<p>I’ve been giving some thought to dumping those too. I guess it’s just part of the record of living. I don’t think that I’ll ever need those records again though.</p>
<p>Last night I found a tax spreadsheet from 1988. It had data from 1987 and 1986 for offshore accounts. I need this data for cost basis when we liquidate those assets. I also need all of the years going back then. I should probably start a spreadsheet with all of this data.</p>
<p>This is a weekend where snow isn’t a problem (it’s 44 degrees, sunny, and the snow is melting off the roof quickly and I don’t have to shovel). It’s another weekend where I get to tackle more paper and I was finally able to clear all of the paper off a bookcase next to my office desk. Of course I just moved the big pile of paper and all of the junk in between the papers into two piles of slash folders which are now sitting on the bookcase ready to be put into electronic form if they aren’t already available in electronic form from another source. Basically the paper clutter is improving bit-by-bit. My desk and table are pretty clean and I now use the table as a table for temporary things: electronics, gloves, my workout bag, food containers to go into my workout bag.</p>
<p>There are two plastic containers with the kids’ college documents. I’m planning on going through that to put them in electronic format and I can just give them the electronic notebook when I’m done. Or I could maintain it and email them updated notebooks from time to time.</p>
<p>We’re going to do major cleaning over the next two weeks and getting a lot of the paper out of the way should make things a little easier. I’m already in “toss stuff out mode”.</p>
<p>I sold my house and transitioned to a fulltime RV traveler a couple of years ago. Shredding the old documents took forever. As to the future, well there just aren’t more than a small collection of papers that I have kept.</p>
<p>Utilitiy bills - I don’t have these anymore, but even before I started to travel, I realized there was absolutely no reason to keep them. Some utilities may still insist on sending a paper bill, but there is still no reason to keep them. All those bills you receive are also kept electronically and could be retrieved from the utility company.</p>
<p>Banking and Financial - 100% electronic. No paper checks (maybe 2/year for odd payments). No paper statements. Credit card statements - electronic. Tax forms from financial institutions - electronic. If you are worried you can always download and save pfd files. I only do this for tax statements. </p>
<p>Insurance policies and records - 100% electronic, except for the auto insurance card you carry with your registration.</p>
<p>My non-electronic records are mainly birth and marriage certificates, passports, drivers licenses, credit cards and other forms of ID. Wills and records from selling the house are also paper. Many warranties and some instruction manuals are also paper only. The worst are medical records. The medical facilities still have a long way to go so you might need to keep some selected records including labs and radiology.</p>
<p>Don’t scan and fuss with your old records. Decide what you really need to keep and find an efficient, secure means of destroying the rest. You will be surprised about how little you really need to keep.</p>
<p>The electronic records go away if you close your account. One thing that I found when I tried to retrieve some from the kids’ former apartment. I also found this out when I had to cancel a credit card - all of the electronic records from the previous card were no longer available. There are time limits at the brokerages that I use as to how long they keep electronic records around.</p>
<p>I’m not scanning anything - takes too much time. I use an iPhone camera - does a great job and it’s very fast.</p>
<p>Yes the electronic records can go away once you close your account. So what? Again, what records are you trying to keep and why? BTW, last year I had credit cards and IDs stolen. All of the bank accounts, credit cards and passwords had to be changed for both me and my wife. We lost NONE of the previous records. The accounts were closed but the records are available. If I need to for example determine last year’s medical expenses for tax reasons, that is really easy. Some of the payments were by credit card and those records are not only available but really easy to find and sort. Some of the payments were made electronically from my bank accounts. Again all of those records are readily available. If you think paper is more reliable and more secure, I would disagree. </p>
<p>I don’t mean to sound condescending but if you are having problems with electronic banking and electronic records, I would suggest you look for a continuing ed program at a local high school or college. I highly recommend OLLI programs. Also visit your local bank and talk with a representative. Even better get on the phone and deal with one of the bank’s customer service experts. If you are still worried, please remember all of your records can be downloaded on a regular basis and stored electronically. You could store a lifetime worth of records with just a few gigs of storage. You can easily make backup copies and store them in multiple locations. </p>
