Keeping old statements, paystubs, etc.

In My Humble Opinion
1

Is there any reason why I should keep what’s left of paid utility bills? What about paystubs or credit card statements?

I have boxes and folders of this stuff and a perfectly good shredder, but I can’t seem to get rid of it. I remember that when I was younger, I would have to show utility bills from my last place to a potential landlord. I assume that this was because I didn’t have much of a credit history. Now that I have a mortgage, good standing with several credit cards, and a few paid off car loans under my belt, will anyone ever need to see an old phone bill? From five years ago?

I don’t want to be a packrat, but I have a nagging worry that getting rid of this could come back to haunt me. Are certain records more important than others? Should I ditch the water bills, but keep the credit card statements? If so, how far back should I go?

Mortgage and car loan applications will want to see a few paystubs and bank statments, but how far back is reasonable? What do I need to keep for tax purposes? What about closed bank accounts?

2

I keep bank statements, but the rest of it is in the shredder the second I write the check.

I have 18 years worth of bank statements. For some reason, I hang on to those. The rest of it…I have enough crap on the kitchen table. No need to add more! :wink:

3

Strange, I just cleared out 4 years of accumulated Bills & Statements from my desk drawers, sorted and boxed in water tight containers.
I think it took about 4 hours.
Why am I keeping all this junk?
No rational or factual reason, I just know my Mom did and so I do. I have some vague and confused memories of keeping things for 7 years but I don’t know which ones. Some day I will buy a cross Shredder and shred everything over 7 years old.

I hope someone can cite what we are suppose to keep.

Jim

4

I have a book called Clutter Control at home, that has lawyers’ and financial people’s suggestions for all this stuff. I’ll post what I can recall right now, and post anything else relevant when I get home and have a chance to look it up.

Tax Returns: Forever
Tax Records (pay stubs, contribution records, etc.): Three years after the associated return’s filing deadline, unless your reported income was less than some x percentage of your actual income (six years) or if you filed a fraudulent return or didn’t file at all when you were supposed to (eternity). (Essentially the IRS has three years from the tax year in question to audit you, unless they think they have serious reason to believe that you underreported your income, in which case their deadline extends to six years. If they think you tried to cheat them, all bets are off.)
Credit Card Statements: Six years. (This is about the length of time that information stays on your credit report, so you’d need these if you found a mistake that needed correcting.)
Bank Statements, including canceled checks: Six Years (I assume the same deal.)
Loan Papers: Three years after final payment.
Contracts: Seven years past expiration. (I don’t know the specific reasons for the last two)
Utility Bills: Treat as tax records if making office-at-home deductions. (I suppose otherwise you might keep the most recent couple around if you anticipate needing to provide proof of residency for something.)

That’s all I can remember for now.

5

Of course, instead of waiting for me you could check out this page.

6

Cool, Thank you

7

I throw all of it away. Tax returns and statement and the whole lot.

There are plenty of copies of this stuff floating about if and when I need it, I just call or write to the office I think has a copy and ask for one.

Turbo Tax has copies of all my taxs I just log on print one out if I need it.

I hate having all that stuff around.

8

Ditto. I have copies of tax records for a few years, but that’s just because the wife and I were filing seperately for awhile, due to jobs. Everything else is in so many systems why should I have to keep a copy too?

9

I agree with fifty-six. I don’t save any of this crap.

I pay my credit card bills online, I toss the paper statements. If there’s a dispute, I dispute it online.

I manage my bank accounts online. Same deal. I pay my bills online.

Credit card bills, bank statements and utility bills can all be downloaded or requested as necessary.

Tax transcripts can be requested from the IRS when needed. (It takes a little while though.)

So far I’ve not had any problems.

10

I keep bank statements. Also copies of tax returns and any associated documentation and receipts because there’s a legal requirement to do so.

Quarterly electricity, phone accounts etc I keep for a year.

11

Definitely keep the annual Social Security statements that you get for life. Also check to see if they mesh with your pay stubs and W-2s.

12

I save some tax stuff and that’s it. I work on corporate information systems so I understand that old paper copies aren’t likely to ever help anything. My bank (Bank of America) just started making check images avalaible online forever. That is useful and it means that I got the option of never getting a paper statement again (that I took). Saving that stuff is a largely antiquated practice (just like balancing your checkbook instead of just verifying transactions).