Money Minute: Importance of Protection

Well…This was not what I planned for my first Money Minute column. However, it is my hope that the tragedy that I, and many others. experienced in the fall of 2023 can be used as an impetus for others to protect their special documents and valuables physically, electronically, and via insurance.

The “tragedy” that I am referring to is the fire that occurred almost a year ago on October 19, 2023, in section A of the U-Haul storage and vehicle rental facility in Egg Harbor Township.

The fire and consequent water damage affected 50 units and only 16 were insured. I urge you to maintain renters' insurance whether it is on a storage unit or an apartment, especially, if you have a basement apartment. Atlantic City and surrounding communities are prone to flooding. Renters' insurance policies are low cost and often can be combined into your auto insurance or another type of policy as a bundle. Quite frankly, I’ve paid more for a whole pizza pie than for monthly renters' insurance.

I used to travel quite a bit, both domestically and internationally, so I had many items from my travels. In fact, I had items such as artwork, instruments, books, etc. from at least six countries. During the Easter season, it was especially sad knowing that the fire damaged items from Bethlehem and Palestine.

In particular, there was a gorgeous batik that my eldest brother acquired in an African nation. I had this gorgeous and precious artistic work, that was approximately 70” x 52,” in a custom frame. The older gentleman that owned the custom framing shop and art gallery surprised me by having the batik (after the stretching process) placed in an $800 wooden frame. It was a sight to behold. This was how I honored both my brother (an arts administrator) and the artisan(s) responsible for its creation.

My trophies from Chloe Price dancing school (formerly on Ohio Avenue) were particularly precious to me. To view their broken remains among my charred and water logged possessions was heartbreaking. I recall the most special trophy was the one that I was awarded for “Most Graceful Dancer.” Hey, while I no longer have those trophies, I still have bragging rights. 

In addition, there were awards, certificates, my Horizons Youth Program non-profit items, and various items accumulated over the decades of my life as an educator, civic and civil rights organization volunteer, world traveler, and a long-time financial literacy and youth entrepreneurship instructor. I had a host of items, including educational materials such as the out-of-print Y&E financial literacy magazine for teenagers. My award-winning book Money Minute: Financial Food for Thought - Volume 1, for which this column is named, was even damaged.

A major concern for me was identity theft. Some of the Personally Identifiable Information (PII) included several years of tax and student loan documents. I had many personal papers, including older tax documents in file cabinets and other places. I’m thankful to the gentlemen that were doing the post fire cleanup and hauling away debris because they helped me locate briefcases/attache cases and open some of the smashed file cabinets in order to retrieve my documents. It is standard procedure for firefighters to bust up, if you will, items and areas to create fire breaks and smother embers to ensure that the fire is truly extinguished before they depart. (Those shovels and axes do quite a bit of damage.)

Thankfully, I had the presence of mind to bring my passports and some other important documents with me as I moved from place to place. I encourage everyone to purchase a fireproof cash box (lock box) for items such as passports, emergency funds ($)/petty cash, birth certificates, baptism certificates, business formation documents, precious photos, letters, etc. Lock boxes are available in various sizes, have a variety of lock mechanisms, and can be easily purchased at stores such as Walmart, Lowe’s, and Home Depot. If a fire occurs, you can quickly grab the lock box as you evacuate or retrieve it in the aftermath.

Your electronic data such as computer files, uploaded photos, and videos should be transferred on a regular basis to a portable external harddrive. Western Digital and other companies manufacture such items. They have products with various storage capacities such as 2TB. In addition, I recommend that you subscribe to some cloud services in order to backup your data via the Internet. Check the privacy notices for these companies.

While personal belongings are most certainly not more precious than life, we should concern ourselves with investing in items that provide protection for certain emergencies. Insurance, sump pumps, lock boxes, antivirus/malware protection, photo/document scanners, cloud services, electronic file storage, etc…provide a layer of protection, relief, and peace of mind when tragedy befalls us.

(Paula Goddard is a contributing writer for Atlantic City Focus. She can be reached at paulagoddard@atlanticcityfocus.com)

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