How to Account for Investments of Stock With Life Insurance Companies
Investing in the stock market can be an excellent way to grow your money and build up the money you will need for a comfortable retirement, but it is important to document your investments carefully. If you are a long-term investor, it is important to carefully record every purchase and sale of the stocks you own, including investments in life insurance companies. Documenting sales, purchases, dividends and capital gains will allow you to see how well you are doing, and this extensive documentation will also make it much easier to file your taxes each year.
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Instructions
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Gather all of your documentation together before you get started. Be sure you have all of your purchase and sale records, brokerage statements and 1099 forms. You will need this information to create an accurate record of your life insurance company stock holdings.
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Log on to your computer and open Microsoft Excel or another spreadsheet program. If you do not have Excel loaded on your computer, use a free spreadsheet program available from Open Office.
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Open a blank spreadsheet and give it a descriptive name like "My Investments" or "My Stocks." Save the new spreadsheet to your hard drive.
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Create a separate line for each of your life insurance company investments. Put the name of the company on the line and create columns for the number of shares you own, the purchase date, the sale date if applicable, and the amount of any capital gains.
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Update your spreadsheet each time you receive a new document from your brokerage firm or the life insurance company. Each time you get a new 1099 form, add the amount of capital gains to the spreadsheet, and each time you buy additional shares add that information as well.
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