"Hey honey, take this test," Mrs. Cents said to me a couple months ago. My Spidey-Sense was tingling but still I took the bait. It was a Myers-Briggs Test. For the uninitiated, this is a test that tells you why you and your wife fight all the time. When my wife took it and it said she was Princess Diana and when I took it said I was Alan Greenspan. Beauty and the Beast?
"So that's what's wrong with you," she said as she went over the results of my test. Actually, it was more like, "Hmmmmm," but my wife translator was in good working order. OK, so officially I am INTJ, or as they call it, a Mastermind. This means that I'm right and you're wrong… all the time. Unfortunately, it usually means that you're not smart enough to understand that, so it generally looks like I'm wrong and you're right. It's a mixed blessing.
But another characteristic of a Mastermind is that they are great contingency planners. And that's what this article is about. Specifically, the Emergency Kit.
I made up our Emergency Kit with one thing in mind. "If everything in my world exploded, except for me and my wife, what do we do?" Well, this might seem a little extreme, but oddly enough, it recently wasn't far from the truth for a family friend.
This friend was living down south in one side of a duplex while their daughter and her family lived in the other side. The unthinkable happened one night as their homes, yes both of them, burned to the ground. Everything was gone. Clothes. Wallets. Computers. TVs. Beds. Money. IDs. Cell phones. Even the cars in the garages. The good news was that no one was hurt. The bad news was that all their possessions were incinerated and they spent the next few WEEKS in the care of a Red Cross facility trying to sort their lives out.
Most people would immediately look at this situation and ask, "Did they have insurance?" and if so, they wouldn't give it another thought. Don't get me wrong, we fully believe that insurance (both life and casualty) is a big portion of financial security, but there are a lot of things insurance can't help you with.
Lost Time
After a catastrophic event such as this, you will most likely spend a lot of time trying to put the pieces of your life together. There is a distinct possibility that it will never be complete again, but there are some things you can do to allow you to get back to your life sooner rather than later.
Lost Identification
This is one of the most important things in our lives now, and while it might seem easy to replace a driver's license on a normal day, trying doing so without a social security card, credit card statement, passport, birth certificate or any other form of identification. It's quite possibly the equivalent of a having a root canal, with no anesthetic, given by a blind dentist, with no insurance.
Lost Documentation
While losing your identification is a pain in the butt, try calling your insurance agent when you don't know their number, you don't have a list of things that just burned up, and you don't even have a phone. How about trying to order copies of all of your credit cards but you don't remember which one was a Visa, which was your spouse's, which was closed, and what number to call. Feeling squimish yet?
Your insurance agent might be able to put you up in a hotel, or get you a rental car, but many of these other things are beyond their ability. That is why we created this Emergency Kit, the sole purpose of which is to reduce lost time, provide extra identification, and get us up and on our feet again within 24 hours, not 2-4 weeks. This kit, contents below, should be put in a local safety deposit box with one key in your possession and, if possible, another in the possession of a trusted source in close proximity.
Mr. & Mrs. Cents' Emergency Kit
- Social Security Cards – There are very few instances where you need your social security card in everyday life. By keeping it in your kit you are protecting it from harm, but ensuring it will be exactly where you need it, when you need it.
- Ownership Titles (house, autos, etc…) – These are very difficult to replace should they happen to be destroyed. Not impossible, but difficult. Keeping them in a safe place makes sure you will never lose them nor will they be destroyed in an accident.
- Birth Certificates – Again, this is in the same vein as the social security cards and will provide you with an additional form of identification in the case of an emergency.
- Extra Photo IDs (State IDs) – We used a state identification card issued through our local DMV. The point here was to have a picture ID to verify any other identification such as an SS card or birth certificate.
- Account List – This is a biggie. Make a list of all of your credit cards, banking accounts, loans, utility services, etc… that you have, with account numbers and the number to their customer service. This is helpful if you need to order copies of your credit cards, debit cards, replace loan books, inform services of cancellation, etc… It takes a little time, but it's worth it. And for the love of Moses, update it at least once a year!
- Asset List – This is more for the benefit of the insurance agent, but it's also a huge time saver for you. In the event of your house burning down, you will need to provide your agent with a list of all your assets lost. The list should identify the item, brand, model, price paid (if possible) and possibly when you acquired it.
- Extra Credit Card – Like most Americans, we have a couple more credit cards than we actually use. In this case though, I'll make the exception and call this acceptable. This credit card is for those immediately needed things after "the event". Hotel room? Change of clothes? Food? That's what this credit card is for. To make life a little easier in a horrible time.
- Cash – An alternative or a supplement to the credit card, keep a nominal amount of cash just in case. Not every place takes credit and you might not want to have to take a cash advance from your card.
- Insurance Information – Agent name, number, emergency number, company, policy number. Quick and easy.
- Wills – If the unthinkable should coincide with a loss of life, this will be needed. I won't dwell on this topic too long, but wills are very much a necessary thing. Do you and your spouse/family a favor and make sure you have a will and that it is updated appropriately.
While keeping the above contents in a safety deposit box won't stop a disaster from happening, it will keep the disaster from over-taking your life during one of its weakest moments.
We hope this makes cents.
1 comment:
Great post!
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