File folders

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friar1610

Thinks s/he gets paid by the post
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Today I spent a few hours catching up on filing, straightening out my office/den, deleting/filing emails - that kind of stuff. I had to make a new file folder to add to the filing cabinet and that got me thinking about the progression of file folders from early retirement (age 58) through the present (almost 70.)

1. Retire from the Navy. Make file folder for "Navy retirement pay."
2. Get civilian job. Make file folder for "401K."
3. Quit civilian job(s) after 6 years and really retire. Make file folder for "Rollover IRA."
4. Wife stops working and I can no longer be on her health insurance. Make file folder for "TRICARE" (military MEDICARE-like health care plan for retirees.)
5. Apply for Social Security (at age 62). Make "Social Security" folder.
6. Enroll in Medicare (at age 65). Make "Medicare". Also make "TRICARE for Life" folder as TRICARE now becomes a supplement to Medicare.
7. Today: make "Vanguard MRD" folder as I will have to start taking them in 2015 and I recently set things up with Vanguard to have them figure out the amounts and transfer funds to my money market fund quarterly.

I also made a few folders for my wife as she hit some but not all of the above milestones.

Pretty mundane stuff but thought it made an interesting progression through stages of retirement.
 
I used to do that, but I have precious little paperwork any more.
Everything gets scanned into a pdf file and stored in the computer (with multiple backups, of course). Once scanned, the paper goes in the shredder.

The pdf files make it so much easier to find things, and the lack of physical clutter is great. If I need one of those pieces of paper, I can simply print out a new one.
 
I have a lot of the same folders you have, but not at the same chronological status.

Once a year, I go through all of my folders and get rid of stuff that no longer applies or has been replaced.

I keep permanent stuff in a manila folder within a hanging Pendaflex folder. Other semi-permanent stuff (things I know I will get annual or repetitive versions of) goes in the same Pendaflex but not inside the manila folder.
When I go through and minimize paper, I only have to go through the semi-permanent stuff. A real time saver. :D

I used to manage an R&D laboratory, so this "file, replace and weed" process is second nature to me.
 
No hard copy file folders for me. Everything I file is scanned or saved as pdf's. Paper is shredded or burned. I do need to work on my digital file and folder naming conventions to improve organization.


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friar1610 said:
Today I spent a few hours catching up on filing, straightening out my office/den, deleting/filing emails - that kind of stuff. I had to make a new file folder to add to the filing cabinet and that got me thinking about the progression of file folders from early retirement (age 58) through the present (almost 70.)

1. Retire from the Navy. Make file folder for "Navy retirement pay."
2. Get civilian job. Make file folder for "401K."
3. Quit civilian job(s) after 6 years and really retire. Make file folder for "Rollover IRA."
4. Wife stops working and I can no longer be on her health insurance. Make file folder for "TRICARE" (military MEDICARE-like health care plan for retirees.)
5. Apply for Social Security (at age 62). Make "Social Security" folder.
6. Enroll in Medicare (at age 65). Make "Medicare". Also make "TRICARE for Life" folder as TRICARE now becomes a supplement to Medicare.
7. Today: make "Vanguard MRD" folder as I will have to start taking them in 2015 and I recently set things up with Vanguard to have them figure out the amounts and transfer funds to my money market fund quarterly.

I also made a few folders for my wife as she hit some but not all of the above milestones.

Pretty mundane stuff but thought it made an interesting progression through stages of retirement.
Click to expand...
My spouse is finally throwing out her high school and college notes that she collected between 1975-1983. Much of it has moved from "science" to "history" anyway. Now she's working through the active-duty paperwork, but that's going to need a few more years.

My question is always when I can throw that stuff away. It took on new meaning when we had to downsize my Dad's apartment.

I finally started throwing away all the Nordman tax returns (of both generations) that were older than seven years. I have still not gotten comfortable with shredding my military leave & earnings statements.
 
