8 Ways To Safeguard Your Financial House

1. Open a safe deposit box at your local bank. Make sure it's large enough to accommodate your valuables, and keep an updated inventory of its contents.

2. Make copies (or get duplicates) of every important document in your file cabinet. These include wills, trusts, health-care directives, and powers of attorney.

3. Store these documents and any others containing confidential or sensitive data in your safe deposit box or home safe. A safe is also a good spot for your spare keys, irreplaceable items, and valuables (such as jewelry and coin and stamp collections).

4. Maintain a current list of secret passwords, access codes, PINs, the combination of your home safe (or the location of the spare key), and other confidential data.

5. Make important items portable. Items that cannot be photocopied and/or must be kept at your home should be stored in portable file boxes. Write "Take" on the tops and sides of the boxes and store them in a place where they can be easily accessed in the event you are forced to evacuate.

6. Make a current inventory. A room-by-room written (or video) inventory of all of your possessions will help speed the process of insurance claims should it come to that. Include items in your garage, basement, and attic, plus serial numbers, dates of purchase, and purchase prices where applicable. Store this information in your safe deposit box.

7. Create Command Central for your family. Life is complicated, and unfortunately, so is death or incapacitation. If you were unable, would your loved ones be able to take over the family finances in a pinch?

8. Preserve the memory of items like artwork and plaques by taking digital photos of them to be stored off-premises. During an evacuation, it might be hard to cart off a sculpture while wrangling dogs and kids. The same goes for computer data. Back up your hard drive frequently and store it in the safe or off-site.

Keller Williams Real Estate

Jeff and Heather Rickert, Realtor, RSPS
215-850-9640 cell
215-631-1900 office
215-631-1999 fax
e-mail: jeffheather2@verizon.net

Website: www.jeffrickertteam.com

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