When it comes to safeguarding your important personal documents, safe-deposit boxes used to be the only solution for the typical person. But recently, fireproof safes have become an affordable option, allowing you to keep your documents safe and within easy reach. Recognizing which documents deserve such protection can help you to make a plan for life after a disaster. Your first priority in protecting your information should be your personal identity documents. Your passport, living will, Social Security card, tax documents, birth certificate, any vital health records and a copy of your driver's license should go in your safe. You might also include marriage or divorce documents, military records, degrees and professional licenses or certifications and wills. Pertinent real estate records, including deeds, titles, title insurance, homeowners insurance, real estate taxes, and home inspections for any properties you own, should be stored in the safe. You also will want to store documentation regarding any other large assets, such as your car/truck. As with your personal documents, keep copies of the originals in a separate location. Prepare an inventory of your household goods, complete with receipts for high-cost items. Having an organized list of your home contents to give your insurance company can help get claims paid quickly. Make two sets of copies of any original documents you store in your safe and keep them in a separate location, both preferably off-site one set with a relative and the other with a trusted friend or a safe-deposit box at your bank. Having a backup plan to your backup plan is not just smart it’s damn smart and the best way to be if you are planning to survive a disaster or event of doom. And as we are talking about a fireproof safe let’s talk a little about having some cash on hand. You should always have about $200- $500 dollars of small bills in your safe to use in a Bug out event. Just look at it like this a major disaster as hit your city and there is no power any place and you and your wife/husband have said,” that’s it we are out of here” but you have no cash and only have your ATM or debt card. No power in your area and maybe for miles away so without cash you are up the river without a paddle. So always keep some cash in your safe and I even keep a small amount of cash hidden in my truck for just this kind of event.
Keep all your documents in a folder that would be very easy to get and go. You would want to take any and all important documents with you in case of a disaster of an event of doom. And have a money bag like the banks has to put your cash and other valuables in so you can take them with you. After most disasters you will have looters and you don’t want your loot got!
And just remember that fireproof safes are not indestructible. A large fire could heat the safe enough to scorch paper or destroy electronic media inside. And please bolt your safe to the slab of your house because a safe not bolted to the floor is just a gift to a theft that breaks into your home. Be smart and think smart and live smart.
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