Local wealth advisor says National Preparedness Month is good reminder to prepare for emergencies before they hit

CHARLOTTE, N.C. – September is National Preparedness Month, serving as a critical reminder that preparing for a severe storm should start long before any bad weather hits.

It has been nearly two years since the devastation of Hurricane Helene, a disaster that Carnegie Private Wealth advisor Seth Miller says exposed a major gap in how people protect their crucial financial documents. Miller spoke with WCCB Charlotte’s Kaitlin Wright about why being proactive is so important.

Miller says, “Helene reminded us all that these emergencies never really schedule time on your calendar. And that the best opportunity for us to be ready, is to be more proactive in our approach. I know it’s inconvenient at times, but let’s make sure that we pull out all of our documents, know where they are, get ’em in line. So in the event of an emergency, you’re not in a closet while the power’s out digging through some file folder looking for your right documents.”

Miller recommends creating a portable, grab-and-go document box containing essential items. This includes your social security cards, estate planning papers, and standard insurance information. Experts say you should also use your smartphone to take regular video inventories of your home and its contents once or twice a year to provide ironclad evidence for any future insurance claims.