Organizing Your Documents
How much time did you spend this year just compiling all of your financial information to complete your tax return?
Are you still looking?
Do you guess it took 10 hours? 20 hours? How about 26.5 hours?
According to the IRS, that is the national average for looking for documents and getting ready to prepare your return! Almost an entire work week wasted looking for tax documentation you knew you had somewhere, since you were the one who filed it away. Also, consider the average American works until April 23rd to pay this year’s taxes. This adds up to nearly 5 months out of the year to work to pay your taxes and compile the documentation to prove you don’t owe even more in taxes.
I bet you thought this was a rant against higher taxes or anyone that suggests we should pay more in taxes. Well it’s not. This is about helping your heirs find all the documentation they might need to settle your estate and prove they do not owe more in state and federal income taxes. These are the people you love and are already grieving from the loss of a loved one—you. Are all of your important documents organized and stored in one place (or readily available)? Do your spouse and/or children know your “secret” hiding place? How difficult might it be for them to locate your tax returns? Your bank passbooks, investment certificates, brokerage accounts, deeds and other real estate documents? Outstanding loan or creditor information? Your funeral arrangements and final requests? Your insurance/benefits documents? What about business agreements? And, of course your current will and legal documents? And that’s just a partial list.
For more information or guidance, contact Marc. We’d be happy to send you a valuable free concise Estate Directory to help you organize your documents to assist your heirs through a difficult time. (This is also helpful in working with your parents or other loved ones to get them organized.)
