Lifefolio a folder or filing cabinet where are your important documents pertaining to your life are located. If ones need one! Your future and your family will thank you. When I completed my Lifefolio it gave me confidence and my husband thank you for taking of you and our family. Him telling me that was the best part of this short but necessary project.
Have you ever been searching for important documents and cannot find them? That was the story of my life at one point in time. Now, I’ve gotten things together and I want to show you can too! Organizing your documents is time consuming and not on your top things to do. Starting with the Location of Document Worksheet will help jump start the organization process when it comes to your financial life.
To get keep things simple, keep documents in the following area.
SDB= Safety Deposit Box- good place to keep original documents and cash. You can get a safety deposit box at your bank where you have an account. It cost about $60-$100 a year. They have different sizes you can pick from. Only you will know what is in the box.
HF= Home File- copies of all-important documents. You can purchase a fireproof box or small filing cabinet.
LF= Lifefolio- have a notebook with all your documents in one area. This helps you and anyone else to find your documents. Use dividers to separate all the documents.
To get started fill out this list to organize your items you have. This will help you determine if you need to get items as well. Go to https://www.thefinanciallady.com/resources/ and get your location document template.
See the example below how to fill the form out:
SBD= Safe Deposit Box
HF= Home File
FNB=Financial Notebook
| FNB | Appraisals |
| HF | Automotive Records |
| HF | Bill of Sale |
| SDB | Birth Certificates |
| FNB | Burial Instructions |
| HF | Credit Cards |
| HF | Death Certificates |
| SBD | Deed to Burial Plot |
| SBD | Degree -Education |
| HF | Divorce Decree |
| HF | Durable Power of Attorney- Medical, Financial, or General |
| HF | Mortgage/ Lease |
| SDB | Naturalization Papers |
| Pension Records | |
| Investment Docs | |
| Bonds | |
| CDs | |
| IRAs | |
| Stock Certificates | |
| Mutual Funds Records | |
| HF | Life Insurance Policies |
| Liability | |
| Health Records | |
| Disability Forms | |
| Long-Term Care Policy | |
| Homeowners/Renters/Auto insurance | |
| Loan Documents | |
| Living Will | |
| Military Docs/DD214 | |
| Marriage Certificates | |
| Passport | |
| Income Tax Return | |
| Property Tax Records | |
| Title Policies | |
| Trust Documents |
Once you have done that, STOP. Create a list with the following items:
- Hanging File folders- use to hang in the filing cabinet or file container. Here are some you can buy:
File Cabinet: Buy Now
File Box: Buy Now
- Sharpie Pen- use this to write on the sticky notes. You can print labels as well.
- Use labels or sticky notes- you will use this to label the folders
- Life Insurance
- Medical & General Power of Attorney
- Will
Once you have completed labeling it’s time to put all your documents in the right place. Take a few hours to sort through all your documents You realize many of the files will be empty or all of them may be empty. Solution: if all your folders are empty start with the following folders:
If you have those three items already, CONGRATS! Start working on other folders. This is not a time to point the finger or be mad at yourself for not having things organized. Let’s Go!
Be aware, be informed!