Are Your Records Organized?

By: Marvin LeBlanc

Each week we painfully witness Mother Nature's ability to interrupt our daily lives. Flooding, Ice storms, Thunderstorms, Tornadoes, Hurricanes. What else am I forgetting? 

If you were incapacitated, would anyone be able to find your important records and take care of your family's financial or business matters? Having important papers organized and accessible in advance can be very important in an emergency or crisis situation. 

Think about location. Options for storage might include a home safe, fire-security box or off-site location such as a safety deposit box. The storage container should be securable and fire resistant. Shoe boxes or cardboard boxes in the closet or under the bed are not appropriate.
 
Who knows? Does someone in addition to your partner or family members know where these papers are kept? Consider making a list of such papers and records, and on the list state where these documents can be found. Then advise a trusted third party - an attorney, CPA, relative, or family friend - where this list is kept.
 
The general idea is that someone not living in your residence knows about this list and how to access it. This decision requires a certain comfort level, and you alone must make that decision based on trust.
 
Which papers? Regardless of who knows what, organized records are always a plus. The following items might be part of your "important documents" list:

• safety deposit box key
• life insurance policies
• deeds, contracts, leases, titles, mortgage(s), loan notes
• banking, savings, investment and retirement account(s) records
• will
• burial arrangements
• all other insurance policies (health, auto, home, etc.)
• birth certificates

 
However you decide to store your personal records, and whatever you decide to include, one fact is clear. If important legal, business and personal documents are organized and accessible, the handling of a crisis situation is made much easier.

We sincerely hope that you find these ideas helpful and then ACT ON THEM now. Knowledge is not power. Applying the knowledge and ideas is where the power rest.
 
Peace, Love and Gumbo,
Marvin LeBlanc, LUTCF, CNP

About The Author

Marvin LeBlanc LUTCF, CNP, is a performance strategist and author of the number one Amazon Kindle best-selling book, Come Hell or High Water: Life Lessons from Hurricane Katrina. Marvin not only brings wisdom and insight gained from his three decades in the insurance and finance industries, but he also empowers others through his unique sharing of lessons and techniques from years of corporate and leadership training and motivational programs. A vibrant entrepreneur who makes the stage his own–and yours, Marvin’s humor-filled stories bring inspiration, heart-warming truths and tangible, strategic takeaways you can bring back to your organization.