ALSO: The Great Papers Debate: Which Ones Should You Keep and for How Long?

What to Keep and What to Shred:
Quick Reference Guide

By Jim Lange, author of
Retire Secure! Pay Taxes Later:
The Key to Making Your Money Last as Long as You Do

Documents to Keep for Life:

Tax related

• Copies of 1040 tax returns with W-2 stapled to the form (may be useful for correcting errors in your Social Security earnings if mistakes are made)
• Tax /Legal/Bank/Insurance correspondence
• Non-deductible IRA contributions
• Year-end financial statements (good for long-term tracking)
• Important notices/plan amendments for IRA and retirement savings
• Cost and/or basis of investments either bought, inherited, or received as a gift

Life and Home related

• Birth certificates
• Marriage licenses
• Divorce papers
• Death certificates
• Military records
• Copies of your will, Power of Attorney etc.
• Insurance claims/insurance policies
• Major debt repayment records
• Loan/Mortgage papers
• Updated household inventory

Documents to Keep as Long as You Own a Certain Item:

Documents to Discard after Seven Years:

• Tax write off related to worthless securities and non-business bad debts
• Bank records related to taxes and business expenses
• Pay check stubs that reflect additional tax deductions e.g. charitable contributions
• Canceled checks/receipts with tax implications (alimony, mortgage interest charitable contributions, and retirement plan contributions)
• Credit card statements if they reflect tax related expenses

Documents to Keep for One Year:

• Quarterly statements of retirement plans, IRA etc. (cross check at the end of the year with annual statement for accuracy - keep the annual, shred the quarterly)
• Bank records with no long-term importance
• Bills (with no tax related implications) - once your check has cleared, the bills can be shredded but you might want to keep the bill for one year