Back To School For Your Money

Who doesn't love the idea of starting a new school year with plenty of cool supplies and a clean slate? As the kids head back to the classroom, it's time to take some of that new-found organization and apply it to your financial life. The first step is to clean up your files to keep track of your stuff. I talked about where to start with CBS3 this morning.

So get out the three-ring binders, folders and the shredder and get busy!

WHAT TO TOSS AND WHEN

• Bank Statements: Keep for a year, store with tax info
• 401(k), IRA, Brokerage: Shred monthly and quarterly statements as new ones arrive; hold on to annual statements until you sell the investments
• Investment purchase confirmations/1099s: Until you sell, then keep for 7 years
• Credit Card bills: After you check and pay them, unless you need for taxes
• Tax Returns/Supporting Documents: Keep for 7 years
• Warranties/vehicle titles/loan records: keep for as long as you own the item

• Birth/Death certificates & Social Security cards
• Marriage licenses and Divorce decrees
• Pension plan documents
• Copies of wills, trusts, and powers of attorney (attorney/executor should have copies)
• Life-insurance policies
• Safe-deposit box inventory

Jill Schlesinger

Jill Schlesinger, CFP® is the Emmy-nominated business analyst for CBS News. She covers the economy, markets, investing and anything else with a dollar sign on TV, radio (including her nationally syndicated radio show), the web and her blog, "Jill on Money." Prior to her second career at CBS, Jill spent 14 years as the co-owner and chief investment officer for an independent investment advisory firm. She began her career as a self-employed options trader on the Commodities Exchange of New York, following her graduation from Brown University.

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