What form of filing system should I adopt?

Question

Now that I'm married my wife and I are racking up a collection of bills, statements, receipts etc... What filing system do you think would work best and easiest to store these files and quickly locate them if needed? What materials would I need to accomplish this?

Answer 1

You should invest in a decent two-drawer filing cabinet.  This should be all the storage space you'll ever need, unless you start a business.  Then buy a box of manilla folders and a box of labels.  You can hand write the labels or print them on a computer.

You should set up the following folders:  

Income Taxes (one folder per year):  Put all income tax related papers here throughout the year so that they're all in one place when you go to do your taxes.

Retirement:  Statements relating to your 401(k), IRAs, etc.  I just keep the year-end statements and shred the rest, but you can decide how many you want to keep.

Receipts:  Match credit card receipts to the monthly statement and then shred them unless you need them for a warranty or tax purposes.

Bills:  I just keep the latest bill and shred the previous month's bill (after I make sure my payment was recorded correctly).

Health and Dental:  All health records, health insurance info, etc.

Car:  Auto insurance and car-related materials.

Home:  Home owners or renters insurance policy, receipts for major purchases, a DVD or photos of insured items (furniture, appliances, electronics, etc.)

Bank:  Statements, account information.

Investments:  Brokerage statements, account information.

Credit:  Keep a copy of the credit card agreements for each card and your latest credit reports (you can each get one per year free from each credit reporting bureau at annualcreditreport.com)

Estate planning:  A copy of your wills, trusts, and powers of attorney.

I've probably not thought of everything, but this should give you a good start.

You might also consider getting a fireproof safe or use a safe deposit box for things you would need in case of disaster (insurance policies, receipts for major purchases, copies of your social security cards, drivers licenses, credit cards, etc.)

Also, invest in a cross-cut shredder and when disposing of papers, shred anything with names, account numbers, or other personal information on it.