Love having all our documents in one filing system. Though my filing system consists of 3 accordion files rather than 1 container, I know where my documents are located.
If you are struggling to find a system that works for you, consider a filing cabinet, container, cardboard box, plastic tote, notebook(s), or any other system that has worked for you in the past.
Rather than reinventing the wheel, find a successful organizational system that works in your home and use that same basic system for your important documents. Getting those documents gathered and organized will save you money, energy, and time.
Estate Planning Review
In sharing my organizational system, I have covered all of file box 1 and all of file box 2. Working on file box 3, we have finished the Social Security, Retirement Plan, and Investment categories.
Concentrating now on the Estate Planning category, we have finished the first two file openings – sections 7 and 8 in my accordion file.
Section Opening #7
Section Opening #8
Section Opening #9
- Correspondence
Estate Planning Correspondence
Working today on the contents of the third of four file slot openings housing our estate planning documents, I file our estate planning correspondence within this section.
As we prepared for our visit with our attorney, I gathered research, our beneficiary information, and policies. In addition to those documents, our attorney had us fill out a number of pages prior to our meeting to save us money, energy, and time.
All these documents, research, and invoices are kept within this file opening. If we need to make adjustments or change our estate planning documentation, we will have access to the information we used to create our first package.
In keeping our important documents organized and filed, I find the accordion filing system working for me. I like using the tabs for each category as I can quickly find the section I need. Since I only use a few tabs for each box, I can spread out our documents over multiple slots.
Filing our estate planning correspondence allows me to access our attorney’s contact information and go back to explanations of the items within our estate planning package should I have questions.
With three of the four file openings complete, I will begin addressing next week the last file opening that holds our estate planning documents. Keep making progress.
I know it is hard to block out time to organize these documents. Believe me, I understand. You won’t have time each week, but making time at least once a month is so beneficial to you and your family. Keep up the good work, and happy organizing!
Question: Which type of filing systems do you use with success in your home?