For USU Employees: Spring Cleaning Your Finances

Live Life Well – USU Employee Lunchtime Speaker Series
Spring Cleaning Your Finances
Wednesday, March 30, 12 – 1 p.m.
Location: Merrill-Cazier Library, Room 101
Presenter: Adrie Roberts
RSVP at https://livelifewell.usu.edu
Is your financial disorganization costing you money, time and causing you stress? Join us to learn great ways to get your finances tidied up for spring.

Where to keep & how to replace vital documents

Birth certificate, marriage certificate, will, passport, Social Security card or divorce decree lost or missing? Here's what to do.

By Sandra Block, From Kiplinger's Personal Finance, March 2016.

http://www.kiplinger.com/article/business/T021-C000-S002-how-to-replace-vital-documents-and-records.html

To learn more, come to Financial Planning for Women on Wednesday March 2 (a week early due to USU's spring break). We will focus on securing your financial and vital documents to weather disasters. FPW is a monthly educational seminar that meets the second Wednesday (usually but not in March) of most months at two times: 11:30-12:30 p.m. in the USU Taggart Student Center room 336 (Bring a lunch), and at 7:00-8:30 p.m. at the Family Life Center, 493 North 700 East, Logan (at bottom of Old Main Hill). The longer evening time slot allows for more discussion. Programs are free and registration is not required. Men are always welcome. New attendees will receive copies of personal finance magazines.
Each time you attend FPW between January and March you will be entered into a drawing for a free financial advising session.

Grab & Go Box for disaster preparedness

The east coast hurricanes and Texas wildfires remind us that we are all vulnerable to natural disasters. Here is Utah we live under the threat of a devastating earthquake. If you live in an area prone to natural disasters (who doesn't??) that could require evacuation, consider creating a grab-and-go box. 

Use a durable, sealed waterproof box or backpack. Put in copies of everything that is in your emergency file, and add other important papers:  (http://www.extension.org/pages/26403/grab-and-go-box

Note that the list calls for COPIES of important documents. The originals should be kept in a safe deposit box at a financial institution.

Emergency Financial First Aid Kit

The devastating flooding in Queensland, Australia is continents away but a reminder of the need to prepare for unexpected emergencies. The Emergency Financial First Aid Kit (designed by FEMA) is a great resource.

http://www.operationhope.org/fileupload/File/effak_english.pdf

“The EFFAK is a simple tool designed to assist you and your family in maintaining financial stability in the event of an emergency. The EFFAK helps you to identify and organize key financial records and provides a quick reference file for your most important financial documents. You can complete the EFFAK as an individual or as a household, but be sure to include information on all accounts for which you have a legal responsibility or obligation, including all joint and separate accounts and liabilities.”

Start filling it out today.