So much attention is given to clearing the clutter in your home at this time of the year.  Finance guru Suze Orman says to take that spring cleaning into your files and organize your paperwork for a smoother financial year. Ms. Orman suggests that you first take the time to gather up all of your documents. This could mean a scavenger hunt into kitchen drawers, under the bed, god only knows… Take these papers and put them into six categories: (1) monthly bills, bank statements and pay stubs. (2) Tax returns and supporting documents (3) policy documents and deeds (4) warranties and user manuals (5) investment statements and (6) forever documents – marriage license, will, divorce papers.

Purchase and then label the hanging folders that can contain smaller files within them.  Use the above mentioned titles as your 6 categories. All other files will be kept within the hanging folders. For example, within the hanging folder titled monthly bills you would keep a file labeled gas bill, another electricity, yet another for the cable and so on. If possible, keep all of these files in a waterproof, fire proof container. Just laying them on a shelf or back in a drawer won’t work.

For the documents that are classified as Forever Documents (marriage, divorce, wills) they will need to be in a safer container and one that is easily accessible. Ms. Orman doesn’t suggest a safety deposit box in the bank because you don’t always have access to the bank. And often these papers need to be accessible in a moment’s notice.

Now that you have our files in order what to do with those papers you don’t need?  Those papers need to be shredded. Take no chances that they will fall into the hands of others.  It’s estimated that nearly 9 million individuals have fallen victim to identity theft.  My brother was a victim of such a crime and it took months to get a handle on most of the fraud that was perpetrated against him.

Now, you’re not done yet. There’s that nagging question about how long certain documents should be kept. Here’s Ms. Orman’s suggested time frame:

Utility bills- one year      Pay Stubs- one year       Bank and Credit card statements-one year (unless you’re applying for a mortgage, HELOC or car loan  and then you’ll need to produce two years worth of bank statements.

Investment statements can be saved annually. If you receive monthly or quarterly statements, hold on to them until you get the annual report. Then you can shred them. If you trade throughout the year, keep a record of each transaction for at least 3 years.

Tax returns- Keep these for three years and all of the supporting documents. If self employed, it may be best to keep for 6 years because the IRS can challenge a return within that time frame.

Policy statements: Keep with the deed of a home and the title of your vehicle.

Warranties and use manuals should be kept as long as you own the item. Many can be downloaded through the web so the need to have the actual dense manuals has become obsolete. You can search on usermanualguide.com for those manuals you may have misplaced…

The Forever documents are just that, those you keep forever. These are birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decree, will, trust, estate planning papers and death certificates.

Finally keep those documents that prove you have paid off a loan close at hand. You never know if you’ll have to challenge such payments in the future. To download a helpful guide sheet go to suzeorman.com/finclutter.

that nearly 9 million individuals have fallen victim to identity theft.  My brother was a victim of such a crime and it took months to get a handle on most of the fraud that was perpetrated against him.

Now, you’re not done yet. There’s that nagging question about how long certain documents should be kept. Here’s Ms. Orman’s suggested time frame:

Utility bills- one year      Pay Stubs- one year       Bank and Credit card statements-one year (unless you’re applying for a mortgage, HELOC or car loan  and then you’ll need to produce two years worth of bank statements.

Investment statements can be saved annually. If you receive monthly or quarterly statements, hold on to them until you get the annual report. Then you can shred them. If you trade throughout the year, keep a record of each transaction for at least 3 years.

Tax returns- Keep these for three years and all of the supporting documents. If self employed, it may be best to keep for 6 years because the IRS can challenge a return within that time frame.

Policy statements: Keep with the deed of a home and the title of your vehicle.

Warranties and use manuals should be kept as long as you own the item. Many can be downloaded through the web so the need to have the actual dense manuals has become obsolete. You can search on usermanualguide.com for those manuals you may have misplaced…

The Forever documents are just that, those you keep forever. These are birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decree, will, trust, estate planning papers and death certificates.

Finally keep those documents that prove you have paid off a loan close at hand. You never know if you’ll have to challenge such payments in the future. To download a helpful guide sheet go to suzeorman.com/finclutter.

So much attention is given to clearing the clutter in your home at this time of the year.  Finance guru Suze Orman says to take that spring cleaning into your files and organize your paperwork for a smoother financial year. Ms. Orman suggests that you first take the time to gather up all of your documents. This could mean a scavenger hunt into kitchen drawers, under the bed, god only knows… Take these papers and put them into six categories: (1) monthly bills, bank statements and pay stubs. (2) Tax returns and supporting documents (3) policy documents and deeds (4) warranties and user manuals (5) investment statements and (6) forever documents – marriage license, will, divorce papers.

Purchase and then label the hanging folders that can contain smaller files within them.  Use the above mentioned titles as your 6 categories. All other files will be kept within the hanging folders. For example, within the hanging folder titled monthly bills you would keep a file labeled gas bill, another electricity, yet another for the cable and so on. If possible, keep all of these files in a waterproof, fire proof container. Just laying them on a shelf or back in a drawer won’t work.

For the documents that are classified as Forever Documents (marriage, divorce, wills) they will need to be in a safer container and one that is easily accessible. Ms. Orman doesn’t suggest a safety deposit box in the bank because you don’t always have access to the bank. And often these papers need to be accessible in a moment’s notice.

Now that you have our files in order what to do with those papers you don’t need?  Those papers need to be shredded. Take no chances that they will fall into the hands of others.  It’s estimated that nearly 9 million individuals have fallen victim to identity theft.  My brother was a victim of such a crime and it took months to get a handle on most of the fraud that was perpetrated against him.

Now, you’re not done yet. There’s that nagging question about how long certain documents should be kept. Here’s Ms. Orman’s suggested time frame:

Utility bills- one year      Pay Stubs- one year       Bank and Credit card statements-one year (unless you’re applying for a mortgage, HELOC or car loan  and then you’ll need to produce two years worth of bank statements.

Investment statements can be saved annually. If you receive monthly or quarterly statements, hold on to them until you get the annual report. Then you can shred them. If you trade throughout the year, keep a record of each transaction for at least 3 years.

Tax returns- Keep these for three years and all of the supporting documents. If self employed, it may be best to keep for 6 years because the IRS can challenge a return within that time frame.

Policy statements: Keep with the deed of a home and the title of your vehicle.

Warranties and use manuals should be kept as long as you own the item. Many can be downloaded through the web so the need to have the actual dense manuals has become obsolete. You can search on usermanualguide.com for those manuals you may have misplaced…

The Forever documents are just that, those you keep forever. These are birth certificates, marriage license, divorce decree, will, trust, estate planning papers and death certificates.

Finally keep those documents that prove you have paid off a loan close at hand. You never know if you’ll have to challenge such payments in the future. To download a helpful guide sheet go to suzeorman.com/finclutter.