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Living in an increasingly paperless world has its benefits, but when it comes to records retention, does it make a difference? Sure, digital recordkeeping on the cloud means more storage space, easy access, and less vulnerability to inadvertent destruction. But the questions of what to keep and for how long feel just as confusing as ever.

Keep or Toss

Whether your files are physical or electronic, the same principles and time frames for record retention apply. Below, we review some rules of thumb to consider for a few common financial documents. Keep in mind, though, this list is not exhaustive, and professional responsibilities and potential liability risks may vary.

ATM receipts, deposit slips, and credit card receipts.
In general, you don’t need to hold onto monthly financial statements after you verified your transactions—that is, unless statements include tax-related information. Also keep in mind that if you dispute a transaction included in a statement, in most cases, you have 60 days from the statement date. Beyond 60 days, the bank may be alleviated of liability associated with the charge—so you may be on your own to try to get your money back.

Paycheck stubs.
Once you receive your annual W-2, it’s usually not necessary to retain your paystubs for the prior year. You may want to keep your year-end stub if it includes any tax-related information not reported on your W-2, however. Additionally, if you anticipate a life event in the near future that will require proof of recent income—applying for a home loan, for example—then plan to hang onto pay stubs from at least the past two months.

Tax returns.
Determining when to purge tax returns usually depends on how long the IRS has to contest a given year’s return. In most cases, it’s a period of three years—assuming tax returns are filed properly and do not contain any knowingly fraudulent information. The time frame can extend up to six years for severely underreported income, and there’s no time limit for the IRS to contest fraudulent returns. The same timing applies to the supporting documentation used in preparing a tax return, so you should also retain the financial and tax documentation—investment statements showing gains or losses and evidence of charitable contributions, for example—pertinent to the corresponding year’s return. If you’re unsure how long you should keep a specific tax return and accompanying paperwork, be sure to check with your accountant. Additionally, the IRS offers some useful information on time limitations that apply to retaining tax returns.

Old 401(k) statements.
Once you’ve confirmed your contributions are recorded accurately, there’s little need to keep each quarterly or monthly statement. It may be a good idea to keep each annual summary until the account is no longer active, however.

Estate planning documents. Although there’s usually no distinction about whether records need to be retained in paper or digital form, there are certain instances where it’s essential to have original legal documentation with the “wet” signature. This requirement holds true for estate planning documents. In most circumstances, a court will only accept a decedent’s original last will and testament—a copy will not suffice. If you’re unable to produce the original, the court may presume it doesn’t exist, deeming the copy invalid. It’s possible there are legal avenues you can pursue to get the court to accept a photocopy of a will, but this could prove to be a costly and stressful process.

Get Organized and Be Sure to Shred

A good records-filing system is key to helping you maintain and easily access important documents. If you’re storing things digitally, you can retain much more than any filing cabinet could hold, making it easy to take a more liberal approach to what you save. Keep in mind, the retention guidelines for many documents aren’t clear-cut. When you’re unsure, start by assessing what purpose the document may serve in the future. And it’s always important to consult the appropriate financial, tax, or legal professional for advice on specific records. Finally, remember when it comes to materials that include personal information, if you’re not keeping it, then you should be shredding it.

This material has been provided for general informational purposes only and does not constitute either tax or legal advice. Although we go to great lengths to make sure our information is accurate and useful, we recommend you consult a tax preparer, professional tax advisor, or lawyer.

Sarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA

BySarah Ruef-Lindquist, JD, CTFA
Originally submitted to Pen Bay Pilot

More people in the US are involved in the stock markets than ever before. If you have any retirement plan assets, like an IRA or a 401(k), chances are you have investments. For a growing number of investors, considering the impact of the companies in which they are investing is becoming a priority in selecting stock, mutual and exchange-traded funds to include in their portfolios and retirement accounts.

ESG investing involves a strategy that takes environmental, governance and social issues of companies and their impact into account. Sometimes also referred to as “SRI” or Socially Responsible Investing, the use of this strategy has grown significantly over the last several decades to not just screen out “bad actors” like fossil fuels, gambling, defense industry and alcohol, but to include in mutual and exchange traded funds and investor portfolios companies creating more diverse boards and C-suite leadership, environmentally friendly policies, operations and progressive workplace conditions.

There is a growing list of mutual and exchange-traded funds with the ESG focus, a trend that has been developing for more than 30 years. But the past 4 years and most recently the pandemic has accelerated their growth exponentially. According to the Banking Exchange on February 2, 2021 Bank of America’s ESG Matters – Quant Edge recently reported that additional investments in sustainable investment strategies in 2020 reached $255 billion, a new record. The report went on to say that 1,866 ESG equity funds saw inflows in 2020 of $194 billion, compared to $186 in outflows from other global equity funds. In other words, the additional amounts invested in ESG funds exceeded the funds taken out of non-ESG funds.

The article reported 141 new ESG funds were launched in 2020, most of them in Europe. In the fixed-income space, there was also significant growth: ESG bonds issued in 2020 exceeded $500 billion for the first time.  Bank of America also reported that thus far 2021 is showing stronger inflow momentum for sustainable products, with global ESG funds experiencing $24 billion in inflows, one and a half times the pace of 2020.

Why all the increased investments in these types of offerings? One theory was cited as “…regulatory changes coming to the EU and a new presidential administration in the US” seeking to tackle climate change and address social change.

In a January 6, 2021 article on Livemint, the ESG inflows in 2020 were compared to inflows of $63.34 billion 2019 with “conscious investing” a key theme of 2021. They cited a BlackRock survey from December 2020 showing investors with $25 trillion in assets planning to double their ESG assets in the next five years. Climate-related risks were a top concern for 88% of those 425 investors responding from 27 countries.

A December 14, 2020 article in Forbes Why Socially Responsible Investing Is Likely to Gain Momentum Under Biden noted that sustainable investing has had more growth over the last four years than the previous 12, in part because US voters perceived the need to support endeavors that could positively address climate change and social issues if government was not so inclined. The article went on to say that the growth in sustainable investing now means that in one out of three investing dollars are being invested in this manner.

In addition to more investment activity increasing the amount of funds that have a socially-conscious approach, these investments outperformed their peers that do not have an SRI or ESG strategy. Bank of America’s analysis revealed that 65% of ESG indices outperformed equivalent traditional benchmarks in 2020. The outperformance of many tech stocks in 2020 as the pandemic drove innovation and demand while fossil fuel companies suffered from the continued growth of alternatives and reduced demand supported this relative outperformance, and could continue as a tailwind as the world emerges from the pandemic economy with a renewed emphasis on climate change awareness.

Ask your financial advisor about the options available for ESG investing that would suit your particular situation. You may find that the ESG strategy could support a plan of doing well, while doing good.