Posted on February 16, 2006 at 16:52:25:
What if you had to leave your home in a hurry – in a fire, in floodwaters or any disaster? What would you take with you? Modern technology can provide a simple, portable collection of your important papers and records, but it will take some preparation.
Start with a basic list of credit card numbers, your bank account and PIN numbers, your investment accounts with online passwords, your insurance policies, and the family Social Security numbers. You’ll also need to list the location of wills, living will, power of attorney, property deeds, insurance policies, company benefits, safe deposit box and location of the key, and a household inventory.
Enter all this in your computer and from there to a flash drive that acts as a portable hard drive. In some, the information can be encrypted. To document your belongings, go through the house with a camcorder. Save the pictures on a memory card or on the USB drive that holds your other documents.