No matter where you live, disasters—whether fires, floods, hurricanes, tornadoes, or earthquakes—can strike unexpectedly. While everyone should have a plan for safeguarding their physical safety, high-net-worth individuals and families should also consider a well-structured financial preparedness plan to protect assets, ensure continuity, and support long-term resilience. In this Insight, we will examine the essential elements of such a plan.

Insurance: Ensuring Comprehensive Protection

A robust insurance strategy goes beyond standard policies to address the complexities of high-value assets and lifestyles.

Home and Property

  • Ensure coverage for specific disasters (e.g., flood, earthquake, wildfire) that may require separate policies.
  • Confirm extended replacement cost to account for rising construction costs and inflation.
  • Consider cash-out options from insurers like Chubb and PURE, which provide flexibility to relocate rather than rebuild.
  • Film and photograph every inch of your home’s interior and exterior. A visual record might prove useful whether you need to restore an architectural detail or dispute an insurance payment.

Valuable Articles

  • Schedule high-value items such as jewelry, art, and collectibles individually for full protection.
  • Update appraisals every 3-5 years, or more frequently for volatile assets.
  • Maintain a digital inventory with photos, receipts, and appraisal certificates.

Business Interests

  • Review business interruption coverage to protect income streams and operational continuity.
  • Ensure personal assets held within business entities are properly insured.

Investment Preparedness: Building a Resilient Portfolio

Market volatility often follows natural disasters and other emergencies. A well-diversified, proactive investment strategy can help protect wealth and even capitalize on opportunities fueled by recovery.

Risk Diversification

  • Review portfolio allocations to ensure exposure is balanced across asset classes, geographies, and sectors to mitigate region-specific risks.
  • Consider alternative investments such as infrastructure funds, private equity, or catastrophe bonds, which may provide diversification benefits.

Liquidity Planning

  • Maintain adequate cash reserves or highly liquid investments to cover emergency needs such as relocation, repairs, and daily living expenses and for capitalizing on opportunistic investments.
  • Consider having a credit facility, such as margin, available to provide short-term liquidity without disrupting long-term investment plans.

Estate and Legal Preparedness

  • An up-to-date estate plan and well-maintained paperwork can help minimize complications during a crisis.

Essential Documents

  • Ensure wills, trusts, and power of attorney documents reflect your current wishes and the locations of assets.
  • Use cloud storage for critical documents and encrypt them. (There’s often an uptick in fraudulent activity in the wake of a disaster.) If you must keep paper documents, store them in a fireproof safe.

Succession Planning

  • Identify and, with your attorney’s assistance, officially designate key decision-makers in the event of incapacitation or displacement.
  • Document and communicate contingency plans with trusted advisors and family members.

Asset Titling

  • Verify ownership structures for primary and secondary residences to ensure streamlined legal and insurance processes.
  • Review beneficiaries on brokerage accounts, insurance policies, and pensions.

Financial Liquidity and Access

  • Access to capital is crucial in emergencies when immediate costs arise.

Cash Reserves

  • Maintain sufficient liquidity in readily accessible accounts to cover relocation, repairs, and daily living expenses.
  • Consider multiple banking relationships, including private banks with global access.

Credit Access

  • Ensure access to credit lines for unexpected large expenses or rebuilding efforts by setting up margin on a brokerage account to facilitate borrowing against securities. Home equity lines of credit are another possible option.
  • Work with advisors to explore secured credit options backed by assets for liquidity and flexibility.

How Cerity Partners Family Office Supports Your Emergency Preparedness

We take a proactive approach to financial emergency preparedness, working with our clients to develop the right strategies and resources to safeguard their loved ones, wealth, and properties in the face of unforeseen events:

1. Comprehensive Risk Assessment and Insurance Review: We work with you to evaluate current coverage, identify potential gaps, and coordinate with leading insurers to help your policies align with your lifestyle and risk exposure. From property and valuable articles to business continuity, we strive to develop a tailored protection plan.

2. Liquidity and Cash Flow Planning: We help structure liquidity reserves and credit facilities to provide access to funds for relocation, repairs, or other emergency needs while aiming to preserve your long-term investment strategy

3. Asset Protection and Estate Preparedness: Our team works with you to align your estate plan with your current holdings and family structure, with key documents stored securely and designed to be accessible when needed

4. Crisis Coordination and Advisor Access: In the event of a disaster, we act as your central point of contact—coordinating with insurers, financial institutions, and legal professionals to help manage claims, access funds, and facilitate transitions with minimal disruption.

Taking proactive steps today can help prepare you and your family to navigate emergencies with confidence and clarity. Contact us to learn more about how Cerity Partners Family Office can help you protect what matters most.

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