I know we have told you all about taking care of yourself and your family and friends, but my little economics-loving heart happened to run across this pretty fantastic article published about four weeks ago in the New York Times regarding the preparedness measures to be taken regarding one's financial assets. While anyone living in the United States and in many parts of the world may remember, 2007 was not really the best year for financial assets and the economy as a whole, nor were the years immediately following. We entered a horrible recession, and have only just recently found our unemployment rate (admittedly a lagging indication of economic performance) back down to 5.6%.
With this newfound confidence in a growing and more secure market, however, comes newfound risk-seeking behavior. The New York Times article outlines how some mutual funds are increasing their "illiquid" assets, or assets that would be hard to trade or sell within the seven-day period required by the SEC. While not typically phrased in this way, remaining aware of one's preparedness given an emergency like the crash that kicked off the most recent economic downturn is incredibly important. Given Charlotte's status as the second-largest center of finance in the country (second only to New York), I figured I might not be the only one interested in this article. Enjoy, y'all!
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| Some days you just have to make it rain at the office in the name of preparedness. |
Further, while many of our posts here from your Community Emergency Preparedness Corps crew relate directly to what to do to prepare yourself for a house fire, or an earthquake, or a hurricane or any manner of wild scenarios, many times people may take steps to prepare for these physical emergencies, but take no time to make sure their information regarding assets (like a house or car), insurance, and bank information is in one place. The Red Cross estimates you have on average two minutes to escape a house fire, so having this information easily accessible in one place (especially in a fireproof safe, in case disaster strikes while you're away) is incredibly important.
All that said, I get it: I'm young, and if not for finding myself in this field of work, I would have very little idea what all I should have set aside if my apartment were to find itself in flames. And for that exact reason, I have this amazing pamphlet from FEMA outlining exactly what one needs to set aside. Some of these items you may not have a need for. For example, I'm happily unmarried, so I don't really need to set aside any marriage or divorce paperwork. That said, this is a really wonderful and exhaustive form in quite the user-friendly checklist format outlining a lot of things I should have set aside, like my renter's insurance and birth certificate. If you have pets, make sure your microchip information and pet veterinary records are here as well. As I learned in a recent training with Red Cross, if you need to take your pet with you to your local pet-friendly shelter in the event of a disaster, you will have to have current veterinary records to show that your pet is healthy and not a risk to others.
To access the pamphlet from FEMA, please click here!
And because life just isn't as complete without some ABBA in your day, here's my favorite tune from the first CD I ever had. Yes, it was the Mamma Mia Broadway soundtrack, and yes I have no shame.
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