How to organize important documents

Teach: How to organize important documents

What to say

Organize important documents in one labeled folder or box with sections: identity papers such as your birth certificate and passport, money records such as tax returns and account statements, property papers such as car titles and leases, insurance policies, and medical records. Keep the originals you cannot replace in a fire-resistant box, scan everything into an encrypted folder, and tell one trusted person where both are.

What to show, in order

1. Collect every important paper from drawers, glove boxes and email into one place.
2. Sort into five sections: identity, money and tax, property and vehicles, insurance, and medical.
3. Put originals that are hard to replace, such as birth certificates, passports and titles, in a fire-resistant box.
4. File current statements, leases and policies in a labeled folder by section.
5. Scan every document and save the scans in an encrypted folder or password manager.
6. Ask a tax preparer or the tax agency's own guidance how long to keep tax records, and shred what is past it.
7. Write a one-page index of what is where, and give one trusted person the location.
8. Review the box once a year, on the same weekend each time.

When to stop and call a professional

• You are dealing with an estate, a divorce, a will or a power of attorney: ask a lawyer which originals to keep and where.
• You are unsure how long a tax or business record must be kept: ask a tax preparer.

The check question

Ask: Which papers belong in the fire-resistant box? Answer: Originals that are hard to replace, like a birth certificate

From EveryManSkills. General information, not professional advice.