News and Events
February 13, 2008
Replacing Your Home after a Fire
And fire isn't the only way to lose critical
documents. So, here are some important
tips to save you time, money and frustration.
Documents that are difficult to replace -
things like birth certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, records of
military service, citizenship papers, adoption records, etc. - should be kept
in a safe deposit box at a bank.
For your convenience - and some added
protection - keep photocopies of these documents at home. If you keep paper copies - as opposed to
scanning - you could be even more secure by keeping them in a home fire safe
that carries a UL class 350 fire resistant rating.
Other documents for safe deposit box storage
include passports, social security records, stock certificates, deeds, property
titles, mortgages, wills and insurance documents. Remember to keep copies at home for your own
convenience.
As for other smart record keeping tips, CPAs
say that the nature of the document determines how long it should be kept.
For example, utility, credit card, and other
bills can be discarded once you have verified that they are correct. And
there's no need to keep car titles or most other property documents once you've
disposed of the item.
If your mutual fund company or brokerage
house provides a year-end summary report of your transactions, there's no need
to keep monthly or quarterly statements once you've checked that the year-end
report is accurate. However, hold on to all your buy/sell trade confirmations,
since they contain information needed for completing your tax return.
Retain indefinitely records documenting
retirement plans and individual retirement accounts.
Tax records, such as federal and state
income tax returns and supporting documentation should be kept at least six
years. Because if you've substantially
underreported income the IRS has six years to audit your returns.
It's a good idea to keep pay stubs until you
get your W-2. Keep canceled checks for
as long as you might need proof that payment was made. However, canceled checks
and receipts that support income tax deductions should be held as long as the
returns themselves.
Finally, CPAs suggest that you keep a list
of all items, where they are stored, and give a copy to a friend or relative
who can locate the items in an emergency.
All of us here at Insurance Networking
Systems hope you never have to recover from a tradedy, but if you do maybe
these tips will make your life a litte easier.
