One way to prepare is to assure you can retrieve reserves in an emergency. One might have $50,000 in a cash account at his/her bank, but can $500 of it be readily accessed, to pay for gasoline, food, or emergency services, if temporarily stranded in another city? Here are a few tips:

• Maintain sufficient, easily available cash hidden at home to pay for one week's expenses on the road or in a new town.

• Use a major bank or credit union, one that affords ready access to ATM machines not merely in nearby towns but even in other states.

• In an emergency, whenever feasible take not merely a modest minimum of cash but also ATM and credit cards.

• Keep the bank/credit union phone and account numbers among things that automatically will be taken on the road in the event of a real or threatened disaster.

• Keep important papers in a safety deposit bank box or in a floodproof and fireproof box at home (that would also be taken, with the key, in the event it is necessary to evacuate quickly).

• After returning, one is advised to check her/his credit report regularly, as identity theft/fraud is a common problem for emergency victims.

They have these characteristics or benefits:

• Varied (EE Series, 3.2%, and Inflation-Indexed, 6.73%, recently) but quite dependable returns.

• Easy savings as part of a regular plan for setting aside funds in the safest way.

• A balance for riskier types of investment, for instance stocks, which may, on average, have better returns but can fluctuate dramatically and, indeed, can be down or essentially static for 15 years or more.

• Accessible in an emergency without risk to the initial investment.

• When held to maturity, can provide a gratifyingly tidy sum. $1000 put into savings bonds in 1965 would have had an estimated value of $9500 in 2005, per Mark Zandi, of Moody's Economy.Com.

A common error is to think that savings bonds are only for bottom rung employees whose earnings are at or just above the poverty level. In fact, they are instead typically held by conservative but reasonably well off workers and retirees with annual incomes more at the higher end of the spectrum.

If wanting a well-balanced investment portfolio, think about regularly putting a portion of your funds into US savings bonds. The time may well come when you'll be glad you did.

(Thanks much to Evelyn and Ann for information or articles that inspired some of this issue's saving and investment ideas.)

(Disclosure statement: Larry and Val have holdings in some of the suggested assets but do not "make a market" in any of them and do not derive any direct benefit from recommending them, except perhaps for a bit of smug self-satisfaction.)