topic Re: How long do you keep..... in Community Chat

How long do you keep.....

Mominohio — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 03:38:07 GMT

things like checking statements, cancelled checks, pay stubs, medical EOB's, statements from your annuity etc.?

I spent a week cleaning out files, and some of these things I have kept and arranged in chronological order for a decade or longer. I'm paring back many of them, and thinking that one year for most of these things is good enough.

Tax returns I have back to the early 1980's and those are the only thing I have I'm really sweating getting rid of.

Anyone have any input about 'important' papers and how long to hold on to them, and why?

Re: How long do you keep.....

fourpaws56 — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 03:46:53 GMT

lol, I don't keep anything....

Re: How long do you keep.....

Snowpuppy — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 03:47:07 GMT

Tax returns-3 yrs. I file online & save them to a jump drive.

Medical statements for tax return purposes, 3 yrs. EOB's have been online since 2009. I only write 1 paper check per month and all my financials are online.

I haven't gotten a paper paystub or paper paycheck in, forever.

Only thing I do hang onto are my pension statements. Not retired yet.

Re: How long do you keep.....

Nightowlz — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 04:02:52 GMT

I have bank statements for years. I also have all of our tax returns for 40 yrs. LOL!!! I need to shred those. I have no idea how long to keep any of. I have never needed any of it either. I don't write checks much, only have 1 EOB per yr & don't keep it. I don't have any pay stubs either. I really need to clean out the file cabinet.

Re: How long do you keep.....

tansy — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 04:07:10 GMT

Most everything I would ever need is available online.

i never keep more than seven years of tax returns.

Re: How long do you keep.....

Shorty2U — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 05:37:35 GMT

We keep tax forms for 5 years. Bank statements a year or 2. Now that I read this I need to start shredding papers, because its been a while..lol..So (seriously), thank you for posting this. Oh PS I keep all my MRI reports and films and now discs (they started to be on the past years). Ive kept them all since 2001 because of my spine issues. Those I wont ever get rid of. But we shred all other things right away.

Re: How long do you keep.....

gabstoomuch — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 06:11:31 GMT

I have so much to shred. I come from the pencil and paper days, and my Dad was an accountant. He beat into my head at a very early age to "keep a paper trail".

I don't think he meant 20 years of paper though

I honestly think I could get rid of every box of paper I have. Everything is online now, and whatever you might need a copy of, a company or bank would have it in their own data base.

IRS can only look back years for an audit. Courts can go back 7 years for a bankruptcy. Other than that, I honestly don't know why I still keep "a paper trail" now?

My credit union has a perk of a shredder truck parking in their lot every other month. You can bag up however much you want, then you stand in line and toss it into the shredder truck yourself, so no paperwork ever goes to other people to be shred. You see it getting shredded.

I need to get on it and get all this needless clutter out!

Re: How long do you keep.....

gidgetgh — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:12:51 GMT

Bank statements (checking, money market, online account, etc.) about 3 years. Our cancelled checks don't come with the statements anymore.

Bills are shredded as soon as we mail the payment.

Tax returns- I've gotten us down to 7 years worth. I'd go a little lower than that but my husband doesn't want to. As soon as we pick up the current return from our CPA and bring it home early next week, I'll shred the oldest one we've been holding.

EOB's I don't keep at all. We can get them online if we need them.

I keep only the year end "paystubs" (direct deposit advices) from our pensions as they recap the entire year. I put those in with that year's tax return info. I only keep those because Clark Howard said it was a good idea because it recaps the entire year and shows the taxes you paid.

@Mominohio- why are you "sweating" getting rid of tax returns dating back to the 80's? That's way past the time where you can be audited.

I'm the executor of my parents estate and I've been working on all their stuff. I have their tax returns back to 2011. I'm picking up their final tax return on Monday. When I get home, I'll shred the 2011 return.

Re: How long do you keep.....

CelticCrafter — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 09:57:44 GMT

Tax returns I keep 7 years back.

Financial statements, bank statements, things like that - only until the next one comes in the mail.

Bills - shredded as soon as they are paid.

Re: How long do you keep.....

Pook — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:17:13 GMT

Everything can be found online or accessed through the bank so no need to keep paper copies!

Re: How long do you keep.....

jackthebear — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 10:35:02 GMT

@Pook wrote:
Everything can be found online or accessed through the bank so no need to keep paper copies!

one of my banks only has online access for 18 months, in the unlikely instance you need something before would be a PITA to get it. I keep all that stuff,

credit card statement shred after a year.

Re: How long do you keep.....

Bri36 — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:06:07 GMT

I have tax records going back about 10 years. I will get rid of some the next time I shred documents.

I don't keep anything medical at all. I have no idea why I would need anything like that.

Once a bill is paid, I get rid of the statement.

We don't have pay stubs. I do keep any 1099 or W-2 Form with the tax records.

I have our home warranty information in a folder with relevant receipts going back a few years.

I get a year end statement from the bank. That's the only one I keep. Anything relating to retirement accounts or savings/investment accounts I have going back maybe 3 or 5 years.

Re: How long do you keep.....

jaxs mom — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 11:12:02 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
things like checking statements, cancelled checks, pay stubs, medical EOB's, statements from your annuity etc.?

I spent a week cleaning out files, and some of these things I have kept and arranged in chronological order for a decade or longer. I'm paring back many of them, and thinking that one year for most of these things is good enough.

