Play it safe
While watching news coverage of the recent fires that devastated California, I saw interviews with frantic homeowners who were forced to evacuate their homes. Firefighters gave them only five minutes to collect their belongings, and they mentioned family photographs or other mementos they managed to save and hoped there would be something left when they returned. So what would you save if you had to evacuate your house in only five minutes? Would you save photographs or would you scramble to save everything within your reach? What you should be running to save is your important documents such as insurance policies, property deeds, mortgage papers, birth certificates, will, Social Security card and much, much more.
Throughout life, people experience many ups and downs; disasters such as fires and floods are only a few of the things that can devastate your life. Imagine that all your documents and your identity was in jeopardy. The perfect way to protect yourself from any disaster is to keep your documents in a fireproof safe. I believe that everyone should invest in one since it is a foolproof way to keep your papers and your identity secure in any disaster, including fire of theft.
Within the safe, you need to have a system to keep all papers together and filed in such a way as to be easily accessible without sorting through a stack of papers. It is also essential to appoint an advocate within your family who knows how to access the safe and understands the filing system for your documents. This will help you and your family in the long run by saving critical time in a medical emergency or other disaster. My advice is to invest in a safe and get organized before a disaster! Whether it is a fire, flood or tornado, that safe could save you time, trouble, money and possibly even your life.