Tom's Life Bits

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===== Saving bills, statements online works just fine =====

//I liked this feedback letter because it reflects my philosophy. All my bills and statements are "online" which generally means on my hard drive which is backed up in multiple places.//

I read Vicki Lee Parker's column, "Bills on paper still rule" (Work&Money, July 6). I found her reasons old-fashioned and unhelpful to your reading public. I have saved all my statements online in two places: one on my hard drive, the other on an external hard drive. I have done this for years. It works! That shoots your comment about computers crashing and the loss of data.

It is easy. I set up a folder and, within that folder, a set of folders for each type of statement. It takes only a few minutes to download the statements at the end of the month and place them in their folders. At the end of the year, all the statements for the year are moved to a new folder with the year as part of the label. It is so simple that even a novice can do it.

I do not rely on e-mail alerts. By the way, your idea that your notice will get caught up as spam is again old-fashioned and unfounded.

When it gets close to year end, I am prepared for my job of preparing our tax return. All my files can be viewed online and, if necessary, a file can be printed. I do not need the bank or brokerage firm for the details, because I have it all. I file my support papers, not my online statements.

As for a record of your account numbers and other data, everyone should have that data printed out and stored in a safe place. From personal experience, trying to find data after a death takes a lot more time than you can imagine. I have been there too often.

I have an advantage, because I grew up in the computer world. My first computer program was written in the fall of 1957.

George C. Schnitzer

Raleigh

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