Broker Check

Spring Cleaning: Organizing Your Financial Documents

May 01, 2023

Spring is in the air! Flowers are blooming, the sun is shining and it is time to get our financial documents in order. Whether you maintain paper files or save all of your documents electronically, being able to locate your financial records is important!

The first step to organization is finding out where to store your financial documents. Your financial documents should be located in a safe, secure place that is not easily accessible by others. If you prefer to keep paper files, consider putting them in a fire-resistant file cabinet, safe, or safe-deposit box. If you keep electronic files, consider backing up copies onto a portable storage device or even in a cloud storage service. You may want to leave instructions to a loved one on how to locate your documents in the event of an emergency.

Maintaining the most up-to-date records is essential but for some important documents, keeping a history is necessary. The IRS generally recommends keeping tax records for 3 to 7 years depending on certain criteria.[1] For easily duplicated records such as bank statements, credit statements or certain bills, you might hold on to them long enough to reconcile or pay them then replace them with the new statement. Shred your files when you’re ready to dispose of them especially if they contain Social Security numbers, account numbers, or other personal information.

[1] Topic No. 305, Recordkeeping | Internal Revenue Service (irs.gov)

The views and opinions expressed herein are those of the author(s) noted and may or may not represent the views of Capital Analysts or Lincoln Investment. The material presented is provided for informational purposes only. Past performance is no guarantee of future results. No person or system can predict the market. There is no guarantee that any strategies discussed will result in a positive outcome. All investing involves risk and no investment strategy can guarantee a profit or protect against loss, including the potential loss of principal. S&P 500 Index is an index of 500 of the largest exchange-traded stocks in the US from a broad range of industries whose collective performance mirrors the overall stock market. The NASDAQ is an index that tracks the cumulative results on a market capitalization basis of all stocks trading in the NASDAQ system. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is a widely watched index of 30 American stocks thought to represent the pulse of the American economy and markets. Investors cannot invest directly in an index. Diversification does not guarantee a profit or protect against a loss.