Mid-August, my wife and I took another big life step: we bought a house!
Going from an apartment to a house has been an exciting jump, especially since our living space more than doubled. As the saying goes, with great power comes great responsibility.
Or, in our case, with more space comes a lot more places to lose things.
As we turn our new house into a home, one of our priorities has been figuring out where everything belongs. And while finding the right spot for the coffee maker or extra set of towels is important, there are some things you really don't want to search the entire house for when you need them.
That got me thinking: Could you find your most important documents in five minutes or less?
Here are a important items that are worth putting to the "find in 5-minutes or less" test.
Personal Documents
At our stage of life, personal documents have felt like our official welcome to adult responsibility. Whether you're preparing for a flight, updating your driver's license, buying a home, or starting a new job, there are certain documents you need to be able to locate:
- Birth certificates
- Marriage certificate
- Passports
- Social Security cards
- Driver's licenses
You may go months or even years without needing some of these documents. But when you do need them, realizing you have no idea where they are can create a major headache.
Keep the originals secure and make sure you know exactly where to find them.
Estate Planning Documents
Estate planning documents are unique because it's not enough for you to know where they are. Your family or other trusted individuals need to know where to find them, too.
Depending on your stage of life and estate plan, these may include:
- Wills
- Trust documents
- Financial Power of Attorney
- Healthcare Power of Attorney
- Living Will or Advance Directive
Think about it this way: if something happens to you unexpectedly tomorrow, would the people closest to you know where to look?
Make sure these documents are stored safely, then make sure the appropriate family members and/or trusted professionals know how to access them.
Insurance Information
Whether you're sitting down with your financial planner or pulled over on the side of the highway, insurance information sometimes needs to be accessed quickly.
Depending on the policy, it may make sense to have both a physical copy of important coverage information and secure digital access to your account.
Make sure you can easily locate information for your:
- Auto insurance
- Health insurance
- Homeowners or renters’ insurance
- Life insurance
- Disability insurance
- Long-term care insurance
Make sure you can find important policy information, contact information, and know how to access the account when necessary.
Financial Documents
Your financial life overlaps with nearly every category on this list, which also means there can be a lot to keep track of.
Use this checklist as a quick test of your financial organization:
- List of financial accounts: bank accounts, retirement accounts, investments, pensions, etc.
- Beneficiary designations
- Financial plan or net-worth statement
- Recent tax returns, W-2s, and 1099s
- Mortgage information
- Deeds and vehicle titles
- Other loan documents
- Pension and Social Security information
- Important contacts: attorney, financial advisor, CPA, insurance agent, etc.
- List of recurring bills and payments
Just like your estate planning documents, it's important that someone besides you understands where this information can be found.
Take It a Step Further
Being able to access these documents at a moment's notice is important, but "findable" doesn't necessarily mean throwing everything into one dedicated drawer.
Once you've organized your documents, put your system through a tougher test:
- Are important physical documents protected in the event of a fire, flood, or other disaster?
- Do you have secure digital access and backups of documents?
- Would your spouse or another trusted person know where to find everything?
In a perfect world, one drawer could safely and securely hold everything we'd ever need.
Unfortunately, life doesn't usually work that way.
The good news is that technology has made it easier than ever to securely organize and back up important information. A little organization today can save you and your family a tremendous amount of stress when those documents are needed most.