Last Updated on December 17, 2023
I’d like to characterize myself as an organized person, but I’d be lying. Every year while anxiously tearing the house apart trying to unearth and compile various papers and documents to file our taxes, I promise myself to finally sit down and organize all the important papers and documents in a home filing system.
And every year I break my promise. It doesn’t get done.
Finally, with all this time stuck in the house with covid-19, I kicked myself in the arse and created a simple, yet comprehensive home filing system for our important paperwork and documents.
How did I do it? I researched the experts and applied their years of knowledge and experience to create a free, downloadable Checklist of Important Paper and Documents for a Home Filing System to help you create your own filing system!
It wasn’t fun, but it was time well spent. Now I feel more secure and prepared about having all our important paperwork organized where I can quickly access them. And no more running around like a chicken with its head caught off every year trying to find a random receipt as we prepare our taxes. Time and aggravation saved!
And now you can have this checklist, but with a lot less aggravation. You’re welcome. ?
Who Are the Experts?
Let’s face it, I’m the average homeowner with limited organizational skills and financial savvy. I need some expert advice.
Surprisingly, advise came from a wide variety of sources – from financial gurus, home and garden experts, organization bloggers, high institutions and even the federal government (!?!?)
- Dave Ramsey
- Consumer Reports
- HomeLight
- Good Housekeeping
- The Homes I Have Made
- Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation
- Colorado State University
And apparently designing a simple, but comprehensive, filing system for our home is broken down into 3 steps, or questions:
- What Constitute “Important” Papers and Documents?
- How Long Do I Keep Important Paperwork?
- What is the Best Way to Store Important Paperwork?
Note that this post will focus on the first and second questions. The third question I’ll address in a future post.
What Constitutes “Important” Papers and Documents?
What exactly makes a document “important”? Important papers and documents serve one these two purposes:
1. Prove Life Events
For example, we need paperwork from certain life events – like our birth certificates – to prove age when starting kindergarten to applying for Social Security benefits at retirement.
2. Financial Health
Financial paperwork is key to achieving, maintaining and managing a healthy financial health – from paying bills on time to completing taxes to enjoying retirement.
So with these two purposes in mind, what exactly do experts consider important papers and documents? The experts identified 60+ important papers documents that every homeowner should consider when compiling their home filing system.
That’s a lot of documents! It’s definitely an all-inclusive, exhaustive list. BUT don’t be discouraged. Why?
- Not all documents will apply to every family – for example, only a subset of families have military discharge papers or naturalization papers.
- Many of documents comprise only one piece of paper – for example, birth certificates.
- These 60+ important papers and documents easily fall into 9 different categories.
- Identification Documentation
- Estate Planning
- Finances
- Taxes
- Real Estate
- Vehicles
- Education
- Health
- Other
- And these 60+ document are compiled into a one-page free printable Checklist (link below) for your personal use in organizing your home filing system.
Checklist of Important Papers and Documents for a Home Filing System
I organized these 60+ important papers and documents into the 9 categories. But before we dive into those 9 categories, here’s the link to the Checklist.
You won’t forget a thing with this free printable checklist of important papers and docs to organize in a home filing system!
1. Identification Documents
Sometimes referred to as “personal” documents, these identification papers establish your and other family member’s identities. It proves who you say you are through certain important life events in your life.
These personal documents are usually issued by a government or legal entity, legally binding, often contain stamps and signatures, and usually difficult to replace. Examples of identification documents include:
- Death Certificates
- Passports/ Green Card
- Naturalization Docs
- Marriage Certificate and Divorce Papers
- Custody Papers
- Driver’s License/ID
- Military ID
- Social Security Cards
- Immigration
- Church Records
2. Estate Planning
Estate plans documents how you want to transfer your property, investments and personal items after death, as well as assign guardianship if you have minor children. I’m not a lawyer (nor play one on tv), and I don’t quite understand estate planning, but do know that having an estate plan is essential. I don’t want to leave a legal mess for my children/heirs to sort out. (FYI – to make estate planning even easier for us, and our executors, we recently finished our comprehensive Family and Home Emergency Binder. I recommend you check this out if you don’t already have one).
Common documents that comprise estate planning include:
- Wills
- Living Wills
- Power of Attorney
- Medical and Burial Instruction
- Beneficiary Directions
3. Finance
I can’t help but hum ABBA’s song “Money, Money, Money!” as I think about this category. This section of important documents is the heart and soul of your financial health.
ABBA video just for fun (since organizing paperwork is SO much fun ?)
The Finance category includes current income such as paystubs and government assistance and future income from investment and retirement accounts such as 401Ks, stocks and bonds. This category also includes large expenses such as education tuition bills, alimony, and credit cards.
Quick note on credit cards, be sure to photocopy the front and back of the card in case of loss or theft.
