By Daryl Ashley
Confusion Solution
One thing we all have in common is paperwork. It comes in the form of bills, legal documents, and notes. The other thing we have in common is not knowing which documents to save and for how long. Well, here’s the good news. You don’t have to keep them all for long periods of time.
Always keep current paperwork where it can be easily accessed for resolving an issue. For instance; utility bills, rent or mortgage, or credit card statements that need to be paid once a month. When these bills are paid, save them in folders for one more month until the next payments come due. The reason for this is that most monthly bills will have a statement, payment confirmation, or electronic history to prove payments have been made plus updated balances. There is no need to hold on to them for longer periods of time unless there is a dispute or if you may need to return an item you have purchased.
Now when it comes to taxes, deeds, trusts, or any financial accounting, it is recommended filing them for three years or longer based on their expiration or if assets are sold. The exceptions would be any document that is in audit or dispute. The IRS has complete recommendations for how long to keep certain documents. You can find those by contacting your accountant, the IRS direct, or get online help at https://www.irs.gov/businesses/small-businesses-self-employed/how-long-should-i-keep-records. As for notes, attach these to related documents or review them to see if they need to be filed then toss them once resolved.
Keeping your filing down eliminates storing documents unnecessarily and the feeling you get as a result is that you have taken care of something and being free of worry.
It’s as simple as that!
Send your questions and comments to me at info@confusionsolution.com
