Cash, papers, continuity

Money that works unplugged

Ready.gov’s financial preparedness guidance asks households to keep some cash, because ATMs and card readers fail in a blackout and after a network outage. Small bills are kinder than a hundred when a neighbor is selling ice from a cooler. The amount is your decision. Enough for fuel, a few meals, and a motel night is a common private target. Do not publish the amount or the hiding place.

An emergency fund in a bank is still the right tool for ordinary shocks. Cash at home is only the slice that has to work when the bank’s lights are off. Insurance, not a jar of bills, is what rebuilds a house. Know what your policy actually pays for: flood and earthquake are often excluded from a standard homeowners policy. Read it once, on a quiet day. The Insurance Information Institute publishes plain-language explainers.

Proof, claims, and the free desk

Copies of IDs, insurance declarations, a lease or deed, bank and loan contacts, and medical cards belong in a grab-and-go folder or a secure offsite copy. Originals can stay in a safer place if the copies are good. The papers sheet is the full list.

After a presidentially declared disaster, federal aid is requested at DisasterAssistance.gov or by calling the FEMA helpline, 1-800-621-3362. Registration is free. Anyone who asks you to pay to “put you on the FEMA list” is running a scam. Photograph damage before you throw things out, if it is safe to be there. Save receipts. The comeback sheet covers the first days home.

• Automatic bill pay helps until the income stops. Know which bills you would pause, and the hardship number on each account.
• A password manager is convenient and useless if nobody else can reach a critical account. Name a trusted person for the worst case, on your terms.
• Veterans benefits, Social Security, and unemployment have their own official sites. Bookmark those, not a lookalike ad.