How to Organize Your Financial Documents
Here’s another one of those little things that you can solve before the end of the year: organize your financial documents.
This does not necessarily mean color-coded folders and an alphabetical ordering system, but it does mean you have all the important information you need ready about the various financial accounts.
1. Write down all your account information.
This step will probably take you the most time. Write down all of your financial accounts, as well as enter information about balances and beneficiaries, Mint suggests. This can be done with pen and paper, in an Excel spreadsheet, google documentation, or another application. Personally, I keep mine in a password protected folder in my note-taking app.
The point is to make it easily accessible, but remember that it also needs to be secure. If you’re using something like Google Docs, make sure your password is secure (are you using a manager already?).
Here are some examples of accounts:
- Checking and savings accounts
- Credit cards
- 401 (k) s and IRA
- Broker accounts
- Student Loan Accounts
- Car loan
- Mortgage
- Medical debt
- Auto insurance
- Home / tenant insurance
- Life insurance
- Tax
“For accounts related to debt, write down the interest rate, monthly payment, total balance, loan provider, loan term, and any other important details,” Mint suggests.
If you don’t have beneficiaries for your accounts, now is the time to add them. For example, if you are caring for an elderly parent, here are some questions to ask them to make sure you have all the information you need.
2. Check your credit report.
Ideally, you check your free credit report every four months. Now check it to see if there are any credit accounts you are missing above (and, as always, check for errors or red flags ).
3. Flag financial emails.
Use keywords for your bank, 401 (k) provider, etc. to check your inbox for financial emails. Then tag them with a specific color tag or combine them together so that all the information is in one place.
4. Organize your financial documents.
Now that you’ve worked with your online accounts, it’s time to switch to analog. If you have a bunch of financial documents that you promise to solve at some point, set aside 10 minutes to spread them out.
First, consider whether you really need a paper copy of your cable TV bill you received a few months ago. “Take the time to read the documents to understand what they mean,” suggests Bankrate . “Then ask yourself, ‘What’s the worst thing that could happen if I throw him out? »Can I get another copy? Is this something I will need later? “
This is most likely not the case. Keep only the freshest copies of your belongings (such as your bank account or auto insurance policy) and destroy the old ones. One exception: tax returns. Keep these files for three to seven years , depending on your situation. Here’s a guide on how long to keep other types of paper documents .
Then consider moving your financial file system from the basement to a more central location, Bankrate suggests. For example, if documents are conveniently located near your computer, you are more likely to keep them in order. Continue as similar: tax returns with tax returns, mortgage information with mortgage information, etc. Examples of different filing systems can be found in this article .
Finally, add a reminder to your calendar to help you keep track of documents. Now that you’ve done most of the work, caring for you should be easy.