Many of us are surprised by the amount of paperwork we still seem to accumulate. Here’s a recommendation of what documents you should keep and for approximately how long.
Keep for less than a year:
ATM receipts, bank deposit slips, receipts of everyday purchases, bank statements, and utility bills should only be saved until you can reconcile them with credit card or financial statements.
Keep for a year or longer.
Home improvement records, home purchase documents, investment statements, retirement account statements, insurance policies, loan documents, medical records, car titles and receipts for major purchases may need to be saved for several years.
Keep for seven years or longer.
It is best to keep any tax records for at least seven years. The IRS statute of limitations for an audit is three years, but there are circumstances where they can go back as far as seven years. You should also save documents that verify the information on your returns like W-2 forms, 1099s, receipts, etc.
Keep forever.
Records such as birth certificates, death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, Social Security cards, passports, and military records should be kept indefinitely. Also, hold on to any estate-planning documents, wills and living wills, powers of attorney, and beneficiary forms.
Reminder to shred important documents when you dispose of old records. Most of these documents contain personal information you definitely do not want exposed.
Gryphon Financial Partners shall not in any way be liable for claims and make no expressed or implied representations or warranties as to their accuracy or completeness or for statements or errors contained in or omissions from them. This was created for informational purposes only. Gryphon Financial Partners, LLC is an Investment Adviser.