e
• Strengthen your home.
Your home is probably your
biggest asset, so you’ll want
to do everything you can to
keep it safe. In the face of a
truly calamitous event, such as
hundred-mile-per-hour winds
or the advance of uncontrol-
lable fire, there may not be
much you can do, but in less
dire circumstances, your ac-
tions can help. Your insurance
professional can offer tips on
protecting your residence.
• Maintain sufficient insur-
ance. It’s a good idea to review
your existing homeowners or
renters insurance periodically
ust this past year, we’ve to make sure you are suffi-
seen natural disasters
ciently covered for all possible
in Texas, California,
hazards. Keep in mind that
Florida and Puerto Rico homeowneers insurance does
– and looking back even not typically cover flooding,
further, it’s not hard to
so you may need to purchase
spot other traumas in virtual-
flood insurance from the
ly every part of the country.
National Flood Insurance
Whether it’s a tornado, hur-
Program. (Depending on
ricane, flood or wildfire, you
where you live, this coverage
may be at least potentially
may be required when you
susceptible to a weather-relat- get your mortgage.) Also, in
ed event that could threaten
conjunction with maintaining
your physical – and financial
your insurance, you should
– well-being. How can you
document your possessions, so
protect yourself?
you may want to make a video
inventory as well as a written
As far as your physical safety list containing descriptions and
is concerned, you’re probably values.
already aware of the steps y ou
need to take to shield yourself • Create an emergency fund.
and your family. And now that A natural disaster can lead to
many alerts can be sent direct- a wide array of unanticipat-
ly to your smartphone, you’ve ed costs: appliance repair or
got an even better chance to
replacement, hotel and restau-
prepare for an approaching
rant bills, insurance deduct-
threat. But when it comes to
ibles – the list could go on and
safeguarding your financial
on. Consequently, you’ll help
situation, you’ll need to be
protect yourself and your fami-
ready well in advance – and
ly by building an emergency
the following moves can help: fund. Some of this money
J
should go into a liquid, low-
risk account, but you may also
want to keep a small amount
of cash at home in a safe place,
as ATMs and credit cards may
not work during or following
a disaster, when you must pur-
chase needed supplies.
• Protect your documents.
As you go through life, you’ll
accumulate a lot of documents
– mortgage papers, insurance
policies, financial accounts,
tax statements and so on. If
disaster strikes, you may need
these documents. You’ll want
to store paper copies in a fire-
proof and waterproof box or
safe at home, in a bank safety
deposit box, or with a relative
or close friend. Of course,
we’re now living in a digital
age, so you can store electron-
ic copies of important docu-
ments in a password-protected
format on a removable flash or
external hard drive. Better yet,
you might want to use a secure
cloud-based service.
With luck, you can avoid
being victimized by a natural
disaster. But, as the old saying
goes: “Hope for the best and
prepare for the worst.” From
a financial perspective, that’s
good advice.
Edward Jones Investments
1500 Beach Blvd. Ste 223
Jacksonville Beach, FL 32250
Office: 904-595-5955
Cell: 904-254-0406
[email protected]
AUGUST 2018
39