Keep or Shred?

Cleaning out your files is a good way to clean up your desk. It may be hard to determine what to keep and what to shred. Here are some tips from the BBB.

Properly destroying sensitive personal and financial documents is a key step in ID theft prevention and BBB offers the following guide on when to shred the following documents:

Canceled checks
Canceled checks with no long-term significance for tax or other purposes can be destroyed after one year. However, canceled checks that support tax returns, such as charitable contributions or tax payments, should be held for at least seven years – long enough to cover the six-year tax assessment period. BBB advises that consumers indefinitely keep any canceled checks and related receipts or documents for a home purchase or sale, renovations or other improvements to owned property, and non-deductible contributions to an Individual Retirement Account.

Deposit, ATM, credit card and debit card receipts
Consumers should save credit, debit, and ATM receipts until the transaction appears on their statement and they have verified that the information is accurate.

Credit card and bank account statements
Credit card and bank account statements with no tax or other long-term significance can be discarded after a year; remaining statements should be kept for up to seven years. If a consumer receives a detailed annual statement, they should keep it and shred the corresponding monthly statements.

Credit card contracts and other loan agreements
Credit card contracts and loan agreements should be kept for as long as the account is active in case the consumer has a dispute with their lender over the terms of the contract.

Documentation of a purchase or sale of stocks, bonds and other investments
Investors should retain documentation of a purchase or sale for as long as they own the investment and then seven years beyond that time. Monthly retirement and monthly investment account statements can be shredded annually after being reconciled with the year-end statement.

Paycheck Stubs
Paycheck stubs can be shredded yearly after the income has been reconciled with a W-2 or other tax forms.

Utility or monthly bills
Monthly bills should be shredded the year after being received by the consumer. This way, if it’s a power bill, for example, consumers can compare this month’s bill to last year’s bill for any major changes before shredding it.

Shred-it Checklist - Don’t just toss it, shred it!
• Documents that include Social Security numbers, birthdates, PIN numbers or passwords
• Banking documents and other financial information
• Leases, contracts or letters that include signatures
• Pre-approved credit card applications
• Medical or dental bills
• Travel itineraries
• Used airline tickets

For more trustworthy advice from BBB on preventing ID theft and for guidance on what to do if your identity is stolen, go to www.bbb.org.