It is halfway through the year, and one of the things I wanted to work on was my personal files, or as ESI money often refers to them as, my Disaster files. We all keep records, either online or in paper form in a file cabinet. The key is to keep them organized in such a way that you (or your significant other) can quickly get the information that you need.
Typically, folks deal with these things when they first get the “setting up” bug, then let them lie for a significant period of time (sometimes years). I am very guilty of this, and the last time I updated them was back in 2013.
So as part of my mid-year review (and with the opportunity for a 4-day weekend for July 4th in the US), I took the time to dig in and see what I needed to work on. For everyone’s help, I’ve attached two pdf’s to this that I used when I was first setting up back in the 90s.
- Something written for military personnel to show a file setup situation, by Lt. Cmdr. T. Connors
- Something provided by USAA (the military insurance Co) for organizing records.
I hope they help everyone.
After going through, here were the deficiencies/tasks that I see I need to work on in the next 30 days to get myself back up to speed.
| No | Description |
| 1 | Update Master List from 2013 |
| 2 | Send Master list to Mrs. 39 months |
| 3 | Price out updating wills – don’t need to update, no change from 2003 |
| 4 | Redo filing cabinet with Master List & Disaster file #1 |
| 5 | Letter of Last Instructions |
| 6 | Household budget folder (budget goals, income statement, balance sheet, income/expense forecasts) |
| 7 | Housing Information (Title, insurance, receipts for work, property taxes) |
| 8 | Online passwords |
| 9 | Location of keys to safe deposit box |
| 10 | Credit records: Resolution of past debts (auto, home) |
| 11 | latest credit report |
| 12 | Home Insurance Policy |
| 13 | Net Worth’s 2009 to present |
| 14 | Annual updates for Jan 1, 2017 into investments |
| 15 | Updated list of personal property |
| 16 | Pictures of personal property |
| 17 | Investments (list of accounts, goal planning, annual balance sheet) |
| 18 | Taxes: Tax records for previous year, current year documents |
| 19 | Guarantees & warranties (appliances, cars, etc.) |
| 20 | Personal background info (Education, personal history, resume) |
| 21 | Credit: Resolution papers of past debts, credit card names, numbers & 1-800 number |
| 22 | Auto Info: Insurance coverage, policies, auto registration, repair/maintenance records |
| 23 | Health insurance (Booklet from work, health history, medications, etc.) |
| 24 | Life Insurance (Insurance policies, etc.) |
| 25 | Safe Deposit: Title to auto, DD214, marriage certificate, letter of last instructions, copy of will, personal property inventory, zip disk with photos of personal property, passport) |
| 26 | Instruction letter (where to find everything, computer passwords, etc.) |
| 27 | Setup dates for regular updates to the files (so I never have to do this again) |
Ouch. I have a lot of work ahead of me. Still, it will be good to have this done, especially as I progress towards financial independence.
Good luck with your mundane tasks.
Setting up your personal record file
Mr. 39 months