Vehicle Information (as long as you own the vehicle) Insurance Policies (as long as they remain active)įinancial Documents like tax returns, mortgages, retirement and pension records, trust documents, investment (year-end) statements. Vital Records like birth, marriage, or adoption certificates. Well, honestly that to depends, not from person-to-person, but rather from category to category. How Long Should You Keep Important Documents? Likely, much of your home documents are covered in Deeds, Insurance policies and financial records but when it comes to home what we’re actually thinking about is warranties, owners manuals, maintenance checklists + a comprehensive inventory list of all the contents living in the humble abode of yours. Not to be overlooked is having a single place for all of your passwords (when properly protected) Not only is it beneficial to those moments when you forget your login info but in the event that someone else, like a spouse or close family member needs to access those accounts you can have peace of mind knowing that they can find everything they need –– in one place. This includes anything such as licenses + registrations to keeping maintenance + repair records for your vehicle. Many of your employment documents are likely already covered under insurance policies or financial records but it’s important to consider anything that may be pertinent to your current workplace as well as educational documents. These include documents you may need for proof of insurance but also for any benefit claims that you may be entitled to.įrom annual tax returns + proof of income to stock certificates, retirement plans, pensions, and other financial documents, the list of financial records to keep is vast but extremely important to keep. Medical records include any documents pertinent to your medical history, things like annual physical exam results, which may be important as you age. In the event of an unplanned + extremely unfortunate accident, a legal Will is incredibly valuable for your desired asset allocation to be handed out as you’d like but proof of ownership which means property titles fall into this category of important documents to keep. These are the documents required for international travel, provide proof of citizenship + lets not forget about your social security card, friend. These are documents such as birth, marriage + adoption certificates, that among other things, are often needed when enrolling in school, claiming benefits, or applying for a passport. And quite frankly my friend, the answer to this million-dollar question is going to be a little different for every single person (as it should be) but there’s no need to keep filing cabinets full of papers–– there are some general commonalities. Now to confess - the reason I spent this time typing out pretty pointless advice is that I am SUPPOSED to be sorting the paperwork today! We have 2 days post in the porch and a weeks worth on the kitchen worktop because sleepless nights with a toddler and a baby crushed my energy levels.The first thing to iron out is exactly which “important documents” you should keep. It's is in a box and can just stay there a while. I still have a box of random memorabilia though that needs to be sorted and I just can't decide how so I'm waiting till inspiration strikes. Very rare that you actually need to lay your hands on a bank statement from 2 years ago quickly, even though you are supposed to keep them. And then sort through the boxfiles and archive anything still needed to the loft once a year. In theory, I open post immediately, shove it either in the trays or in the top of the right box file if I have time. I did include a need for that cupboard when designing the kitchen though! Those box files are in a kitchen cupboard that also has a set of trays for Action, To File and In Use. Then we have one box for Money, one for House and one for Info (including important instructions and warranties). What exactly do you need to be easily accessible and sorted? We have one box labelled "Personal & Car" that includes a wallet of identity documents so we can get that quick. He reckons it takes longer in total to decide exactly where each particular paper goes and find that place and put it there than to find a utilities bill in a box of similar ones on the rare occasion you need to find it. My fil recommended getting box files as you can just chuck the paper in and then when you need it, or have time to do a cull/sort, you just leaf through. For me, after years and years of being unsuccessful at getting and keeping paper organised, I have come to the conclusion that as I am basically lazy and dh is too, we need a system that is sooo easy and fits the way we think.
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