The filing cabinet was filled to the point where I needed a file to keep track of the files.
Ten years ago... the solution! Bundled it all up into big boxes, and started a Piling System that works wonderfully well for us. One cabinet where all documents/papers get piled for a year. If, during the year, something is needed, a simple dig down in the papers. At the end of the year, a twenty minute sort of "like" documents... rubber banded and into a plastic bag date "2014", and into the big box.

Too simple?... We live a simple life, and only have to dig through the "Pile" a few times a year. Easy. Now, all piles older than 5 years are burned. So far, haven't lost or needed anything we couldn't find.

Important documents... Wills, Deeds, contracts etc, Piled into one fireproof box.
Our kids aware of all this... in case of....:(
 
imoldernu said:
The filing cabinet was filled to the point where I needed a file to keep track of the files.
Ten years ago... the solution! Bundled it all up into big boxes, and started a Piling System that works wonderfully well for us. One cabinet where all documents/papers get piled for a year. If, during the year, something is needed, a simple dig down in the papers. At the end of the year, a twenty minute sort of "like" documents... rubber banded and into a plastic bag date "2014", and into the big box.

Too simple?... We live a simple life, and only have to dig through the "Pile" a few times a year. Easy. Now, all piles older than 5 years are burned. So far, haven't lost or needed anything we couldn't find.

Important documents... Wills, Deeds, contracts etc, Piled into one fireproof box.
Our kids aware of all this... in case of....:(
Click to expand...

We probably threw out 25 yeas of paper records when we moved last year. We had them in file boxes in the attic. Now we have two or three boxes full that include all real estate files for house bought and sold over the years, copies of my military documents and records, old family pictures not in albums, income tax records going back 10 years or so (I had a Sub S Corp), and other miscellaneous legal type stuff.

Everything now is kept electronically and put on flash drives or stored on a 500 GB backup drive. I also keep current insurance policies and work in process spreadsheets and documents in a Dropbox file.
 
I'm afraid I threw out TOO much paper. Sold some stock last year and am having trouble finding the purchase date for basis information. Etrade only holds records for 10 years. Guess I'll have to guesstimate. My wife did not jump on the digital revolution as quickly as I did and thanks to her we do have some forensic files to make a best guess on the purchase date.
 
We are in the process of incremental de-clutter throughout the house. This includes file folders. We used to file everything - even monthly utility bills. We used to keep tax returns - even when they were waay old. Now, we throw out unnecessary items. We still have a file cabinet, But our goal (like many of you mentioned above) is to scan everything into PDF files, place on the computer and back-up zip drive, and do away with the file cabinet altogether. While the process of de-cluttering is a bit of work, it feels so much better once it is done. The hardest step will be to convince DW to scan all the boxes of old photos into files.
 
imoldernu said:
The filing cabinet was filled to the point where I needed a file to keep track of the files.
Ten years ago... the solution! Bundled it all up into big boxes, and started a Piling System that works wonderfully well for us. One cabinet where all documents/papers get piled for a year. If, during the year, something is needed, a simple dig down in the papers. At the end of the year, a twenty minute sort of "like" documents... rubber banded and into a plastic bag date "2014", and into the big box.

Too simple?... We live a simple life, and only have to dig through the "Pile" a few times a year. Easy. Now, all piles older than 5 years are burned. So far, haven't lost or needed anything we couldn't find.

Important documents... Wills, Deeds, contracts etc, Piled into one fireproof box.
Our kids aware of all this... in case of....:(
Click to expand...


Now this is something that I can get into..... right now all I have are stacks hidden away.... but, I need to reclaim part of the filing cabinet to store some files that I do have and need....
 
Earl E Retyre said:
We are in the process of incremental de-clutter throughout the house. This includes file folders. We used to file everything - even monthly utility bills. We used to keep tax returns - even when they were waay old. Now, we throw out unnecessary items. We still have a file cabinet, But our goal (like many of you mentioned above) is to scan everything into PDF files, place on the computer and back-up zip drive, and do away with the file cabinet altogether. While the process of de-cluttering is a bit of work, it feels so much better once it is done. The hardest step will be to convince DW to scan all the boxes of old photos into files.
Click to expand...


