The first question I'd ask - how many times since you've had bank accounts have you needed to dig out an old check? How many times have you had to prove that you paid something? The law of averages is on your side that you will never have a check go astray in the mails or that you'll be audited by the IRS. I save bank statements for one calendar year at most. When tax returns have been filed, the tax year bank statements get shredded. I don't keep routine paid bills for any length of time (basically, only as long as it takes me to pay the bills and run by the post office with them) - if a utility or credit card or whatever didn't get a check, I'd know about it on their next bill. Lots of people are drowning in paper and everyone's a little different with regards to saving paper. You sort of have to look at what you're holding on to and why and for how long and find your comfort level.

I have watched the TSP quarterly. I'm not totally sure of the % of the total goes to which fund, but I believe we are fairly diversified and have some funds in 4 or 5 of the different funds (not sure that's the right word). Our pay goes into each according to the % that we alloted the last time we did it. =0) You're doing yourself a disservice to your future retirement if you don't know in what funds your money is allocated, how the bi-weekly pay is allocated and especially how much growth you've had. I only say this because you have recently put your retirement planning to the forefront of your brain and that should include monitoring and learning about the TSP since it will be the vast majority of your husband's retirement. BTW is he under CRS or FERS? Since I started watching the TSP several months ago, I learned that this is not the best time to be in the "F" fund because the USD is constantly down. The domestic US economy is 39th in the world with many of the countries in the "I" fund way higher and close to the top. I originally had everything 20% into each fund, but have since moved things over to the more profitable funds since I"ve learned alot about how the TSP works. 1. Is there a max on the TSP? Hubby says it "used to be 10%", but he thinks that changed. Max amount for 2007 is $15,500 or 20,500 if you're over 50. The max contribution does not include the matching, so that is over and above the limit. We allocate a specific number, not a percentage. We put $425 per pay period into the TSP and that is nowhere near the max, but is over 20% of dh's pay. The more you put in, the more matching you get. If your husband has received any pay increases, then it might be a wise option to increase the TSP contributions. That's what we do whenever dh gets a raise. It allows for a greater tax benefit and more matching dollars. No, I don't mind differing opinions, it helps my brain entertain new ideas and learn something. =0) I know that I am focused on the rental properties and mortgages on them, because at the moment, those are closer to paying off, than the IRA or TSP. I believe in diversification, so the rental properties are currently part of my "retirement plan". They are a part that will begin to pay off long before we retire, and continue once we do retire (or at least that's the plan). I am learning the IRA and TSP world and language (and remember we're looking at 27 years before taking anything out of them, and we are already putting funds into both), but I already understand the houses. =0) It's good that you're looking to diversification and that you're open to look at all avenues. I think what you're missing is the tax benefit to the TSP, especially if you can afford higher deductions because it reduces your taxes that could be offset by the additional tax you pay with your rental properties and paying them off early. Having said that, I prefer to have a home paid for, which goes against many other people's belief here that the funds should go to investment vehicles. I try to diversify that as well by having money in a high yield account plus pay a bit more to principal. Sorry, I thought you were closer to retirement than 27 years to take out of the TSP. That gives you a long time to make the most of your investment opportunity there and is even more reason to learn everything you can about it. If your funds are diversified btwn the 4 or 5, that means you're losing a strong growth opportunity because you would have some money allocated to the G and/or F fund, which aren't producing very well these days. I was extremely overwhelmed when I first started paying attention to the TSP. It's definitely a long learning curve, but I am learning. It is imperitive that you know in what funds you are invested, how much is going into each fund and how they are doing - an not just quarterly. At minimum, you would be best served by checking weekly.

I don't think you need to do anything right now. If the house sells at a satisfactory price, then both the first mortgage and the equity loan balance will be paid off at the closing, and the balance (minus agent's commission, if your using one) will go to you. You definitely should NOT pay off the loan with your savings. That cash provides you with financial flexbility that you will lose if you pay off the loan. A recent widow should hang on to her cash reserves until life settles down and her financial situation becomes more certain. If the equity loan is a HELOC with a floating interest rate and the house doesn't sell by the end of the summer season, you probably should do a refinance and combine both loans into one so that you don't have to worry about the possibility of rising interest rates inflating the size of the HELOC payments.

this is absolutely the stuff that I wouldn't spend any time scanning. What a major, major pain! I keep paper statements for a few months--usually, actually, a year, bcs that's when the card-file drawer I use starts to fill up, and I throw the old stuff out. I have the file box, and until the volume of paper gets to be a probelm, i don't see any sense in making myself deal with it. Once it gets too full, I toss. I seldom look back, but I have now and then (probably 3x in 12 years). I'm due for a purge, so maybe I'll make a "one in, one out" rule. I'll keep 6 months worth, and every time I file a new statement in the front of the folder, I'll remove one to toss from the back of the folder. I've never needed to go further back in time than that. ht won't add vewry much maintenance time to the chore; it can be almost part of the same motion.