As we have entered the digital age – I had in my mind that all hard copy paperwork will soon be obsolete. Indeed, some paperwork was reduced but it seems that people have created even more. As I am preparing to move again I recently gave all this paper some thought.

Digital Copies of Documents

Most businesses are online these days, a lot of them have allow you to have  an account in which you can view and print bills. Find out how long your bills are stored online and if it concurs with the required time, destroy hard copies. Voila.

Hardcopy Documents and Papers

My personal solution for non-essential documents is that I digitize everything – paperwork such as bills and correspondence. I figured out that I don’t have to scan every individual piece of paper but rather sign up with a digital fax service like (sending a fax: www.faxzero.com. To receive faxes: try http://www.k7.net . Your faxes are delivered as a PDF file to your email inbox. I have an all in one printer (fax, copy,scanner), fed a stack of papers into the fax feed and faxed them to me. I got an email in my inbox that I received a fax. I proceeded to download all papers off the website and saved them in one file on my computer. I made a CD and stored it in my in home safe. Bingo. Done. Almost anyways – I had my kids shred all scanned paperwork. In case you wonder – I have my computer backed up to an online service (such as Carbonite for all PC’s or timemachine for MACS) where I can reach back and pick up old files should I ever lose them. Some of you might say that I created the documents 3 times: on my hard drive, on a CD and on the website. Yup – but I don’t have it in a box in my garage anymore.

Scan instantly:

There are portable scanners available now that have become very popular. There is NEAT (I am not paid)- a slim scanner that scans AND saves it directly into your computer. I think this will be my new investment as they are not cheap with $179 (but down from $199). I really hope to tame my paperwork monster with that!

Most important documents:

Some files are no brainers: Birth Certificates, Passports and other important documents and certificates. I definitely need to keep the hardcopies.

As a rule of thumb I suggest that if the documents are hard to replace you will want to keep the original hardcopy in a fireproof, waterproof safe at home or in a safe deposit box at a financial institution. And I also like to keep an additional digital copy of those documents (picture or scan) in a separate location such as CD, backup hard drive.

Here are some suggestions via www.militarymoney.com on what to keep and how long to keep it:

Adoption/custody papers: Permanently

Birth, marriage, death certificates; citizenship papers; immunization records: Permanently

Bank statements: Six years, longer if needed to document tax returns

Canceled checks: Three years if supporting tax returns, one year for all others

Credit/debit card statements: Six years for year-end statements, one year for monthly statements if year-end is saved

Diplomas, transcripts, school records: Permanently

Divorce/separation papers, settlement agreements: Permanently

Employment records: As long as references needed for future employment

Home-based business records: Six years

Insurance policies: Keep current policy on file always, remove outdated policies

Military papers: Permanently

Motor vehicle/boat titles, licenses, liens: Until statute of limitations ends after property sold or transferred (depends on state law)

Motor vehicle/boat maintenance records: Until property sold or transferred

Active Duty Member Orders

Passports: Until expiration date

Power of attorney for health care/living will: As long as in effect

Power of attorney general, specific (Real Estate, Medical, Financial)

Property deeds, title papers, mortgage/lien documents: Until statute of limitations ends after property sold or transferred (depends on state law)

Social Security cards: Permanently

Stock, bond, mutual fund or other securities’ certificates; certificates of deposit: As long as owned, plus three more years for tax purposes

Stock, bond or other investment statements: Six years for year-end statements, one year for monthly/quarterly statements if year-end is saved

Tax returns, supporting documentation: Six years minimum, longer if space available

Will: Keep as long as it is in effect or until superseded by new version, then destroy old version

Disclaimer: Please note that this does not work for all documents and you ‘ll have to use your own judgment on how well this might work for you. Get it from the horse’s mouth : The IRS gives these guidelines. for tax records or ask your tax advisor on how long to keep your documents and if digital copies are sufficient.

Please Vote for me! Thru May 25th you can vote everyday, but if you just want to vote once that’s fine too

*Scroll to the Militarydutystations-blog logo

*simply click on the thumbs up (no registration necessary)

==================================================================================