There’s a Swedish concept called döstädning—death cleaning. It sounds morbid until you understand what it means: the practice of decluttering your life so you don’t burden others with the task after you’re gone.

But here’s the truth: Swedish death cleaning isn’t just for the elderly. It’s for anyone who’s accumulated years of financial paperwork, digital files, old account statements, and forgotten passwords. It’s for people who know, somewhere in the back of their mind, that their financial life has become cluttered and they’re not entirely sure where everything is anymore.

April, with its association with spring cleaning, getting your personal taxes filed, and turning a new leaf, is the perfect time to get your financial ducks in a row.

First, Review Those January Goals

Remember those resolutions you made in January? The ones about maxing out your retirement contributions, putting a financial plan in place, organizing your passwords, or possibly creating that estate plan?

It’s April. How’s it going?

This isn’t about guilt. It’s about honest assessment. If you set goals and haven’t made progress, ask yourself why. Was the goal too ambitious? Did life get in the way? Did you lack a clear plan to execute?

The beauty of April is that you still have eight months left in the year. Course corrections now can still lead to meaningful progress by December.

The Financial Paper Trail: What to Keep, What to Shred

Let’s talk about the pile. You know the one. Tax returns from 2003. Bank statements from accounts you closed years ago. Investment statements you’re not sure if you need. Receipts for purchases you can barely remember.

Here’s a general framework for how long to keep financial records:

Keep permanently:

• Records of major purchases (home, vehicles)
• Estate planning documents (wills, trusts, powers of attorney)
• Investment purchase records (needed to calculate capital gains when you sell)
• Life event paperwork related to a divorce, birth, and death certificates.

Keep for seven years:

• Tax returns and supporting documents (the IRS can go back six years in an audit, plus the current year).  It is also important to scan and store your information digitally
• Records related to the sale of property

Keep for one year:

• Monthly bank and credit card statements (if you’ve reconciled them and don’t need them for tax purposes)
• Pay stubs (until you’ve reconciled with your W-2)

Shred immediately:

• Anything that has your personal information on it (Date of birth, social security number, etc.)  and username/passwords
• Old ATM receipts
• Credit card offers you’re not using
• Statements for closed accounts (after verifying they’re actually closed)

The key question: If you needed this document for tax, legal, or insurance purposes, could you obtain it elsewhere? If yes, you probably don’t need to keep the paper copy.

Organize and Update Your Financial Vault

Take an afternoon this month to:

Scan and upload your most recent tax return. If you are an AFP client, your financial planning program vault is a good place to store these. Make sure your spouse or trusted family member knows how to access it as well.

Review what’s in your safe deposit box. Do you still need all the items here? Have you also made digital copies of these key documents?  These can also be stored in your vault.  If there is a thief or a natural disaster, you may no longer have access to these paper documents.

Update your list of accounts and contacts. If something happens to you tomorrow, would your spouse or family know where all your accounts are? Create a master list of financial institutions, account numbers, and contact information. Update it annually.

Store documents your family will need in one accessible place. This includes insurance policies, estate planning documents, titles and deeds, birth certificates, and marriage licenses. Also, make digital copies as well.

Declutter Your Digital Life

Your financial life isn’t just physical papers anymore. It’s also:

• Login credentials for dozens of accounts
• Digital copies of statements
• Files saved in random folders on your desktop
• Emails from financial institutions you’ve never organized
• Photos of receipts you took “just in case.”

This month, tackle your digital clutter:

Clean up your computer. Create a clear folder structure for financial documents. Move files out of your downloads folder. Delete duplicates. If you have multiple versions of the same spreadsheet, consolidate or delete old versions.

Organize your email. Create folders or labels for different financial institutions. Unsubscribe from promotional emails you never read. Set up filters to automatically sort statements and important financial emails.

Free up space on your phone. Delete old photos, especially those blurry receipt pictures you never used. Clear out old text messages (especially those with two-factor authentication codes). Back up what matters and delete the rest.

Review your password manager. Delete old entries for accounts you’ve closed. Update passwords for accounts you haven’t touched in years. Make sure your password manager itself is protected with a strong master password.

The Peace That Comes from Organization

Here’s what we hear from clients after they’ve organized their financial lives: relief.

Not excitement, not euphoria, but a quiet sense of relief. The mental clutter is gone. The anxiety about not knowing where things are has lifted. They can find what they need when they need it.

Financial organization doesn’t directly increase your net worth, but it does something equally valuable: it frees up mental space. You stop worrying about what you might be missing and start focusing on what matters.

Connecting the Pieces

Swedish death cleaning isn’t about preparing for death—it’s about creating space for life. When your financial life is organized, when you know where things are, when you’ve decluttered the noise, you gain clarity.

Clarity about what you have. Clarity about where you’re going. Clarity about what needs your attention and what doesn’t.

April’s message is simple: Get your ducks in a row. Not because chaos is imminent, but because order creates peace. Not because you’re behind, but because you want to move forward with intention.

So, shred those old papers. Clean up your digital files. Review your goals with a new sense of purpose. Plan for toworrow. Plant new seeds.

Because a well-organized financial life isn’t just about efficiency. It’s about freedom.

AUTHOR: Alexander Financial Planning, Inc.

This material is distributed by Alexander Financial Planning, Inc. (AFPI) and is for information purposes only. Although information has been obtained from sources we believe to be reliable, we do not guarantee its accuracy. AFPI assumes no liability for the interpretation or use of this information. No portion of this writing should be construed as legal or accounting advice. All rights reserved.