Submitted by Andrew J Baer on
in
Forums
BLUF: Everyone should keep hard copy and digital archives of all of their immediately family’s important documents, whether business or personal, in order to minimize unexpected crises.
Really, this almost deserves to be called a life tool. As someone who’s moved many times, including across country borders (God bless Europe and its obsession with original copies), this has saved my spouse and I countless hours and heartache. MT's best practices almost make this for you, but a couple of searches only discuss documentation for your current job or for your job search (contacts or resume bullets). I believe you should go beyond that as long as you don’t violate company policy or create privacy concerns.
Method
1.Obtain: 1 x Biggest Binder You Can Find™ per family member and lots of document protectors. Depending on how C you are, you can go crazy with labels, dividers, and everything else. The important thing is that you actually do it.
2.Get a good scanner (I don’t recommend using a camera/phone)
3.Sign up for your favorite cloud storage service. I use Google Drive and One Drive. Use an external drive and/or an encrypted service if you have identity theft or other privacy concerns
4.Pick a naming convention
5.Scan the documents in the chronological order and then put the hard copies in their appropriate binder.
6.Put the binders someplace safe. If you really want to be cool, get those fire/water/nuclear proof safes they sell.
7.Download the drive app for your smart phone.
What I Archive
1.IDs of any sort, front and back
2.Property records, personal and business
3.Legal paperwork
4.Rental information
5.Vehicle information
True Story
My wife: Honey, I’m trying to file for medical benefits, but they want two copies of your IDs, your past medical records, and form XY_5189756…no clue what that is.
Me: There’s a library 5min from you. Log on to G-Drive and print everything in my MEDICAL and ID folders. Then, search for Anthrax Vaccine.
My wife: Will do, be sure to buy me five bottles of wine, beer, and whatever you want to eat on the way home.
Me: Love you, too.
Good luck and please post your own suggestions. I’m sure there’s a whole range of methods out there to make things easier or more secure.