Disaster-Proof Your Finances: Lessons from Hurricane Helene

Hey, everybody.

This is certified financial planner David Chuddick, and we are going out of order today and I'm making an emergency episode.

This is the first week in October 2024, and Hurricane Helene has done a lot of damage in North Carolina, South Carolina, Georgia, Florida, and has been particularly catastrophic in western North Carolina.

My area still has parts that are out of power, and I was out of power for about four days.

So today I wanna talk about some disaster preparedness tips that involve money and safety and planning that I hope you can use in the unlikely event that something like this ever happens again.

Hope that you enjoy this episode.

Welcome to the weekly wealth podcast.

I am certified financial planner David Chuddick.

This podcast and my wealth management practice are both designed to help the mass affluent to live better lives by how they handle their money.

We talk about financial strategies, prosperous mindsets, and simply how to build true wealth.

So come on and let's enjoy this journey together.

Well, let's get started with today's episode.

I decided to go out of order and insert this episode as opposed to the the other episode that was scheduled for this week.

And I wanted to talk about some things that you should be considering with regards to planning for natural disasters.

A lot of things that can happen that are out of control, but how we plan for these things can potentially be life saving or at the very least, make our lives easier.

So the first, and I talk about this a lot, is insurance coverage.

So what I ask is for all of you to give your insurance agents a couple weeks because they're all very busy handling claims and servicing their clients right now.

But I call your insurance agent and make sure you do a policy review with regard to your homeowners or renters insurance.

You'll want to work with your insurance agent to decide if you should purchase a flood insurance policy.

A lot of damage in our area was from floods, and your typical homeowners insurance policy does not cover damage as a result of a flood.

So ask these questions.

Also, make sure that you know if your homeowner's policy excludes wind and hail.

And if it does, ask your insurance agent for some options in getting those perils covered.

With regard to your auto insurance, make sure that if you want your vehicles to be covered if they're damaged, make sure that you have comprehensive coverage.

And this often covers natural disaster related damage.

If you don't have comprehensive coverage, and let's say a tree falls on your car, your car will not be replaced or repaired.

You know, I love the business owners, and the business owners need to make sure that they have business income coverage, and all of the same coverages with regard to flood and wind for any property that they own.

So I say it all the time, business insurance can get extremely complicated.

So if you are a business owner, make sure that you're taking the time to review your policy with your insurance agent so that you can understand what might not be covered in the event that there is a natural disaster.

And finally, your deductibles.

Look at your deductibles and make sure that you're comfortable with them.

I've seen people with very high deductibles, 10,015, $20,000 deductibles, and that is great if you have the cash flow to handle that.

But if you would struggle to come up with ten or 15 or $20,000 to cover the first part of damage to one of your policies, then you might consider lowering your deductibles.

So again, your insurance decisions need to be made purposefully.

Make sure that you're meeting with your insurance agent so that you can know where your exposures might be, how you can fill these gaps, and then also what it will cost to fill these gaps.

So really, if you take nothing from that section of the podcast, make sure you have a good insurance agent, and make sure that you're meeting with them, asking questions, finding out where your exposures are, and determining if you'd like to transfer those risks to the insurance company.

All right, so now let's look at something that's been a little bit of an issue in my area.

And with all of the power and Internet outages, there have been a good amount of stores that have been on a cash only basis.

Now, if you're like me, you have very little cash available to you and, and you pay for a lot of your expenses with a credit or debit card, then hopefully you're paying the credit cards off on a monthly basis.

But one thing that I'm going to do is I'm going to get some cash and I'm going to put it in the safe at home and make sure that we have a little bit of cash available so that in the event that we can't get to a functioning ATM machine, or if the banks are not open, we will at least have some cash on hand to pay for some necessities.

To me, this is important and I never really done it.

So I hope that you'll take that step as well.

And of course, once access to banks and ATM machines becomes available, you'll certainly hope that you did save up an emergency fund to handle situations like this.

So having three to six months or more of accessible money, whether it be in a checking account, savings account, money market, things like that, can help you in the event that your income stops or gets drastically reduced due to a natural disaster.

Another thing to think about is backup of your important documents.

So keeping digital copies of financial documents like insurance policies, birth certificates, passports, tax records, things like that are not a bad idea.

And also make sure that you have secure either paper or digital copies of your estate planning documents.

So your health care, power of attorneys, your directives, things like that.

And this is essential in the event that there is an unexpected natural disaster and you need these documents.

Now, typically during major events like the one that we are going through, you want to make sure that you're aware of disaster relief programs.

FEMA and other government programs can offer help to people who have been severely impacted by storms.

So make sure that you understand those and you can get details from their websites and over social media.

But that brings up my last point of making sure that you are looking out for the post disaster scam.

Most people in our world right now during disasters are helping and they have great intentions and they're being generous and, but there are always those people who are taking advantage of those who are in a vulnerable position.

So after disasters, fraudulent schemes and scams definitely increase.

So be vigilant.

Avoid suspicious investment or relief offers that promise a quick financial recovery.

Make sure that workers are vetted.

I would hope that people who do work on your property are insured so that in the event that they cause a loss or get hurt, there'd be some coverage there.

But these are just some of the things to think about.

And finally, if you can help somebody, help them, whether that be an individual or giving money or supplies to a disaster relief organization.

There are times in life when we are all just down and we're in a position that we normally are not in.

So I know that our community is stepping up big time.

There are people giving, giving supplies to be delivered to western North Carolina.

There are people offering their homes to those in need.

And this is a time for us to rise up and for us to show who we are and to help others.

I always say that how we handle our money should positively impact our lives and the lives of those around us.

Well, let's take this disaster, or any future disasters as a way to show who we are and what we do.

So that'll wrap up this episode.

If you have any questions or even any comments on anything that I left out, post it on our Facebook group.

Go to Facebook and just type in weekly wealth podcast or go to our website www.weeklywealthpodcast.com.

click on the microphone icon and leave a message.

Stay safe out there and if you can help somebody, let's make sure to do it.

Thanks everybody.

Investment advice offered through parallel financial and SEC registered investment advisor able to conduct advisory business in states where it is registered or exempt or excluded from registration.

Contents contained herein or for informational purposes only and should not be construed as an offer or solicitation for investment advice or for the purchase or sale of any security, insurance or other investment product.