Many people overlook one of the main uses of safes in homes and offices today--data storage. While many of us have transitioned to online data rooms and online data storage, there are still some things that you are required to keep in hardcopy form. I remember the first time that I was doing my taxes--it had never occurred to me all the documents that I needed to keep in order to full account for my taxes. Well, now that I know...things have gotten easier. And now I've gotten all sorts of responsible and keep all my important documents in my safe. I've got my marriage certificate, all my family's birth certificates, my home deed, stock or bond certificates and other important financial documents.
But I then started thinking about how my life and my safe would be completely overrun if I keep everything that I want to keep. As I was thinking about this, I realized there sure are a lot of documents that I’d want to keep in a safe at home but I never know exactly how long you are meant to keep things for. Like tax returns? Did you know that you need to keep all tax returns filed for seven years before disposing of them? So I put together a list of what you need to keep and for how long. It will help you organize your life a bit like I've tried to! Document————– How long to keep
Birth and death certificates—Forever.
Estate-planning documents—Forever. (Unless your executor knows how to get into your safe, also make sure he or she and your lawyer have copies.)
Life-insurance policies——-Until the term of coverage ends.
Savings bonds ————-Until you cash them in at maturity (30 years in the case of Series EE bonds).
Stock certificates ——–Until you sell the stock or have it converted to direct or street-name registration.
Tax returns ————At least seven years. Hope this helps you organize your important documents and keep your home safe in check! Any other documents that you keep?
