January 2008 Newlsetter

Greetings

As you embark on the New Year with fresh resolutions and goals in mind, Securita is here to support your commitment to getting organized. With additional resources from NAPO's Get Organized MonthSM , and helpful tips for all your paper document questions, we want to jump start your quest for an organized year!

You have received this newsletter because you are a customer, friend or someone I thought would be interested in the topics we cover. Enjoy and as always I welcome your comments and suggestions about our products or newsletter at sherie@securitaonline.com

Wishing you a successful New Year filled with wonderful memories and organized homes!

Sherie Dodsworth
Securita Founder and CEO

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Securita is interested in hearing from you! We welcome you to share your experience with the Vital Records PortaVault, and the solution it has provided you.

Please email your story to sherie@securitaonline.com

NAPO Get Organized Month

Get Organized MonthSM is a national industry-wide event dedicated to raising awareness of the benefits of getting organized and of hiring a professional organizer.

"January is the perfect month to get organized and start your new year off right," says NAPO President Standolyn Robertson. "Getting organized is one of the top 5 New Year's resolutions people make and with almost 4,000 NAPO members ready and available to assist, it is easier than most people think. NAPO is gearing up for our largest Get Organized MonthSM ever with 12 industry partners and a nationwide radio campaign. NAPO members will help over 10,000 people get organized during this month-long event."

NAPO's dozens of chapters and thousands of members will hold public events throughout the country. Look for Get Organized MonthSM events in your community including reuse-and-recycle events, volunteer organizing events, vendor showcases and expos, shred-a-thons, seminars, panels, presentations, workshops, school outreach, and contests. Programming will take place in local libraries, bookstores, and community centers.

For more information log on to www.napo.net

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DeClutter Your File Cabinet

The most difficult part of cleaning out your files is determining what to keep and what to shred. To help in your decision making we suggest you ask yourself the following questions:

Does this document contain information I will need some day?
Will I ever need the document to defend, a tax deduction, contract or warranty claim?

We have provided some general guidance on how long you should retain documents as you tackle this year's file cleaning. If you have specific questions about a document we recommend that you check with your accountant and/or attorney.

Toss Now

As a general rule, documents which do not have a tax impact or represent important assets do not have to be maintained and can be shredded once they have been verified and reconciled: Examples include:

Credit card statements and receipts
Investment confirmations once they have been verified with investment statement
Deposit and ATM receipts
Cancelled checks and bank statements (be sure to keep those for major purchases and tax deductions)
Medical Bills/Insurance Payments
Utility bills - recommend keeping one, to provide easy access to account number and contact information.
Pay stubs

As Long As You Need It

Documents relating to purchases, improvements and tax return treatment of important assets such as real estate should be kept until the asset is sold, plus three years.

Records relating to investments, IRAs, retirement plans should be kept until the transaction has been fully completed and/or all funds have been withdrawn. If your annual brokerage statements list the years transactions there is no need to keep monthly or quarterly statements.
Insurance contracts and beneficiary designations should be maintained as long as they are still in effect
Warranties for appliances and vehicles should be kept as long as an item is still owned.

Keep Forever

Adoption and child custody records
Certificates, birth, marriage, death
Citizenship or Naturalization documents
Family health and immunization records
Legal documents, wills powers of attorney
Passport
Receipts for major purchases
Real Estate deeds and titles
Separation and/or divorce records
Social Security cards

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Vital Records PortaVault

TThe Vital Records PortaVault is an easy-to-use, comprehensive system which IDENTIFIES, ORGANZIES, STORES AND TRANSPORTS all of the important records and documents commonly found in a home.

Eliminate the guesswork in identifying important documents
Does not require filling out a lot of forms
Filled with helpful hints and guidance
Ready when you are: just grab it & go
Prevents chaos in emergency situations

Find out more about PortaVault at: www.securitalonline.com

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Product Update

Securita has teamed up with members of the National Association of Professional Organizers (NAPO). NAPO members across the country are now distributing our products. Professional Organizers are prominent memberrs of their communities, involved with teaching courses on how to organize as well as providing services to solve the organizing needs of individuals and businesses. We are proud to be working with this great group of talented individuals. If you would like information about our distributors, please send an email to service@securitaonline.com.

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Newsletters

January 2008