Key takeaways

• Important documents such as IDs, insurance records, and estate plans can help reduce delays during emergencies.
• A complete financial account list can make it easier to access money, contact providers, and manage household finances.
• Securely storing physical and digital copies of key records can help protect personal information and simplify replacements.

Are you financially prepared to get up and go? After your physical safety in an emergency, keeping your money matters at hand can help you stay secure.

Ten pieces of paperwork you may not think about often can be valuable financial information when the need arises in an emergency. You won’t need to regularly access most of these documents, so your “go bag” could be stored in a fireproof safe or similar secure container in a private but easily accessible location in your home.

1. Driver’s license or identification card

You may carry this important card every day, as around 85% of eligible Americans are licensed drivers.¹

A state-issued driver’s license or identification card are commonly handed over when someone asks to see a photo ID. It can be essential for routine tasks like checking into a doctor’s office or picking up kids from school or daycare. It may also be needed to make essential purchases, like using a credit card at store checkout or verifying your age for specific items like medicine.

2. Financial account list

Keeping track of your financial to-go bag goes beyond counting cards in your wallet. In an emergency, you’ll want to know which accounts you can tap, what they’re intended for, and who to contact if you have more detailed questions.

At a glance, a basic account list should include each number, owner name, and financial institution. Also consider adding the account type — designating which is checking or savings, for example — if you hold multiple accounts at the same provider.

Read more: Digital estate planning: Preserve wealth and security by thinking ahead

A good starting point for creating a list of financial accounts is your credit report, which Americans can access for free each year. The report commonly includes the names of your lenders, how often you’ve paid them (and the amounts), and your credit limits or loan balances.²

However, a credit report might not capture every account. You’ll need to round out your list with any savings, checking, brokerage, HSAs, FSAs, custodial, and retirement accounts not shown in your credit report. In the end, if an account is open in your name, make sure it’s on your list.

Setting up a free financial aggregator like the Empower Personal Dashboard^TM and connecting your accounts can be a good digital backstop to see all your financial institutions and amounts in one place.

3. Home deed

Nearly two-thirds (65.2%) of U.S. households owned their home in 2025, making a deed an important part of financial “go bag.”³ This paperwork is required to legally transfer property ownership from a seller to a buyer.

While deeds are public records filed with local government offices — such as a county court or tax assessor — having a physical copy in safekeeping is also good practice.⁴

Should you need to refinance or sell your home, or it becomes part of an estate, having a copy readily available can avoid delays caused by obtaining certified records from local government offices.⁵

4. Insurance cards / policies

Written insurance policies might not be practical to carry in an emergency, so consider keeping digital copies of the lengthy documents in a safe place like an external hard drive or cloud storage. For quick reference, you can also keep a shorter snapshot of your insurance coverage — health, home, rental, auto, etc. — along with the provider's names, policy numbers, and any customer-service phone numbers for easy access.

Auto insurance information is especially important to keep handy, as a routine drive may turn into an emergency at any time. Americans drove an average of 12,200 miles over the course of 2023, with more than 6.1 million police-reported vehicle crashes during that year.^6,7

5. Password manager and instructions

With life tasks increasingly intertwined with online logins and apps, people are typically juggling more than 160 passwords in their digital lives.

Having an accurate record of passwords ensures that you can manage and withdraw funds at your discretion during an emergency. It can also protect you against potential imposter scams such as fake bank security alerts. Imposter scams through text, email, phone, social media, websites, and other means cost Americans $3.5 billion in 2025.⁸

6. Passport

A U.S. passport is essential for international travel, serving as a proof of identity and citizenship when travelling by land, air and sea. It’s also a valid form of identification for domestic flights in lieu of a Real ID.⁹ More than 183 million valid passports were in circulation as of 2025.¹⁰

A passport can be helpful outside of travel. When starting a new job, employees must complete Form I-9 to verify their identity and authorization to work in the U.S.¹¹ A valid U.S. passport can fulfill both requirements, without the need for additional materials.¹² Otherwise, you may need to cobble together other credentials.

7. Birth certificate

The U.S. does not have a national system to keep track of births; birth certificates are issued at the state level or are further decentralized at the county or municipal level.¹³ The paperwork serves as proof of citizenship and is often necessary to obtain other official documents — such as a passport — or access government services, such as getting married or enrolling in school.

8. Social Security card

Your Social Security number may be etched into your memory, but do you know where your card is? The Social Security Administration recommends leaving your physical card at home and not carrying it on you regularly. However, if you’re going to be away for an extended or unknown amount of time, it should be among your essential documents.^14,15

Social Security fraud can happen when a number is used without permission to open new accounts, take out lines of credit, or make purchases.¹⁶ In cases where your original home may be left empty — such as during a renovation or post-disaster cleanup — you wouldn’t want to risk it being left behind and unattended.

9. Emergency contact information

It’s important to have a reliable backup during emergencies. Most Americans (59%) have a trusted neighbor to leave a key with for emergencies, but that might not work for all situations or when you’re on the go.¹⁷ Having answers to the “who, where, and how” of your emergency contacts is vital information.

The Personal Safety app on Android phones and Medical ID within Apple’s standard Health app can protect these details, and other third-party free and paid apps are available.^18,19

In case your phone goes missing, it’s wise to keep a copy within your email account or a physical paper copy of important names, phone numbers, and email and street addresses.

While some of the information might be memorized, it’s hard to know whether you’ll be able to recall them on the fly or if overwhelmed by an emergency.

10. Estate planning documents

Estate planning may not be top of mind, but keeping these documents in your possession is a smart move. There are five important elements of an estate plan: a will, a trust, durable power of attorney, healthcare power of attorney, and a living will to outline end-of-life wishes.

Read more: How do I create a solid estate plan?

Even if you don’t have all the documents, knowing and understanding them can help you navigate important financial or medical situations for yourself or a loved one. Loved ones may need help with these documents, and you can help by filling in the blanks and providing the information.

Resources at the ready

While many of these important documents can be replaced through official government offices and channels — such as the State Department or Social Security Administration — there’s typically fees and costs associated with the requests. During that time, you may be without important documents and face an increased risk for your personal information to be potentially misused.

Having a financial “go bag” isn’t just for emergencies; safekeeping personal information can also help ease the stress of finding essential personal and financial documents them when needed in your day-to-day life.