It’s the perfect time to organize your records. Here are some guidelines to help:
Discard:
- Most cancelled checks more than a year old
- Outdated insurance policies
- Information about items you no longer own
- Paycheck stubs after one year (after you’ve checked your W2!)
- Credit card bills more than a year old (or up to seven years if tax-related expenses are documented)
Move to storage:
- Tax return for at least seven years
- Military records
- Records for non-deductible IRA contributions
- Information on former employers’ pension or retirement plans
- Death certificates after the estate has been settled
Keep handy (safe deposit box or locked, fireproof filing cabinet):
- Birth, adoption, marriage, citizenship, divorce, and death certificates
- Your signed, current will
- Your Social Security card
- Contracts and other legal papers
- Stock and bond certificates
- Deeds and records of ownership
- Pictures of furniture and valuables to log the value of the contents of your home
- Valuables (coins, stamps, jewelry, etc.)
- Passport
This article is for informational purposes only, you should not construe any information provided as legal, tax, investment, or financial advice. No reader should make any investment decision without first consulting his or her own financial advisor and conducting his or her own research and due diligence.