<p>Dealing with electronic records is also fast. My bank and credit card records can be sent to Excel files. You can then sort and categorize your expenses to meet your interests. My bank even allows me to do this online using their software, but you would probably be nervous about that approach. </p>
<p>By all means get rid of the paper. Even more important, stop using paper checks. Anyone can forge your name. Checks are risky. Make your payments electronically from your bank. Even better pay with credit cards. By law you have the upper hand if there is any dispute with a creditor. Your losses are also limited to a maximum of $50 in case of fraud. (Don’t fall for the gimmick of buying credit card protection, you are already protected by law.) We even paid college tuition ($15k at a wack) and bought a new diesel pickup truck with our credit cards. We have enough points to fly to the moon and back a couple of times.</p>
<p>Get rid of the paper. When in doubt throw it away. BTW, you can also find classes and guides that will tell you the same thing. With even the most conservative old fashioned approach you will need to keep very little.</p>
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<p>I like to keep records of large purchases and perhaps an idea of what I spent on things in the past. There are some things that I will probably keep because the cost of electronic storage is so small.</p>
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<p>I have all of my older records on paper. I was thinking of just taking pictures of them and storing them in an electronic notebook. I’m going through the process of doing that with things from the last two years. I’ll see how it goes and then proceed from what I find.</p>
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<p>I’d suggest reading from the beginning of the thread.</p>
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<p>I’d really suggest reading from the beginning of the thread.</p>
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<p>I’m perfectly happy with making out paper checks.</p>
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<p>I’m sure that that will work well when I have to figure out cost basis for offshore accounts that span 30 years.</p>
<p>I did read your earlier posts. Maybe your investments are much more complex than mine. I find I really don’t need much paper. None regarding my investments except for some cost basis records from many decades ago. I don’t need to keep records of my larger purchases, nor my smaller ones. I have all that on the electronic files. For a few big items I do keep separate records with cost, date of purchase, etc. I also record the serial numbers. Of course my records are electronic and kept on my computer and hard drives. </p>
<p>Again, I highly recommend going electronic. For your old records, you may need to do some scanning. Again, keep only the minimum. Remember it is not just a project to scan the documents, you need to setup a system to organize them. You will not be happy if you need to find information and need to open bunches of poorly organized scan files as part of your search. Sure scanning is quick and easy, but it will take MUCH longer to name, tag, and organize those files.</p>
<p>It sounds like you are an admitted packrat (your words). If you want to keep a bunch of nonessential infomation as part of your life memories, just keep them separate from what you really need. Keep the essential data simple and organized.</p>
<p>Perhaps you could explain what a SQL injection attack is.</p>
<p>I assume that is your way of saying you are concerned about the security of online data?</p>
<p>If so, remember if you decide to avoid using online resources, your data is still available in databases that are subject to hacking.</p>
<p>I’ve been a software engineer for 25 years working in database engineering and that includes security work. I have also done some work for Mozilla (if you use Firefox, you’re running some of my code). I managed a data warehouse (hardware, software, networks) and was a consultant before then. So I do know a little bit about security and access and databases and hacking.</p>
<p>And yes, I could probably even edit an Excel spreadsheet.</p>
<p>I still do not understand. Are you avoiding using online resources because of security concerns?</p>
<p>Sounds like you have lots of expertise. I certainly am also concerned about the security of financial databases. It seems like there are many risks such as hacker attack, lots of people who are authorized for access and the apparently widespread transfer of data to PC and storage devices by authorized personnel. It seems that those risks are present whether or not I use the resources. What is your opinion on this? Are we more secure if we do not use the online resources or is the risk about the same since the data already exists?</p>