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disaster kit

Q&A: Hard copies, thumb drives and the cloud: How to handle vital records when it’s time to flee

February 4, 2025 By Liz Weston

Dear Liz: We are assembling our important document to-go box with the typical things advised should we need to evacuate, such as birth and marriage certificates, passports, insurance documents, mortgage statements, etc. Many of the documents can be accessed online, so I wondered about pay-off statements from old loans and mortgages. Is it important to take copies of those? Also, what about grant deeds from previous properties that we no longer own?

Answer: In a disaster, you’ll need information to help you establish your identity and document what you currently own. Focus on safeguarding the most important paperwork and figure you can recreate the rest if necessary.

Start with documents that would be time-consuming or a hassle to replace, such as passports, birth and marriage certificates, immigration records, military records, vehicle titles, home inventories, appraisals, home plans or blueprints, recent tax returns and wills or other estate planning documents. The originals should be stored in a water- and fireproof place, such as a home safe or other secure location.

Consider storing copies of these documents, along with photos of your driver’s license and vehicle registration, on an encrypted thumb drive in your go bag or in a secure cloud-based storage service (Everplans is one option.) You could put physical copies in your evacuation bag, but much of the information could be helpful to an identity thief if stolen so you’ll have to weigh convenience against security.

Insurance policies are usually accessible online, but you may want to include your insurance companies’ contact information and policy numbers.

Also consider digitizing any family photos that aren’t already stored in the cloud. You may not have time to grab albums, and disaster victims often lament not having copied irreplaceable photos.

Filed Under: Emergency Preparedness, Legal Matters, Q&A Tagged With: disaster, disaster kit, emergency kit, emergency preparedness, go bag, to-go bag

Monday’s need-to-know money news

June 4, 2018 By Liz Weston

Today’s top story: Your store credit card wants to be your everyday card. Also in the news: Weathering life’s storms with an affordable disaster kit, how to wring the most business value from a personal loan, and which industries could feel the bite of a trade war.

Your Store Credit Card Wants to Be Your Everyday Card
Making the rewards more enticing.

Weather Life’s Storms With an Affordable Disaster Kit
Don’t be caught unprepared.

How to Wring the Most Business Value From a Personal Loan
Making a personal loan pay off.

These U.S. industries could feel the bite of a trade war
Is yours one of them?

Filed Under: Liz's Blog Tagged With: business loans, Credit Cards, disaster kit, Personal Loans, rewards, store credit cards, trade war

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