Key to Financial Security (NAPSA)—You may be surprised to learn a few of the ways you can help to protect your family’s well-being. For most people it’s hard to imagine an accident or natural disaster happening until it does and, for many, the trauma of the event is compounded by the loss of belongings, investments and family heirlooms. Purchasing an insurance policy for your property or business is a good start— but it’s also important to know the policy’s details, know how to make a claim and keep accurate, accessible records. “We always recommend consumers keep an updated inventory of their possessions with receipts, lists, photos and video long before something happens,” said John Spagnuolo of the Insurance Information Institute. “Keep your photo inventory, along with receipts, in a secure place off the premises—like in a safe deposit box or at a relative’s.” While keeping updated records seems daunting, there are ways to make the task efficient. Walk around the house with a digital camera to quickly record your property, furniture, art and valuable jewelry. For example, Sony’s CD Mavica digital still cameras allow you to record more than 1,000 photos (low resolution) on a compact 3inch recordable Compact Dise (CDR). As you shoot, the camera instantaneously creates an orga- nized, easy-to-store archive. The CDs used by the Mavica camera are smaller than the 5-inch standard, but can be read by any CDROM computerdrive. “To file a claim, you will need a list of lost or damaged articles,” Spagnuolo said. “Photos or video, pre- and post-damage, are particularly helpful in showing yourloss and helping your insurance agent and adjuster assess the damages.” The CD Mavica camerarecords more than 140 high-resolution images on one $5 CD—the equivalent of four rolls of 36-exposure film. The camera also allows you to shoot 60-second MPEG videos, short video clips that are perfectly sized for e-mailing, and will store 85 minutes of MPEGson onedisc. Most photographs and home video formats can fade, crack or degrade over time and are hard to replace. CD-R archivallife is rated up to 100 years at 50 degree Fahrenheit storage temperature, and since they are small, they can be easily stored in a safe deposit box. You can also place inventory photos on a free photo sharing Web site, such as ImageStation.com™, so they can be accessed remotely any time, anywhere. For more information about protecting assets, visit the Insur- ance Information Institute at www.iii.org. To learn more about Sony digital still cameras and the versatility of the CD Mavica camera, visit www.sony.com/di, or call (888) 315-SONY.
