Hello Brothers and Sisters.
For the past week, I have been pondering over what I should
provide for you in the way of information that would be most beneficial to you
for your emergency preparation plans. As
you all know, there are many and varied ways that emergencies can affect our
lives. Just as varied are the
preparations that can be made to accommodate them. We live in times when natural disasters are
happening all around us. We are merely
lucky if they haven’t impacted our lives is some way yet. Just a month or so ago, several families in
North Salt Lake were displaced from their homes because of a landslide that
began moving toward their houses.
Eventually that slide destroyed one family’s home completely. A friend of mine is currently vacationing in
Hawaii and has been posting comments on Facebook about how they have been
anxiously watching as a hurricane Ana approached the islands. Fortunately it looks like that one veered
south of the islands and spare them the inevitable damage that a hurricane
brings. While I lived in Nebraska during
the early 2000s we were ever watching the skies for the approach of
tornados. Each year they bring devastation to many
communities across the country. These
and other natural phenomenon have a way of causing great hardship to many who
have no way of escaping them. This post
is not meant to be a discussion of natural disasters per se, but to remind you
that unavoidable calamities can fall upon us at any time.
Understanding that we are constantly vulnerable, we must ask
ourselves, what we can do to begin our preparations for what might come our way; ask yourselves “Am I Ready.” As I thought
about that question, I wondered what would be the most expedient way to begin preparations
for my family. While there are many ways
to prepare, I came to the conclusion that the most immediate thing I could do
would be to begin ensuring I have enough money set aside to provide for my
needs if I find myself dealing with a disaster. Having sufficient funds comes in two forms;
on-hand cash and savings for the long-term.
Let me address each.
Cash – There are
several camps on this one, but a common theme seems to be, have enough ready
cash to sustain you for the foreseeable future.
Mr. Paul Sisolak who writes for The “GobankingRates.com” website has
this to say.
When you can’t rely on
accessing your funds electronically, you’ll need some legal tender to buy food,
gas or other necessities. The questions are: What amount, and where to put it
all? Many people are understandably reluctant to keep large amounts of money in
their homes for fear of theft or misplacement. But naturally, there are several easy ways to
build up some disaster relief cash, and a safe place or two to hide it should
the unexpected ever arise.
Despite what many
sources say, there’s no magic amount you should have nestled away in your emergency
fund. Some say $500, others $1,000. Still others suggest three to six months of
pay. Suze Orman’s magic number is eight months of living expenses. You might
aim for a conservative $10,000, or more.
You should do what
feels right to you. No matter the amount, an emergency fund is absolutely
necessary — make it a priority. In fact, financial gurus like Jim Wang of
Bargaineering and Dave Ramsey say to build up your own reserves fully
expecting an emergency.
“It’s not a matter of if these events will happen,”
Ramsey says, “it’s simply a matter of when.”
An emergency fund
isn’t meant to be dipped into, or spent like disposable income, and creating
one takes the very same approach for any other savings, rainy day fund or nest
egg. How much can you afford to save? And how much do you think you’ll need for
an extreme catastrophic event?
Emergency Savings
– Once the immediate nature of a disaster has passed and you are in need of
taking care of your needs for an extended period of time, emergency savings
should take over. There is no end to the
number of experts who will tell you how to save for emergencies. Fortunately, we have access to resources
provided by our LDS church leaders that can guide us down this path. In the article “The Times in which we live,”
Ensign, Nov. 2001, President Gordon B. Hinckley counseled, “I urge you as members of this Church to get
free of debt where possible and to have a little laid aside against a rainy day." The article provided a thorough calculator (http://www.calcxml.com/do/bud03?skn=38)
that can be used to identify how much money you might need to set aside in an
emergency fund for that rainy day.
I will admit that I have not always been dedicated to
ensuring my emergency fund was fully laid in, but it has become a priority to
me now and I am actively engaged in ensuring Myrna and I have sufficient to
take care of the emergencies that come our way.
I encourage you to do the same and begin your preparations if you haven’t
already done so.
Bro. and Sis. Jorgensen
That said, I think what I’ll do for the next
few posts is focus on the staples we need to keep in our storage. This includes food but is not necessarily
limited to that. I’ll try to point you
in the direction of where to find good resources and information as much as I
can. 
