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Where's The Important Stuff?

BOSTON (CBS) - Most of you think a catastrophe will never happen to you so why worry about it. I do know catastrophes happen.

My niece in Colorado got a phone call alert in the middle of the night to evacuate her home immediately because of a fire. She was thankfully prepared. She grabbed her son, his favorite teddy bear, their boots, her computer, her files, some pictures and left. When they were finally allowed back she found her home was gone.

We may not get serious fires here in New England but we do get flooding. If you were told to evacuate within the hour would you be able to gather up the kids, the important papers of your life, the baby pictures, wedding photos, the cat, sensible shoes and leave in under an hour?

You should be able to. Don't worry about clothes for the Red Cross will provide some, just grab the important stuff.

Planning for a catastrophe means you will need to be organized. Set up a filing system.

Sort through all of the places you have stashed those important papers. Organize the stuff into piles and begin to catalog the stuff you have gathered up.

Set up a master file and list. Think of it as the table of contents of your life. Where are the important documents of your life stored? On your computer? In the filing cabinet? At the attorney's office? Safety deposit box?

List the document and where it is located. Also put together a list of all of your investment and retirement accounts, insurance policies, EE Bonds, credit card accounts.

Create a list of all of your PIN numbers. Make a paper copy so if your computer is down you can still access your accounts. Next, a list of your advisors with their telephone numbers. Include your doctor, financial planner, attorney, tax preparer, plumber, and electrician.

And while you are in the organizing mode, take inventory or video tape the contents of your home.

Keep this master file in a safe and accessible place. You want to be able to grab the master file if you need to evacuate.

One more thing: On my website, there is worksheet entitled the Document Locator. Download the information and use it to record where your important papers are kept.

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