Preparing Students to Manage the Paperwork of Adulthood
The sweetest joy, the wildest woe is love. What the world really needs is more love and less paperwork. ~Pearl Bailey
That said, the reality is that successfully navigating adulthood requires keeping track of key documents like a birth certificate, social security card, tax returns, medical records, and financial paperwork.
Then there is another whole batch of paperwork that needs to be kept current, including identification, insurance, and short-term financial documents. So, while I agree that the world would be a better place with more love and less paperwork, a bit of document management is unavoidable.
Greatest areas of need for young adults learning how to manage paperwork.
Understanding Essential Documents for Adulthood
Birth Certificate Basics
Approximately 10,800 babies are born each day in the United States, or 1 baby every 9 seconds. The birth certificate is a baby’s first legal document and is used to provide proof of age, citizenship, and identity. The federal government provides the US Standard Certificate of Live Birth and then each state issues its unique version of the birth certificate.
Students will need their birth certificate to:
Be assigned a social security number
Get a passport
Apply for a driver’s license or state identification card
Enroll in school
Gain employment
If a student does not have a birth certificate, there are several options, ranging from a delayed birth certificate to a letter of no record. Early records, including post-natal medical records, baptism certificates, or early school documents, may also be accepted to document birth and establish identity.
While discussions about birth or adoption can be sensitive, it is important for young adults to engage in these conversations with their families or guardians to ensure they have the documents they need to navigate adult life.
Students will need to locate their birth certificate or an acceptable alternative.
Social Security Card
A social security card is required to work legally in the United States. Each employee’s social security number is used to record their earnings and social security credits.
Parents typically apply for a social security card when a child is born. It is then possible for a person to update their social security card if they later marry, divorce, legally change their name, or request a court order.
Students must protect their social security card and number! First, replacements are limited. An individual can replace their social security card a maximum of 3 times per year, and 10 times per lifetime.
Second, and much more importantly, social security numbers are prime targets for identity theft. Teach students that they shouldn’t carry their social security card with them. Instead, they should store it in a safe place and only give out the number when absolutely necessary.
As they move into adulthood, students will regularly be asked for their personal information, often in cases where it is not truly necessary. Reassure students that is ok to question these requests! Encourage them to ask things like:
What do you need my social security number for?
What are you going to do with it?
How is it going to be stored?
What happens if I don’t provide it?
Is there another way I can confirm my identity?
Encourage students to ask questions before sharing personal information.
Getting Comfortable with Identification and Adulting Paperwork
If you are looking to build students' familiarity with the types of paperwork that are most common in adulthood, the Identification & Adulting Paperwork Puzzle Set is a quick and easy way to gamify learning! There is a terminology sheet with definitions and examples, plus a word search and two levels of crossword puzzles (with and without a word bank). You can also check out this post on the value of word games and puzzles for older learners.
Crossword puzzle, word search, and key terms list for adulting paperwork and ID.
Managing Important Paperwork
What to Keep and How Long to Keep It
Not every piece of paper must be saved. In our information-saturated environment, it is easy to end up swimming in a sea of documents. Managing Important Paperwork & ID: Lesson and Activities for Teens & Adults includes an activity titled How Long Do I Have to Keep This? that challenges students to sort common paperwork into “confirm and toss,” “keep current,” and “keep forever.”
Managing the most common adulting documents.
Keep Forever
Students will need to maintain their social security card and update it for name changes or changes to citizenship or work status. They should store old cards securely or shred them, if necessary.
Always keep actual tax returns indefinitely. Best practice is to retain supporting tax documents for 3 years from the date of the original return or 2 years from the date the tax was paid, whichever is later.
Finally, although it is rare to need a paper diploma, it may be required by an employer, an institution of higher education, or for obtaining a foreign visa.
Keep Current
Teach students to manage their documents as follows:
Retain old passports only if they contain a valid visa; in this case, you must travel with both the old and new passports.
You may be able to keep an old driver's license, but some states reclaim or hole-punch them once they expire.
When selling or buying a car, transfer the car title to the new owner.
Update mortgage statements regularly and keep them for up to 3 years.
For insurance, retain old policy documents until any outstanding claims are resolved.
Once a new will is created, destroy any previous versions.
Pay stubs can technically be destroyed once you review them and make sure they’ve been deposited. Best practice is to keep them for 1 year to compare against W-2 income totals.
Finally, maintain loan documents until the loan is fully paid off.
Confirm & Toss
Students should familiarize themselves with the types of documents that can be shredded once a purchase, payment, or deposit has been confirmed. These include receipts, credit card offers, bank statements, expired credit cards, bills or invoices, prescription labels, and deposited checks.
Teach students to safely dispose of sensitive information.
Securely Storing Documents
Original documents should be stored in a home safe (fireproof and waterproof) or a safe deposit box in a bank. Consider putting documents in plastic sleeve protectors and then organizing them in a binder. Students may also want to keep electronic copies that are more easily accessible, but these should be secured, encrypted, and password protected.
Once short-term documents are no longer needed, such as receipts, bank statements, and bills, they should be shredded. Shred anything with personal information - including credit card offers and prescription labels. When in doubt, overprotect personal information!
High- and low-tech solutions for protecting personal documents.
Sharing Information Responsibly
Students must understand that once they turn 18, their information and their personal documents belong to them. Part of transitioning to adulthood is deciding how and with whom to share this information.
To communicate private information to a parent, a partner, a caregiver, or a loved one, the adult student will need to sign a HIPAA authorization (healthcare information), a power of attorney (legal, medical, financial information), or a FERPA release (educational information).
Navigating Adulthood with Effective Document Management
Teaching students to manage their paperwork gives them a head start on adulting. It protects them from risks like identity theft, empowers them to take control of their personal information, and fosters confidence as they transition into adulthood. By equipping them with these skills, we’re setting them up for smoother, more successful futures—so they can focus on what really matters: creating a world with more love and less paperwork!
For additional resources, check out this lesson on managing important paperwork. Take a peek at the detailed preview for a closer look!
Lesson and activities to prepare students to manage the paperwork of adulthood.
