Millennial’s Guide To Important Financial Documents
A beautiful woman, whom I just adore, in her golden years of retirement, has some papers that she needs to fill out. In addition to the many forms, she needs to includes some documentation. On the phone with her last week, I asked her how it was going. Of course, finding all these important financial documents that she needs seems to be an area of frustration for her.
I told her I would be more than happy to help and while hunting down all these papers, it might be the ideal time to get a filing cabinet and organize all of her important papers. She mentioned that she had a filing cabinet, but as I asked her how that was working out for her, she sighed and then I heard a little giggle of anxiety. Learn from her.
Are you ready to organize?
If you have yet to gather all of the important papers into a central organized location, preferably a waterproof, fireproof box, now would be the perfect time to do so!!! There is no better time to organize your important financial documents! Also, this is not only for millennials. Anyone can take away valuable information for this blog post.
It seems that there are more than the usual amounts of tornados in my area this year. I am not sure if that is true or that they just look to be collecting in my brain storage that is wired for preparedness. Just this morning, my husband told me about two tornados that were reported in New England during yesterdays storms. I always think about whether we are prepared for this and how we would fair. Waterproof and fireproof is very attractive to me. So I did a little research on the documents that are the most important to keep in a waterproof, fireproof file box.
As I have said before, there is a direct correlation between being organized and saving money. There is also a direct correlation between being organized and being less stressed. So for the love of happiness and money, let’s talk about paperwork!
Many feel that digital copies are the way to go. I would rather have a hard copy organized in a waterproof, fireproof box. I enjoy thumbing through perfectly arranged files to put my hand on exactly what I need.
Here is a list of important financial documents as well as other important documents that you should keep safe.
Tax Information
Tax return information from the last seven years. If you do your own with any electronic software like TurboTax, they will store your tax forms for you, but any W-2’s or 1099 forms need to be saved as well.
Also, any type of correspondence from the IRS should be kept in a file. If you owed the IRS money and had paid them, make sure you keep all receipts
Receipts
If you have anything that is a deductible from work expenses or charitable donations, make sure you keep those in a safe place for seven years as well. If you are trying to go paperless, scan those receipts and keep them on the cloud or a hard drive.
Healthcare receipts are other important financial documents that must also be kept and safe.
Investments
If you have purchased stocks, you need to have a record of how much you bought them for so losses and gains can be calculated. However, the person you are paying to manage your investments will generally keep track of this for you. If you are designing your portfolio, this is something that you need to take responsibility.
Retirement accounts and 401K documents are important financial documents that should have a place in your system.
Insurance Policies
Copies of your homeowner’s policy or renter’s policy are nice to have on hand and easily accessed. Please also consider taking photos of your home and belongings to keep with that policy.
Life Insurance policies should also be kept safe.
Financial Accounts
Bank accounts, passwords, mortgage account information and any other loan documentation that you might have.
Other Documents
Birth Certificates, marriage, divorce papers, and social security cards are essential to keep safe.
Having auto registrations, titles, and insurance policies organized and on hand make to so much less stressful if you need them in a hurry.
Legal documents like health care proxy, power of attorney, legal will as well as copies of any that may pertain to you from family members. A letter of instruction for the family might be a nice addition to this file.
If you would like to read how I have my filing system set up you can find my Pretty Little Paper System post here!
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