Important documents
Which documents to keep copies of
September is National Preparedness Month, and 10 September is the statistical peak of the Atlantic hurricane season. Both are good reasons to spend one evening on this.
The federal checklist
Ready.gov and FEMA publish a “Safeguard Critical Documents and Valuables” checklist. The categories it names:
| Category | What it covers |
|---|---|
| Financial | Chequing, savings and investment accounts; retirement accounts; obligations such as utilities, credit cards and student loans; federal, state, property and vehicle tax statements. |
| Insurance | Homeowners, renters, auto, life and flood policies; appraisals; photographs and lists of valuable items. |
| Legal and estate | Will, trust, power of attorney. |
| Medical | Health and dental insurance, Medicare, Medicaid and VA benefits; medication list; immunisations; allergies; prescriptions; medical devices; pharmacy details; living will and medical power of attorney. |
Source: Ready.gov — Emergency Financial First Aid Kit
The reason it’s worth doing
Ready.gov states it plainly on its financial preparedness page: having this information handy “should make the registration process for FEMA benefits smoother, should you be involved in a presidentially declared disaster.” That is a federal agency saying, in its own words, that having copies speeds up your assistance.
Source: Ready.gov — Financial preparedness
Where the copies should live
The official guidance is to keep originals in a water-tight container, a fire safe, or a bank safe deposit box — and to store the copies somewhere else: a secure place at work, or with a trusted relative or friend.
The modern version of “somewhere else” is your phone, which is the one thing that leaves the house with you. A document on your phone survives the flood that takes the filing cabinet, and it does not require you to have remembered the box on the way out.
Timing
September is National Preparedness Month, and NOAA’s National Hurricane Center puts the statistical peak of the Atlantic season at 10 September. If you are going to do this once a year, that is the week.
NativeScan scans a document, names it after what’s on it, and files it — so the next time you need it, you can just search for it.
Free on iPhoneThis page is general information, not legal, tax or financial advice. Deadlines and retention rules change; check the linked source before you rely on a date.