If you've ever had to evacuate because of a hurricane, you're used to throwing you important documents in a plastic bin before you take off. But now there is a cyber option, a digital vault.
Lynne Tarman has lived through a dozen hurricane seasons in Southwest Florida.
She uses a digital vault. Lynne says, "It saves me from actually having to take the big Tupperware with me."
A digital vault is a secure online site that can store important documents...
Clients of Alliance Financial Group use a digital vault called "The Living Balance Sheet". If you're a client, it is free.
It allows clients to store unlimited documents and photos. Things you'll need if you're home suffers any damage.
Michael Kochis recommends it to his clients. Kochis says, "It's important that it's there because no matter where you are in the world you can go on by computer and look at that information and just look at it or even print it if you need it."
And there are other sites. For about five dollars a month, Mozy and Carbonite are online back up services that protect whatever you keep on your home computer.
The only downside, these digital vaults can only retrieve what you save.
Kochis says, "You want to make sure you have your hurricane insurance...your wind insurance, your property and casualty because you're going to need the numbers and your dec page there. In addition to that, when people buy a house they don't always take videos or pictures...and if they do they leave them in the house. We want to make sure that info is kept."
Lynne is also using the site to store copies of her great grandfather's ledger. An irreplaceable family keepsake.
"Knowing that I can put my kids in the car, knowing all my stuff is ready and that's not a worry for me...that's great."