- Retirement Accounts (401K, TSP, IRA)
- Pension Plan
- Investment Accounts (Stocks, Bonds, Mutual Funds)
- Savings Bonds
- Bank/Credit Union Ledgers & Statements
- Credit Card/ Debit Card Documentation
- Government Benefits (Social Security, Veterans, Disability records)
- Unemployment
- Paystubs
- Alimony
- Child Support
- Elder Care
- HSA and FSA Accounts
- College Tuition/ Student Loans
- Insurance (Property, Life)
4. Taxes
Ah, the dreaded but necessary tax paperwork (sorry IRS guy or gal). Whether you hire a professional or tackle it yourself, you need certain paperwork and documentation to file your tax return.
This document category organizes all the federal and state tax returns and supporting documentation. In addition, this section also includes space for local property and car tax if applicable. I’m in Massachusetts, so we pay an annual car tax to our town and a state property tax.
- Annual tax returns
- W-2 and 1099 forms
- Documentation
- Car Tax
- Property Tax
5. Real Estate
Love my home, but hate all the paperwork that goes with it. But you should keep your deeds and sales records, as well as mortgage contract.
And keeping the receipts to track major renovations or improvements can help in two ways.
One, it potentially can help sell your home faster and for more money. When we were searching for our home we seriously considered a particular house that wasn’t exactly our style, but the owner had kept a detailed record of home improvements that was impressive.
Second, you also may be eligible for tax breaks for capital improvements on your home when you sell.
And lastly, just a note on the last bullet point – home inventory. I’m a firm believer that every household, whether owned or rented, should have some sort of home inventory. If you don’t have one already, be sure to check out What is a Home Inventory? and 12 Valuable Reasons to Create a Home Inventory.
- Deed and Sales
- Mortgage
- Utilities (Electric, Water, Gas, Cable)
- Home Improvement Receipts & Estimates
- Major Purchase Receipts
- Home Inventory
6. Vehicle
Like a house, it’s essential to hold onto important papers and documents associated with your car. In addition to the title or lease contract, having the following records are handy in case you are involved in a car accident or want to sell your vehicle.
- Title/Lease Documents
- Car Payments
- Maintenance Receipts
- Insurance
7. Health
Organizing medical records is important for your family’s health and financial well-being. Keeping track of immunization records and facilitate accurate medical care and clear communication with healthcare providers. And then there’s the bills.
Ugh.
I think we all can agree that health care costs are not cheap. Organized bills help you work through all the red tape of insurance and make sure everyone is paying their share. When our twins were born in 2016 we organized our bills and caught billing errors, ultimately we saving us a few thousand of dollars.
As a side note, piles of health paperwork can quickly grow, so depending on your file, these might be best organized by family member.
- Medical & Dental Records
- Organ Donor Card
- Immunization Records
- Billing Statements
- Insurance Claims
- Receipts
- Pet Veterinarian Files & Bills
8. Education/ Employment
If you earned it, keep it! Hold onto those degrees, military service, and licenses. And documentation of salary letters and reviews could aid in obtaining that dream job.
- Salary & Promotion Letters
- Annual Employer Reviews
- Licenses/ Certificates/ Training
- Transcripts/ Academic Records
- Degrees and Diplomas
- Military Discharge Papers
9. Other
Because each household have unique situations, here’s the catch all for remaining documents that you deem important. So if it doesn’t fit anywhere else, here’s your category. Examples of important paperwork that fit under this category:
- Rewards Accounts (Frequent Flyer Programs, Hotel, Car)
- Coupons, Vouchers, Gift Cards
- Jury Duty Service
- Citations
- Online Passwords
2. How Long to Keep Important Papers and Documents in a Home Filing System?
Now that I’ve gone around the house and collected all this important paperwork to organize at home, do I actually need to keep it all? Is there an expiration date on paperwork?
According to the financial gurus and experts, here’s how long you should hold onto these documents.
Papers to Keep Indefinitely
- All the documents in these Categories:
- Identification
- Estate Planning
- Education
- Retirement & Pension
- Annual Tax Forms
- Medical and Organ Donor Card
- Real Estate (or 7 years after sale)
Papers to Keep for 7 Years
- Bank/ Credit Union Statements
- W-2 and 1099 forms
- Supporting Tax Docs, which include a lot of items under the Finance Category, such as Unemployment, Government Benefits, Child Support, etc….
- Vehicle Tax
- Property Tax
- Medical & Dental Billing Statements, Receipts
- Investment Accounts & Savings Bonds (after sale)
- Real Estate Transaction (after sale)
Papers to Keep for 1 Year
- Checkbook ledgers
- Paycheck stubs
- Mortgage statements
- Vehicle (after sale)
- Insurance (after expiration)
Papers to Keep for 1–3 Months
- Utility bills
The Takeaway…
I’m tremendously happy and relieved I’ve started this process of gathering all my family’s important paper and documents. It’s reduced my stress level and made me more efficient, especially around tax time.
Stay tuned for a future post which addresses our journey to safely and securely store these important paper and documents, and ultimately, complete our family home filing system. In the meantime, if you are overachiever ? and want to be even MORE organized, check out these 3 posts:
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