Thursday, October 1, 2015

a cautionary tale...

... for those who might not be aware of the value of paranoia. In our world of lurkers and peepers who seem to have electronic eyes and ears, it pays to be careful with any personal information. I have heard two people in the past couple of days comment about 'misplaced' debit cards. Which may or may not be actually lost, possibly in the washer or dryer,  or may or may not have fallen into the hands of devious miscreants. So you cannot be too careful with valuable personal property or privileged info.


So here is my suggestion. Not original by any means, but worth knowing about and pretty simple to do. It's not going to actually save you any grief or aggravation should you lose, misplace or have your wallet stolen. But it will definitely make what you will have to do after the fact a much less painful.


Go to the nearest copy machine. At work, at the library or at the copy/office supply store. Put everything in your wallet down on the glass and make copies. Front and back. Photo ID, credit cards, insurance cards, anything that your routinely carry on your person and would struggle to find numbers to cancel or replace. Put this info. in a safe place like file cabinet, or where you might store valuable papers like power of attorney, will, etc. Let people who would need to know where they can find the paperwork.


If you are away from home, and disaster should befall, or out of the country and have a crisis, someone needs to know where to find the important paperwork you will need. So be sure you have it stored in a place family members have access to. Putting your Living Will in a safe deposit box is not a smart idea, as it will take a court order following legal snarls to access - and by then: you are gone.


Go - right now. Make copies of everything in your wallet. Except money. That's a federal offense.



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