I have seen a number of people (including myself) store important papers in a ‘safe place’, but then be unable to find them when they are needed. It’s frustrating when that keep’s happening again and again, right? So you may want to organize your household record keeping, just like I have done. Thanks to technological advances, that doesn’t have to be scary, time consuming or tedious. You can scan your documents and store them online and organize them. That way, they are accessible from anywhere, anytime.
The first step is to decide what home-related documents are important and which ones can be discarded. Of course, everybody has a different set of important records depending on their profession, lifestyle and responsibilities. But here is a list of some important papers to get you started:
- Car titles, payment stubs, insurance policies and maintenance records.
- House records, mortgage papers, insurance policy, home improvements and related receipts, house deed and title.
- Tax documents. Expense receipts for next year’s tax return, copies of previous years’ tax records.
- Banking. Statements, Passbooks, check registers,
- The latest copy of your will. Make sure your attorney’s office has another copy.
- Investments. Broker statements, mutual fund, real estate and 401(k), savings bonds, stock certificates, bank certificates of deposits.
- Credit cards. Credit card statements. Also, keep a list of all your credit cards with numbers.
- Warranties for household items like dishwasher, fridge or tv.
Have you ever thought what you’d do if your house is burglarized, or there is a fire and your important documents are destroyed? Or can you easily access your important papers in the event of a natural disaster, a lawsuit, divorce or separation, loss of a job, and retirement? What about when you travel or your child’s school needs documentation for residency verification.
The best way to keep your documents secure and easily accessible is to store them online. Your documents will still be safe even if there is a natural disaster, fire or burglary. A few months ago, New York-based Jacob Kottlowski shared his tragic story with us. Jacob is a small business owner working from home. He was really good at organizing his home as well as business related documents. But he kept them in metal file cabinets and did not maintain electronic copies. Unfortunately, Superstorm Sandy destroyed most of Jacob’s documents. Frustrated, Jacob spent several months chasing his clients, attorney and government offices trying to obtain copies of various important documents. In spite of all his efforts some of the documents just weren’t available.
Now he stores all his home and business related documents on Finovera (in fact, Jacob shared his story with us after joining Finovera). He says he is now better prepared to deal with unforeseen events.
Using Finovera is pretty easy. Create an account and upload all your important documents into the File Cabinet. Make sure to create a different folder for each type of document. Your documents remain safe, secure and accessible irrespective of what happens in the outside world. And you can download them anytime from anywhere.
If you are like Jacob Kottlowski and me, you must give Finovera a try. It’s absolutely free, so what have you got to lose?
Image Source: Sean MacEntee