The scenes of the wildfires in Los Angeles, California are scary. I can’t imagine experiencing them first hand.
But this is a good reminder, for those of us not directly impacted, that sometimes you may need to evacuate your home in a moment’s notice.
In those times, it’s important for you to have a Go Bag. A bag you can just grab out the door when it’s time to GO.
Right now, when you aren’t facing that dilemma, now’s the time to prepare the Go Bag (or Bug Out Bag).
For your general Go Bag, Ready.gov has a useful list for what to include. This list from 5.11 Tactical is comprehensive too.
But, what “financial” items should you take with you?
Table of Contents
1. Cash
Cash is king.
I assume you’ll have your wallet or purse, which includes your identification, credit cards, and some spending money. But your Go Bag should have additional cash in it. There may be power outages and so credit cards may not be accepted. Cash is always useful.
How much? That depends on your finances. If you have an emergency fund, it’s not unreasonable to keep some of it in cash in your Go Bag. I’d have at least $250, preferably closer to $1,000. You want small bills too, it’s fine if it’s all $20s but you don’t want $50s and $100s. Ideally a bunch of $10s, $5s, and $1s.
For extra preparation, you could always add in some silver or gold. Ounce bars are fine, smaller coins are better. Again, you want it easy to spend and smaller is easier.
2. Important Documents
All of our important documents are in a red accordion file folder that we can grab and take with us.
They fit into two main categories:
- Personal identification documents
- Legal and financial documents
My general rule for what’s important is:
- Documents that, when needed, usually require originals (such as titles)
- Documents that are difficult to get again (such as birth certificates)
If a digital version is generally accepted, it’s not “important” for this purpose. That said, this folder doubles as our “safe folder” so we include documents that aren’t technically “important” by the two above rules but are important to us.
Ultimately, it’s a folder, so you can add whatever you think is important.
Here’s what’s in our Go accordion folder:
- House title
- Car titles
- Marriage certificate
- Birth certificates
- Social security cards
- Passports
- Most recent insurance documents (car, house, medical)
2a. Portable Hard Drive
I have a portable hard drive that contains all of our digital documents, years and years of scanned documents that I will 99.99999% never need. These are tax forms from 10+ years ago but they take up no space and sit on a portable drive.
It also includes the foundations of our financial system:
- Treasure Map – a Word document that explains our financial situation, points of contact on accounts and investments, a digital dump of everything I keep in my head (in case I can’t remember or explain myself).
- Net Worth Spreadsheet – where I track our net worth and assets
- Financial Network Map – a visual drawing of all of our accounts and how they are interconnected
I periodically back this data up to a thumb drive and put it in the folder.
You likely have a lot of emergency contact information stored in your phone, but what if you lose it or lose access to it? It’s nice to have that information printed out and included in the Go Bag.
Include:
- Family and friends
- Insurance agents
- Legal advisors / lawyers
- Financial advisors
Include anyone you even think you might want to reach, it never hurts to have more information.
4. Financial Emergency Plan
I’ve talked about having a financial emergency plan, in addition to an emergency fund, make sure you keep a copy of this plan in your Go Bag too. This may include some duplicate information, such as emergency contact information, but that’s OK. More is better than less.
We never know when disaster could strike and being prepared is the only thing we can do. By preparing a proper Go Bag, including your financial information, you will be better prepared to handle life’s emergencies.
What are you packing in your go bag?
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About Jim Wang
Jim Wang is a forty-something father of four who is a frequent contributor to Forbes and Vanguard’s Blog. He has also been fortunate to have appeared in the New York Times, Baltimore Sun, Entrepreneur, and Marketplace Money.
Jim has a B.S. in Computer Science and Economics from Carnegie Mellon University, an M.S. in Information Technology – Software Engineering from Carnegie Mellon University, as well as a Masters in Business Administration from Johns Hopkins University. His approach to personal finance is that of an engineer, breaking down complex subjects into bite-sized easily understood concepts that you can use in your daily life.
One of his favorite tools (here’s my treasure chest of tools, everything I use) is Empower Personal Dashboard, which enables him to manage his finances in just 15-minutes each month. They also offer financial planning, such as a Retirement Planning Tool that can tell you if you’re on track to retire when you want. It’s free.
Opinions expressed here are the author’s alone, not those of any bank or financial institution. This content has not been reviewed, approved or otherwise endorsed by any of these entities.
