Families For Life | Organising Your Financial Records - A Guide for Seniors
As you grow older, it becomes more and more important to simplify the financial records which you keep and to organise them in a way which will make it easier for you to keep track of your financial concerns. This will be helpful for you as you grow older and have less energy to rummage through mountains of paperwork to find your key documents. It will also make it easier for your children or spouse to help you with your financial record keeping and paperwork if you are no longer able to do this by yourself.
Take Stock of What You Have
Make an inventory of all the accounts, credit cards, debit cards, cheque books, investment and insurance products and physical assets which you own.
Write down key details and save these in a file so that you won’t forget the detail of your accounts especially if they’ve been dormant for a few years.
Reduce the Number of Accounts and Credit-Debit Products You Have
Once you have an inventory of all your assets and products, take a good hard look at them and decide which one are important and which you can do without.
Then consolidate your funds as well as your debit and credit products. Keep just 2 cards and do your banking services at perhaps just 2 banks which you trust and feel are stable and secure. This will save you from the need to wade through piles of statements at the end of each month. It will enable you to have a better picture of your overall spend at any given time so that you can plan for extraordinary events and expense up front.
Set Up a Filing System
Put together a filing system and make sure that you put any paper work in the proper files before the end of the day. Have files for housing loans, auto loans, taxes paid, bank statements, contracts, health and insurance plans and any other important records you feel you need to maintain.
Get a Safe Deposit Box
For documents which are important but do not need to be dealt with immediately, consider renting a safe deposit box. Put all important documents in the safe deposit box for safe keeping until you need them.
Buy a Shredder
You will need to find a way to remove all the different letters which you may have sent and received over time. Before you throw any personal information away make sure that you shred it so that strangers won’t be able to figure out how much you have and where they are.
Learn to Bank Online
You will need to learn to use the mobile or desktop versions of the online banking solutions of your bank or financial services provider. As you grow older and less mobile, being able to check on your funds and manage your assets remotely will allow out to save time and energy.
Write a Will
Write a will and state clearly what and to whom you wish to make bequests to after you are gone. This will help to make sorting through your financial commitments and assets simpler.