Record Retention

April 21, 2008 9:25 AM

How long should various home or personal records be retained? I know this topic may sound tiresome as the answer comes up frequently in newspapers and magazines, but I think in many cases people are re-hashing the old dogma. Also, in the internet age, perhaps the answers have changed.

We have a pile of old documents of various kinds that I want to dispose of in the next community “Shred-A-Thon.” I’ve collected a number of articles from various places suggesting what to throw away and what to keep, and they mostly say the same thing I’ve been hearing for years; i.e., keep tax records, birth certificates, deeds, bank statements, etc. In some cases, though, the suggestions are sharply divergent, such as whether to keep tax records for 3 years, 7 years, or forever. Some lists are a lot longer than others.

Now that many records can be kept as files on a computer (which still does not eliminate the question as to what should be retained or deleted) and are downloaded from bank, Mortgage Company, and other financial institutions, perhaps some of the record saving is unnecessary. For example, we never save or even download bank statements (digitally or otherwise). We go online at regular intervals and see that deposits and payments are duly recorded and that’s it.

I want to keep relevant information, but I don’t want to be compulsive or even silly about it. What do you think?

posted by Rad_Boy to grab bag (5 comments total)

I'd go with what the IRS recommends, for papers related to taxes. They recommend keeping records anywhere from 3 years to 7, depending upon the specifics of your tax situation.
posted by jamaro at 9:53 AM on April 21

Forgot to add: the above link details the specifics of what to keep for how long.

I keep year-end statements on paper at home as I don't trust that my ability to easily retrieve my electronic statements online will survive any particular financial institution's merger or closure.
posted by jamaro at 9:59 AM on April 21

Bankrate also has a stance on the topic (link).
posted by galimatias at 10:06 AM on April 21

I'll also add that I save the PDF file of all my banking and credit card statements rather than paper copies. I second the sentiment that it is a game of chance to pull up your statements online when you really need them, especially with all the bank mergers, system interruptions, routine website maintenance, etc. I do regularly backup my system to local and offsite locations, so I know the files are there when/if I need them. The upside to this system has been the elimination of all paper documents for me (I can print the PDFs if I ever need to). Plus, the convenience of switching to online banking has been wonderful given my frequent travelling! For my situation (very simple taxes), I maintain 3 years for credit cards and bank statements. I maintain investments for 7 years. For high-importance documents or long-term documents like mortgage deeds, insurance documents, US Savings Bonds, etc. I store them indefinitely in a safety deposit box.
posted by galimatias at 10:14 AM on April 21

Just.
Last.
Month.
posted by grateful at 10:22 AM on April 21