Are your paperwork, bills, and receipts piling up? It’s easy to file away or shred documents when you know what you should be keeping and for how long!
Keep Permanently
- Tax returns
- Any payments you make to the government
- Legal filings
- Records of paid mortgages
- Inheritances
Keep for 3 – 7 Years
- W-2s and/or 1099s
- Mortgage documents
- Bank statements
- Brokerage statements
- Records of selling a home
- Records of selling stock
- Tuition payments
- Receipts of charitable donations
- Records of sold investments
- Medical records
Keep for 1 Year
- Pay stubs
- Credit card statements
- Quarterly investment statements
- Cancelled checks
Keep for 1 Month
- ATM slips
- Utility bills
Protect Your Documents
For physical copies of your most important documents it’s a must to lock them away safely in a fireproof safe in your home if possible. United Financial also has safe-deposit boxes available for this purpose. If you’re storing some of your files digital, it’s crucial to create a secure, complex password and to back these files to a cloud server to protect yourself.
Shred It
Be sure to shred files you no longer need to hold onto to further protect yourself. United even offers free document shredding to members.