Ready, Set, Organize, Donate, or Toss - Part 1

Please see ALL of Gloria's work at her website

 Hello and Happy 2025!

As many of you know, I had the good fortune to be with my mom and help organize her house before she died. I was recently able to do the same thing for my Aunt Nancy, my mom's sister.

I've learned a few things. SO.MANY.THINGS. And since many of you are around my age, we have GOT to get our acts together so whomever is responsible for our "cherished possessions" after we die doesn't say, think, or write disparaging things about us to their siblings and cousins.

First off, they are ONLY cherished to us. Our kids do not give half a shit. If they are like mine, they have already started saying what they want. Lucky for my daughter and my son's girlfriend, I have no problem handing over the jewelry now. Let me witness their delight at wearing stuff I haven't  worn in years. We will get to the actual treasures in a future blog post.

TODAY is paperwork. Sweet baby Jesus. The beauty of the Internet is so much is online. We honestly don't need all the paperwork that may or may not come into our homes. (I am on mostly paperless.)

With that said, your taxes - you need seven years worth. TOSS THE REST. Do you want a reminder of how far you've come? Make a spreadsheet and congratulate yourself. Yes, you made $642 in 1978. You may be retired now. It doesn't matter. Put it in a bag to get to a shredder (our library does this twice a year) and plan on getting rid of it. PS - I believe social security shows all you've made since the beginning of time as well. That would require me going to actually look that up, so presume I am correct about this.

But wait, you've owned a business and now it's closed. It's the same principal. Seven years and then you can toss. My stuff is out of sight so it doesn't bother me.

Paperwork that you leave in the envelope. You're killing me. Stop opening your mail, looking at it, and then putting it back in the envelope. EOB's (Explanation of Benefits) were the most common paperwork I found like this. All of the same info is on the health portal. For the love of all that is holy, get rid of it.

Cancelled checks from the year Einstein was a baby. SHRED. SHRED. SHRED.
::: picture me banging my head against a wall ::: The same goes for the related statements and registers. During my time doing this, I did ask my family who still balances their checkbook, something I haven't done since the invention of online banking, and two out of seven still do. I remain curious about this but live and let live and all that.

All of your IRA, money market, index funds info since you opened the accounts. Your financial planner will have that. Breathe a sigh of relief and get rid of everything except perhaps the last year.

Articles that interested you that you printed, saved from the paper, cut out from a magazine OR, and this is hilarious, printed out from the Internet? Reread it and junk.

RECIPES! Between my mother and my aunt there were no less than a bajillion recipes. Often the same one printed more than once. Quite literally six of the same recipe so they could tweak it and make it their own. Inevitably, they have called their people to tell them the success of the recipe so now, you already have your own copy. I can't. Toss them all.

Cards, letters and sentimental items. Truly, most of this is only sentimental to you. Look at it all again and if something sparks a chord, reach out to the person who sent it to you and connect. The phone still works and who doesn't delight in a real live conversation? Okay, I do have friends who hate the phone, but too bad. I still call once in a while. First I text to make sure it's a good time; they usually say yes. LOL The other option is taking a picture. This then adds another one million pictures to your camera. After a while you'll probably delete the picture, but for now, it's in a safe spot.

So, what should you keep?
Your will. If it's not filled with all kinds of provisions, share it with the executor - even if it's in a sealed envelope to open upon your death. This is especially helpful if you die on the weekend. Wait? What? You don't have a will? GO GET ONE. Figure it will cost about $3,000 or so. It is worth it to make sure your wishes are honored.  Along with the will, a Power of Attorney, Advanced Medical Directives, a DNR (which I believe may need to be signed by a doctor - please correct me if I'm wrong), anything in trust and, if you have family heirlooms a letter dictating who gets what if you haven't already given it all away and/or if your people haven't called dibs on things. (More on this in a future blog.)
If you have life insurance policies - have them in the same folder as your will.
Birth Certificates. Marriage Certificates. Divorce Decrees. Social Security Cards. Passports. The title to cars you own or the info about it.
Have you decided your end of life wishes? Do you want to be buried? Do you want to be cremated? Do you want a wake? Do you want a service? Do you want a celebration of life? Your wishes absolutely need to be written down and communicated with your people before all of this happens. If you have the ability to prepay for everything, do so. Your money may be tied up for a little while. (Again, we'll get to this later.)
PASSWORDS. This is a biggie and another I will address in the future.

I don't want to lose you so I going to stop for now. Stay tuned for future posts where I highlight what I've learned.

xoxo