There are three places to keep your important household papers – your wallet, home files, and safe deposit box or home safe. Family, property, financial and legal important papers should be kept in these locations.
What to Carry in Your Wallet
Some items need to be kept with you at all times. Your wallet is the best place to store some items such as personal identification information, a driver's license, credit card(s), health insurance or Medicare card, blood type, organ donor card and special medical information including the name and phone number of your family physician.
Keep items in your wallet until they are no longer current or cards have expired. Do not carry your Social Security card in your wallet. An identity thief could use your Social Security number (SSN), your birth date, and other information in your wallet to steal your identity. If you need to access your Social Security card frequently, keep it in a secure place at home. If you have a Medicare card, you should be aware that it may have your SSN on the card, therefore it also needs to be kept secure.
Wallets can be easily lost or stolen. Carry items that are frequently needed and only one or two credit cards. Photocopy items in the wallet. Keep copies in a secure location at home in your home file. These copies will be helpful if you need to replace any of the items and/or report identity theft.
What to Include in Your Home Files
There are three places for your home files: current, permanent and inactive.
Current files contain papers needed frequently. These files should be located in the most accessible drawers in a file cabinet or desk; if you use boxes, the most accessible box. Another way to store some of this information is on a computer hard drive and backed it up with a jump drive.
Examples: Bank and credit union statements, bills to pay and paid bills, medical information.
Permanent files contain papers needed less often. They can be stored in the back of a file box or drawer or in a binder so they can be quickly removed in case of fire, flood or other emergency. Information kept on a computer disk or jump drive would be more easily transported. Update records annually or as needed.
Examples: Education records, employment records, inventory of valuables and collectables, insurance policies.
Inactive storage files are used very infrequently. They are sometimes referred as "dead files". File these records in file folders and place in a labeled box. The box may be stored in a less accessible location such as an attic or basement. If you have problems with water in a basement – avoid using that location.
Examples: Old tax records, real estate records, or other information you are uncomfortable discarding.
Some of the categories for home files include:
Family Records
Property Records
Financial Records
Legal Records
What to Store in Your Safe Deposit Box or Home Safe
Information that is difficult or impossible to replace should be stored in a safe deposit box or fireproof, waterproof, burglarproof home safe.
Examples: Birth certificates, wills, deed to real estate, record of important papers.
Keep back-up copies of important papers in a safe, fireproof place off your property, such as a safe deposit box. Because we never know when a natural or man-made disaster could strike, it is important to plan for the possibility. The American Red Cross has information on how to financially prepare for disasters, see "Prepare Financially," at http://www.redcross.org/services/prepare/0,1082,0_188_00.html
You May Want to Prepare an Evacuation Box
Buy a lockable, durable "evacuation box" to grab in the event of an emergency. Even a cardboard box would do. Put important papers into the box in sealed, waterproof plastic bags. Store the box in your home where you can get to it easily. Keep this box with you at all times; don't leave it in your unattended car.
The box should be large enough to carry:
A small amount of traveler's checks or cash and a few rolls of quarters.
Negatives for irreplaceable personal photographs, protected in plastic sleeves.
A list of emergency contacts that includes doctors, financial advisors, clergy, reputable repair contractors, and family members who live outside your area.
Copies of important prescriptions for medicines and eyeglasses, and copies of children's immunization records.
Health, dental, or prescription insurance cards or information.
Copies of your auto, flood, renter's, or homeowners insurance policies (or at least policy numbers) and a list of insurance company telephone numbers.
Copies of other important financial and family records (or at least a list of their locations). These would include deeds, titles, wills, a letter of instructions, birth and marriage certificates, passports, relevant employee benefits documents, the first two pages of the previous year's federal and state income tax returns, etc. Originals, other than wills, should be kept in a safe deposit box or at another location.
Backups of computerized financial records.
A list of bank account, loan, credit card, driver's license, investment account (brokerage and mutual funds), and Social Security numbers.
