The American Institute of Certified Public Accountants (AICPA), the AICPA Foundation, the National Endowment for Financial Education^® (NEFE^®) and the American Red Cross have launched a new, broad-based disaster preparedness and planning guide to help consumers take steps to minimize financial loss before a disaster strikes. Disasters and Financial Planning: A Guide for Preparedness will be distributed free of charge by local Red Cross Chapters across the country as a public service. An online version of the guide is also available on the Red Cross Web site at www.redcross.org/financialplanning.

The guide outlines steps the American public can take before disaster strikes to minimize any financial impact, including the protection of one’s family, as well as personal property, income, and important documents and records. It also provides guidance on the financial considerations of an evacuation plan.

“The CPA profession’s primary mission is to protect the public interest, and one of the ways we do this is by helping consumers prepare financially for any disaster that may strike,” said Anat Kendal, Director of Financial Planning at the AICPA. “This guide is a comprehensive tool to help us accomplish our mission.”

“As a CPA/PFS and an active volunteer with the American Red Cross, I see a real need to provide the American public with a tool that covers personal financial planning steps to take to prepare for a disaster,” said Meloni Hallock, partner at Ernst & Young.

"We're extremely pleased to have the AICPA, the AICPA Foundation and the American Red Cross as our partners on this project," said Nan Mead, NEFE's director of communications. "The Institute brings an extraordinary wealth of financial planning experience that nicely complements NEFE’s consumer financial education expertise. And the Red Cross is perfectly positioned to distribute the guide to a broad cross-section of the American Public."

“This past year the nation faced a multitude of natural disasters, from the California wild fires to the tornadoes in the Midwest to the hurricanes in Florida – proving that it is vital for Americans to be prepared for any type of disaster,” said Joe Becker, senior vice president of preparedness and response for the Red Cross. “This guide is one of many free tools the American public should utilize to help them prepare before a disaster, which, in turn, will help minimize financial loss.”

The new guide expands on a previously successful publication called Disaster Recovery: A Guide to Financial Issues, which was issued in 2003 in collaboration with the AICPA, the AICPA Foundation, NEFE and the American Red Cross. More than 120,000 copies of the guide have been distributed to those affected by disaster.

In October 2004, the recovery guide received the American Society of Association Executives (ASAE) prestigious Summit Award. The guide provides much needed financial advice when individuals are at their most vulnerable, after a disaster. Both guides now provide a personal financial perspective to help the Public prepare and recover from a disaster.