I do not like this since scanning takes up too much time... I have a slow flat bed and just do not want to scan things...

Now, I do have PDFs of forms that I fill out on the computer and then print... along with tax returns for the last 5 or so years....
 
I've just got a box labeled "papers not worth saving".
 
We've several full size old file cabinets with outstanding slides and catches up north, plus a few two drawer cabs and desk files, plus a couple decades of annual files in banker boxes stacked in the attic. Down here we just have three desk file drawers, a plastic hanging file box, a 2-drawer cabinet, and a box with estate files. Moving between the two places takes 2-3 plastic hanging file boxes.

I'm fond of vertical chronological filing with stack positioning cues at my desk. She disapproves. If I need a bit of data (who did we contact with the city regarding sidewalk repair back when they were working on the alley at Front street?) I find that looking over my glasses in her general direction is remarkably effective. That surely proves I've the best filing system of all.
 
I have one Steelcase vertical file cabinet with files in hanging file folders in the top drawers, and excess office supplies down below.

I do intend to scan everything at some point. It seems to me that the key to success in this endeavor must be acquiring excellent software for organizing and finding the desired scanned document. Unfortunately, I haven't yet figured out what software would be the best for home document organizing. Also I need a good document scanner, and many of them come with their own software about which I know nothing. (sigh) I need to do some research on all of this.

Surely there must be a system that stands out above all the competition.

Meanwhile, my paper files are exactly the same in retirement as they were before retirement. Take my "Social Security" file for example. Ten years ago it included the yearly estimate, printouts of relevant PDFs about how to apply for SS and what to expect, and so on. Now that I am getting SS, that file also includes information from SS such as notifaction about the recent COL raise. As for Medicare, I have a file called "Medical" which includes both BCBS and Medicare, as well as lab test results, my eyeglasses prescription, and so on.
 
W2R said:
Meanwhile, my paper files are exactly the same in retirement as they were before retirement. Take my "Social Security" file for example. Ten years ago it included the yearly estimate, printouts of relevant PDFs about how to apply for SS and what to expect, and so on. Now that I am getting SS, that file also includes information from SS such as notifaction about the recent COL raise. As for Medicare, I have a file called "Medical" which includes both BCBS and Medicare, as well as lab test results, my eyeglasses prescription, and so on.
Click to expand...

Same here - my folders are pretty generic with the exception of having a separate folder for each vehicle. I made a swing at decluttering last year but only got through two shredder bins full before giving up - didn't seem like I was making a dent. We get/file a lot of things electronically but still end up with too much paper.
 
During my working years I let paperwork get out of hand. My small home office with one two drawer filing cabinet was a mess and I had a lot of papers stored in the basement. Moving was very therapeutic. I shredded a huge bin of paper. I resolved to get more organized in my new home and invested in two more four drawer vertical filing cabinets. I also try to store incoming documents electronically wherever possible. I spring clean periodically, which reminds me that I must do that soon.
 
I like the 'Piling System'. I wonder if it could be improved on by incorporating a can of lighter fluid or gas.
 
After having my work files searched endlessly by lawyers looking for things related to various lawsuits I decided the best way to avoid it was to not keep anything. I literally threw everything in the recycle bin and cleared almost everything off my hard drive.

My motto was "if it is that important, someone else has a copy of it"!

I pretty much do the same thing now that I'm retired.
 
RockyMtn said:
After having my work files searched endlessly by lawyers looking for things related to various lawsuits I decided the best way to avoid it was to not keep anything. I literally threw everything in the recycle bin and cleared almost everything off my hard drive.

My motto was "if it is that important, someone else has a copy of it"!

I pretty much do the same thing now that I'm retired.
Click to expand...
A good system, perfected by La Cosa Nostra.


Ha
 
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