Posted: 6/16/2007 9:59:08 AM EDT
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Past paid records of bills and old paycheck stubs, and bank statements, filed tax forms, etc, etc, etc. What is the general rule of thumb for keeping these old documents. I had always thought it to be seven years but I am getting tired of the accumulation. I go thourhg every year and shred then burn the ones that need it but is it really necessary to keep the forms for that long? Disclaimer: Mods, If this isn't the right place for this please move it. |
I keep tax returns for 5 years. Paystubs you can toss once you get the W2 from your employer, but keep your last 3, see last paragraph. Bank statements you can toss once you get the 1040-INT form from your bank if you had an interest bearing account on them and claimed as income on a tax return. Then they become part of the tax return kept for 5 years Any check, receipt, etc that was used to calculate an expense beccomes part of my 5 year tax return stash. Current bank statements I keep for 3 months, once I get the latest one I toss the 3 month old one. I do this because if you ever have to apply for a mortgage for example, they want 3 months worth of bank statements, paystubs |