Tax returns I have back to the early 1980's and those are the only thing I have I'm really sweating getting rid of.

Anyone have any input about 'important' papers and how long to hold on to them, and why?

I haven't gotten a cancelled check in the mail for I don't know, 15 years? Maybe longer. Same thing with bank statements and pay stubs. Everything is electronic now. If I want to see it, I log into the website and look.

Re: How long do you keep.....

NickNack — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 13:30:46 GMT

I don't receive checking account statements or cancelled checks in the mail anymore. I can print them from online if I need anything. I do keep my medical EOB's but only for a year.

Re: How long do you keep.....

chrystaltree — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 13:55:03 GMT

I don't get checking account statements, bank account statements, pay stubs, retirement account statements or any of that stuff by paper. I live in 2017 and all of that stuff is available online. Even my medical bills are all online. They say we should keep our tax documents for 7 years but I think that is an old wives tale. We've been doing our taxes online for the past few years, so we have everything on hubby's laptop in a file and in the cloud. I'm 57, so I can certainly remember when we hoarded all that paper and packed in boxes in the attic. Seems really funny now, wasn't so funny when we sold our house and had to go through a couple of decades of that stuff....90% of which we shredded. Life is so much easier now.

Re: How long do you keep.....

house_cat — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 14:06:49 GMT

Tax returns - 10 years - just because that's what I have room for in the box where I store them - but I do have the returns from the year we were married, for sentimental reasons. It cracks us up to think we earned enough money to get married, but somehow we managed to stay afloat.

I have a drawer for sales receipts, I stuff them in there when I bring something home, just in case I need to return it, which I almost never do. I get rid of them all when the drawer gets full - it's a very small drawer.

The bulkiest file that I have is the one in which I keep warranties, instruction books and receipts. I purge it every year, as necessary. People laugh at me because I might give away an item or sell it years later and I have all the paperwork that goes with it. My mom did that and I guess it's in our genes.

Re: How long do you keep.....

SilleeMee — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 14:24:04 GMT

IRS papers I keep for 7 years...think that's how far back they can legally check your records.

Monthly bills are kept on files on my computer.

Medical bills, statements and other papers from health insurance I keep until my folder gets too full but that doesn't happen for a very long time...I'm basically very healthy. My shredder doesn't get used much because of technology.

I write two checks a year...one for my car plates and the other for my property tax. These two are both county government records which charge extra if you pay them online. If not for this then I would have no check stubs to file in the file box in my desk and I would probably cancel check printing altogether.

Re: How long do you keep.....

Stray — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 14:19:35 GMT

Very little paper any longer....anything I need can be accessed through my bank online, health care, Aetna online....pension and SS via government or Company websites. I have direct deposit, automatic bill pay through my checking account. My taxes, we keep online records and our accountant has backup info. I rarely write a check except for special items/services and do not get paper statements or cancelled checks. The only documents we have are our wills, advanced directives and relevant documents for home/car/ and warranties.

Re: How long do you keep.....

Mominohio — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 18:32:58 GMT

@chrystaltree wrote:
I don't get checking account statements, bank account statements, pay stubs, retirement account statements or any of that stuff by paper. I live in 2017 and all of that stuff is available online. Even my medical bills are all online. They say we should keep our tax documents for 7 years but I think that is an old wives tale. We've been doing our taxes online for the past few years, so we have everything on hubby's laptop in a file and in the cloud. I'm 57, so I can certainly remember when we hoarded all that paper and packed in boxes in the attic. Seems really funny now, wasn't so funny when we sold our house and had to go through a couple of decades of that stuff....90% of which we shredded. Life is so much easier now.

Life might be easier now, but let something go haywire with 'the cloud' and so many people are going to be up the creek without a paddle!

It's going to happen on some level to some people sooner or later. Some of this information that is electronically stored is going to disappear or be unavailable or erased (not to mentioned hacked!).

I'm not one to save every little slip of paper, but when it comes to finances insurances, tax related documentation, and certain medical things, I'll never rely on an electronic form of storage.

I used to work for a company and went back to visit a very long time employee (I remember that he was there 20 years when I left there almost 20 years ago) I asked him how many years of service he had in the company now, and he told me that when the did away with all their paper files, and put everything 'in the computer', they only went back so far, and now have no idea how long he has truly been there!!.

He has no pension or anything through them so he won't be affected that way, but just a small example of what it could be like if things aren't properly loaded, saved, protected etc.

For those that note cancelled checks don't come back anymore, my bank still sends a miniature photo copy of those that still actually get cashed (as opposed to those processed electronically).

One of my 'fears' is that someday, way on down the road, after paying on something like say, life insurance for 30 years, you go to collect, and they say you weren't in good standing because you missed premiums. How do you prove otherwise if you don't have that older written documentation showing payments were made?

Re: How long do you keep.....

LilacTree — Sat, 25 Mar 2017 18:39:21 GMT

@Mominohio wrote:
things like checking statements, cancelled checks, pay stubs, medical EOB's, statements from your annuity etc.?

I spent a week cleaning out files, and some of these things I have kept and arranged in chronological order for a decade or longer. I'm paring back many of them, and thinking that one year for most of these things is good enough.

Tax returns I have back to the early 1980's and those are the only thing I have I'm really sweating getting rid of.

Anyone have any input about 'important' papers and how long to hold on to them, and why?

@Mominohio

I worked for CPAs, and they always advised seven years. It's probably less than that now that it's all electronically prepared and filed.