The IRS addresses this on p 6 of the 8606 Instructions, but their advice is overkill in some respects and falls short in others. It takes a consistent effort to maintain a Roth IRA basis file every year, but once your Roth is qualified (5 years and 59.5) you can toss all the prior documentation and just retain some evidence such as a 5498 for a year at least 5 years old. Note that the IRS almost never requests that a taxpayer prove their Roth basis, but they could conceivably start at some point.
For regular Roth contributions, keep the 5498 forms each year. But if you made a contribution that you had returned (excess) or recharacterized as a TIRA contribution, make a notation of that on the 5498, since either of those actions erases that contribution.
For rollovers from your 401k, keep the 1099R you receive (make a copy for your Roth file). This will show the year of the rollover and the taxable portion in Box 2a.
For your conversions, keep the 8606 reporting each conversion
For investment gains, NO documentation is required. All you need to track is regular and conversion basis. Gains only come into play after all your basis has been distributed and there is still a balance remaining.
I see no need to keep your 1040 any longer than you otherwise would (7 years in most cases).
All your beneficiaries need to know is the first year you made any type of Roth IRA contribution.  Once you reach 5 years, all distributions to beneficiaries are completely tax free and they do not have to file an 8606 to report distributions including RMDs.
Again, once your Roth becomes qualified you can purge most of the above records. DIstributions you take after that will not need an 8606.

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