Are you really prepared for disaster?

When disaster strikes, you may only have minutes to evacuate your home.

“Everyone thinks family heirlooms, birth certificates, old wedding photos, but you also need to take into consideration important documents, bank account information, drivers license, auto registration. Things you might need while away from you home,” Andy Hansen of Hansen Financial said.

We sat down with financial advisor Andy Hansen who gave us five things you need to know. First off, check your insurance.

“Some people forget or neglect to update the values or they may have their home insured for a cash value which takes into depreciation. It’s real important, if you have a fire for instance, you’ll want your house built the way it is today, not twenty years ago,” Hansen said.

Another thing to do now, before a disaster – enroll in direct deposit.

“Many younger clients this is second nature, but some older clients like to get everything in the mail. The problem is, in a disaster, if you need your paycheck deposited into your account and you can’t get to the bank, or your paycheck is in the mail system, that could be a problem,” Hansen said.

Hansen also says you should have cash at hand because ATM’s will probably not work. He added you need to gather important documents and ID’s in one place.

“Last thing is you want to organize the items in a safe area. We recommend a small lock box that is fire proof and water proof,” Hansen said.

Better to do it now, than when it’s too late.