Saved records save day in benefits error

By Michael M. Murray
The Plain Dealer/Personal Finance (April 1999)

Some people never throw out their pay stubs, tax returns, utility bills and receipts.
They enjoy comparing records and cherish the paperwork that chronicles their lives.

"It's kind of like Mount Everest. I save them because they're there," said Jim Brown
of Rocky River. He has annual pay stubs and federal tax returns for the last 40 years.
"It's your life history," he said.

Anne Galligan of Bay Village has tax returns dating to 1948. Since 1992, she has
managed income and expenses — down to the penny — on a computer. Because
of the records she has kept, Galligan knows medical bills totaled $200 for the birth
of her first child in 1955.

"I don't know why I have them. I don't know what I'm expecting to do with them,"
she said. "I know I'm sentimental."

John Straka of Maple Heights can look back to 1950, when he and his wife, Helen,
went on a 28-day honeymoon across the United States. Their expenses were about
$550, including the bill for labor and parts when their 1941 Chevy broke down in
Loveland, Colo. And Straka can tell you that their annual power bill was $44.86 in
1952 and $675.92 last year.

"In the beginning, I kept the [utility bills] for budgeting," said Straka, treasurer of the
Maple Heights Historical Society. "Other than that, I just have a habit of keeping
records."

Saving is just a way of life for Victor Erml of Rocky River. For 20 years straight, he
has kept appointment books that serve as reminders of meetings, appointments,
family activities and trips. He also keeps vacation packets and receipts.

Now don't get him wrong. Erml gets rid of some financial records, including utility
bills, every few years (they help him plan his budget in the meantime).

Pay stubs will make a difference in the Social Security checks Owen McCafferty
collects one day. Several years ago he requested an estimate of his benefits, only
to find out that the Social Security Administration didn't have any record of
wages in 1981. "I was shocked," said McCafferty of North Olmsted. "Panic kind
of stuck in there."

A worker at the federal agency recommended that McCafferty find his tax return
for that year, but McCafferty had long since pitched it. However, heeding earlier
advice of his father, McCafferty had saved his pay stubs, just the proof he needed
to have his benefits estimate adjusted.