| checklist, you'll be able to make a completely | | | | inaccessible to customers as their homes were.As |
| accessible repository all of your vital documents | | | | secure as those locations are, hard copies can |
| and communications that you can use, whether | | | | sustain damage even in a supposedly safe place. |
| you're at home dealing with a medical emergency, | | | | And with concerns about identity theft, you may |
| or dealing with a major disaster and need your | | | | also be wary about placing delicate information like |
| important documents to start over.Let's begin by | | | | identification and credit card numbers out of your |
| gathering all of your important documents. Here | | | | sight.So how do you secure your vital documents |
| are the types of documents you need to | | | | while making them accessible? Simple. Just scan |
| secure.Bank account information (and PIN | | | | each document onto a CD or Flash Drive, then |
| numbers, passwords and toll-free numbers) | | | | password protect it and store the data it in the |
| Investment account information (and PIN | | | | locations mentioned above, either along with, or |
| numbers, passwords and toll-free numbers) | | | | instead of the hard copies. While you're at it, |
| Medical records | | | | make an extra copy of the data and store it with |
| Credit cards (copies of the card, account | | | | your records at home. If an emergency strikes, |
| number, toll-free numbers and credit limit) | | | | first grab the kids and pets, then the CD/Flash |
| Income tax returns | | | | Drive, and then Grandma's silver! A few new |
| Insurance policies | | | | services take security and accessibility a step |
| Stocks/bonds | | | | further.With SmartDisasterPlan.com, you can have |
| Student identification | | | | your own online personal vault, with SSL security |
| Wills | | | | that will not only give you up to two gigabytes of |
| Living Wills | | | | memory to store everything from vital |
| Power of Attorney | | | | documents to family photos, but you can access |
| Power of Attorney for Healthcare Decisions | | | | this information from any computer with Internet |
| Driver's licenses/ID/Medicare Card | | | | access. This could have made all the difference |
| Marriage certificates | | | | for Katrina victims or Tsunami victims who lost |
| Birth certificates | | | | everything in minutes and found themselves in |
| Auto registration | | | | neighboring states/countries, badly in need of their |
| Citizenship papers | | | | most basic information. Smart Disaster Smart |
| Death/burial certificates | | | | Disaster has three different plans ranging from |
| Warranties | | | | $15 to $39 per year. They're just one company |
| Family Immunization Records | | | | providing this type of online file system, and |
| Family Social Security cards/numbers | | | | though we've never used their service, they |
| Property titles or deeds | | | | seem terrific.If you have a video camera, you |
| Company Benefits | | | | may also want to videotape a walking tour of |
| Contact information for your doctors, lawyer, | | | | your home, featuring the home and any pricier |
| accountant, broker etc | | | | possessions you have. Not only does this show |
| Optional | | | | claims adjusters what you have and it's present |
| Health and Medical Records | | | | condition, but if you ever need to make a claim, it |
| Safe Deposit Box Key | | | | will jog your memory of what you have and |
| Photos/Videos of your possessions and | | | | what would need replacing.Want to know the |
| registration numbers | | | | biggest impediment to safeguarding all of the |
| Household Inventory | | | | things you hold dear. Procrastination! Taking fifteen |
| Since you want to make sure you have what | | | | or twenty minutes today to take care of |
| you need in an emergency, the idea is to put this | | | | business, can save you days, months or even |
| information in places that will be accessible to you, | | | | years of pain.You can find even more information |
| even if you are unable to get inside your home.As | | | | about keeping your family, emergency information |
| a first-line of defense, make two copies of all of | | | | and vital documents safe in the Making Your |
| the information you gathered from the list above | | | | Family Safe in 15 Minutes or Less, Action Plan. |
| and put it in two secure locations. The first | | | | Download it free from our website at today. |