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Record Keeping


What Personal Documents Should You Keep and for How Long?


Keep until warranty expires or can no longer return or exchange

  • Sales Receipts (Unless needed for tax purposes and then keep for 3 years)

What to keep for 1 month

  • ATM Printouts (When you balance your checkbook each month throw out the ATM receipts)

What to keep for 1 year

  • Paycheck Stubs (You can get rid of once you have compared to your W2 & annual social security statement)
  • Utility Bills (You can throw out after one year, unless you're using these as a deduction like a home office --then you need to keep them for 3 years after you've filed that tax return)
  • Cancelled Checks (Unless needed for tax purposes and then you need to keep for 3 years)
  • Credit Card Receipts (Unless needed for tax purposes and then you need to keep for 3 years)
  • Bank Statements (Unless needed for tax purposes and then you need to keep for 3 years)
  • Quarterly Investment Statements (Hold on to until you get your annual statement) 

What to keep for 3 years

  • Income Tax Returns (Please keep in mind that you can be audited by the IRS for no reason up to three years after you filed a tax return. If you omit 25% of your gross income that goes up to 6 years and if you don't file a tax return at all, there is no statute of limitations.)
  • Medical Bills and Cancelled Insurance Policies
  • Records of Selling a House (Documentation for Capital Gains Tax)
  • Records of Selling a Stock (Documentation for Capital Gains Tax)
  • Receipts, Cancelled Checks and other Documents that Support Income or a Deduction on your Tax Return (Keep 3 years from the date the return was filed or 2 years from the date the tax was paid -- which ever is later)
  • Annual Investment Statement (Hold onto 3 years after you sell your investment.)

What to keep for 7 years

  • Records of Satisfied Loans
     

What to hold while active


  • Contracts
  • Insurance Documents
  • Stock Certificates
  • Property Records
  • Stock Records
  • Records of Pensions and Retirement Plans
  • Property Tax Records Disputed Bills (Keep the bill until the dispute is resolved)
  • Home Improvement Records (Hold for at least 3 years after the due date for the tax return that includes the income or loss on the asset when it's sold)
     

Keep Forever


  • Marriage Licenses
  • Birth Certificates
  • Wills
  • Adoption Papers
  • Death Certificates
  • Records of Paid Mortgages

*These documents should be kept in a very safe place, like a safety deposit box.