Are you Ready for Hurricane Season?

June 23, 2022

Hurricane season is upon us. Don’t forget to include financial safety items in your hurricane or disaster planning. After a natural disaster, personal financial, insurance, medical, and other records can be vital to starting the recovery process. Here are some things you can do to help protect your financial safety in a disaster situation.

Update Your Emergency Plan

Hurricane Season for Florida runs from June – November, but a disaster can strike at any time. Your life and your business are constantly evolving, so it’s a good idea to review and update your emergency plan at least annually.

create Electronic Copies of Your Documents

You should keep your documents in a safe place. This includes bank statements, tax returns, and insurance policies. Water and fire-proof safes are great for your home office but can be cumbersome to pack in the case of an emergency evacuation. We recommend saving digital copies of all important documents on a USB flash drive or in an online cloud service.

This is especially easy now, as many financial institutions provide statement and documents electronically. If only paper documents are available, take some time while you’re preparing for hurricane season to scan these to your drive or cloud.

Document Your Valuables

Documenting valuables by taking pictures or videos before a disaster makes it easier to claim insurance and tax benefits. The IRS also offers a helpful disaster loss workbook that can be used to create a room-by-room list of belongings in case of a disaster affecting your home or belongings.

Understand What Tax Relief May Be Available To You After a Disaster

Documenting valuables by taking pictures or videos before a disaster makes it easier to claim insurance and tax benefits. The IRS also offers a helpful disaster loss workbook that can be used to create a room-by-room list of belongings in case of a disaster affecting your home or belongings.