Have you ever looked at an important document and, while looking for it, feeling anxious and stressed you say to yourself, “Where did I put that paper? I can’t believe I can’t find it! I need to organize these documents and keep it in a safe place!” And, after the situation passes, you never get around to gathering the relevant documents to keep because it would take too much time or energy.
In a recent Caring.com study, 58% of American adults admitted to not having created a will or living trust. Read more about the staggering stats. By putting all these important documents together, you can indeed see what you have and what you don’t. As a result, it will quickly know the missing document tasks.
Below is a list of important documents image to give you guidance.
Personal documents to keep in a safe place
Here are documents you need to keep indefinitely:
Adoption paperwork,
Auto/Truck titles,
Birth Certificate,
Current deeds and mortgage,
Current insurance policies (life, home, renter, auto, etc…),
Death certificate,
Divorce decrees,
Relevant medical paperwork,
Lease paperwork,
Marriage license,
Military paperwork,
Naturalization/Citizenship paperwork,
Old Drivers License,
Passports (old and new),
Patents and copyrights,
Social Security cards,
Social Security Statements for retirement,
Stocks and bond certificates,
Tax returns,
Wills (living will, power of attorney, etc.)
The image below also shares this list. Feel free to share it with your family and friends. It’s a delicate way to remind them that they need to take care of tasks.
These documents should be stored indefinitely and in a safe and dry place, like a bank’s safe deposit box or a fireproof safe in your home.
If you wish to file it in a safe deposit box, get a box big enough to fit a file accordion folder. This way, you can add the organized papers in the accordion folder and store the entire folder into the safe deposit box. A smaller plastic one with a lot of tabs works nicely.
If you don’t wish to spend the money for a safe deposit box, you can purchase a safe to store these documents.
Make this a priority to gather and know where these items are, so later on, when you need them, you will be able to find them quickly. I have many clients that aren’t able to find relevant documents, and they had to pay to replace them or go without the document. Spending a little time gathering all these documents, will save you money and time, not only for you but also for other family members when they need to find them after you are gone.
If you are looking for more information about how to organize long-term files, check out this post.
Tips for Organizing Long-Term Files
Need information on what other paperwork you need to keep and how long, visit these posts.
If you want to read more on the topic, visit these posts below:
Record Keeping
How long should I keep records?
What Documents Should I Shred and What Should I Keep?
How Long to Keep Tax Records and Other Documents
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