Do I have to keep this?

[ny biker]

I have serious clutter issues. I have packrat tendencies. I also live in smallish 1BR condo with limited storage. So I'm trying to tackle both issues by getting rid of things that I don't really need to keep. Right now I'm addressing the piles of paper.

I know I can get rid of old financial statements and paystubs from years ago.

What about health insurance paperwork? I tend to throw the explanation of benefits (EOB) documents in a storage box and forget about them. How long do you alls keep that kind of thing?

I'm thinking I should keep them from this calendar year and also last year, but everything else can go into the shredder. Does anyone know of any reason to keep EOBs older than that?

Also, for anyone out there who struggles with this like I do, I'm going by this checklist that I found in Real Simple magazine:

Keep for 1 month: credit card receipts, sales receipts for minor purchases, withdrawal and deposit slips.

Keep for 1 year: paystubs, monthly bank, credit card, brokerage, mutual fund, and retirement account statements.

Keep for 6 years: W-2s, 1099s, and the other guts of tax returns; year-end credit card statements, brokerage and mutual fund summaries.

Keep indefinitely: tax returns, receipts for major purchases, real estate and residence records, wills and trusts.

Keep in a safe deposit box: birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, insurance policies.

[tulip]

I'm not a packrat, I'm just a very lazy filer. Papers pile up in the "File Pile" and then I get overwhelmed. Thanks for sharing that list. I printed it out. It will help me get through my pile!

[shootingstar]

heh heh heh..by sheer coincidence, this is what I'm doing right now. Throwing out extra paper...while I read TE forums. Ok. makes alot of productive sense.

I have paper notices sent to me from bank. I want this still....since the online history of transactions doesn't go far back. And I don't want to waste ink, printing out. My problem would be solved if online history of transactions was kept for at least 2 years.

Given the strange ups and downs economically in North America and worldwide in past 12 months, I feel I must keep my head straight how I track my investment history with frequency of transactions due to uncertain market.

As for all the paper proof related to income tax filing, I keep for last 7 years. Even if one files income tax online, Canada Revenue Agency advises individuals to keep their receipts,etc. for that time period. I have been randomly audited by the feds...twice in last 25 yrs. First time, I was a poor university student with no big wierd loans nor debts. And it's real, the amount of paper evidence/hard evidence that you must provide if audited by the federal authorities.

If you run a business in Canada, your business must keep annual corporate income tax filings for last 7 years. It's law. Info. all available on CRA's website in a technical tax bulletin. My dearie will have to just that with his little biz... don't know where the rm. will be in our place.

As for all the articles, stuff I'm slowly winnowing this stuff out.

I don't keep credit card payment notices past last 2 months. I pay on time and have been like this. I only keep sales receipts for 1 month. Very rare sales receipts for large ticket items or items that might appreciate over time for last few years.

[Flur]

Thanks for posting this. I tend to keep things too long and we have limited storage also.

[Mr. Bloom]

I'd encourage you to keep bank statements for up to 7 years as I believe that is the period that you're subject to audit. If you're audited, you could be called on to support every deductions and deposit. If this is a problem, I encourage you to save images that you can download online...or convert your hard copy to a .pdf format through fax...but if you do this, you'll also need a backup plan.

EOBs? You're safe...frankly, I don't have a need to keep them beyond one year unless they assist in evidencing a big tax deduction.

I image everything I can...so I can trash the paper.

[bike4ever]

Interesting list - thanks for posting. We have to keep our ride disclaimers or clinic disclaimers for 10 years! That's what our insurance company told us - I thought that was crazy. That's a lot of paperwork.

[ilima]

I always thought it was 7 years, but for Geithner the IRS apparently couldn't go back that far. It was why he didn't pay the 2000-2001 taxes when he was audited for 2003 in 2006.

[OakLeaf]

It's been a very long time, but IIRC there's a longer statute of limitations for tax fraud than for inadvertent mistake. You still need to have six years' paperwork if you're audited (six tax years, which means the end of seven calendar years). Again, IIRC. Mr. S? Plus, federal taxes are one thing, but your statutes of limitations for contracts will vary state by state - those can go 15 years and maybe more.

A few years ago I was unable to claim several hundred dollars in a regulatory settlement with my insurance company because I hadn't kept the EOBs (and it would have required me to produce not only the EOBs, but also the prescription receipts, since the EOBs don't identify the drug they're reimbursing me for, only whether it's generic or brand name).

Storage lockers are relatively inexpensive if you need to get a few boxes of paper out of the house. A scanned image made by you is a handy reference when you need it, but it may not be possible to authenticate it as evidence, so originals are best.

Also keep medical records indefinitely. As a former Social Security claimants' representative, I've seen way too many cases where doctors' offices had closed and vanished with their records, VA records were lost in a fire, and claimants couldn't remember the names of their doctors from 20 years earlier.

[Tuckervill]

One thing about receipts. I hate keeping them, but it seems I must, now. Our truck was broken into and everything was stolen--all the luggage for a two-week trip, plus laptops and all the electronics a person could ever need. Of course we had proof of the laptops and electronics, as major purchases. But we didn't have any receipts for the expensive cycling shoes and shorts and tops, the expensive slacks my husband wears because he's extra-tall.

As a result, we didn't get reimbursed from insurance for stuff we should have, or we got reimbursed an amount less than we'd paid. Since then, I keep all receipts for anything over, say, $25. They go in an envelope in the file drawer, filed by year (I'm not ambitious enough to file by month).

It is something to consider, what your personal boundary might be on something like that.

Karen

[OakLeaf]

(I'm not ambitious enough to file by month).

For stuff like that, each year we just buy one of those accordion folders that has the months already printed on it. Doesn't take any ambition at all to jam receipts into the pocket for the current month.

And Tuck, that doesn't seem quite right if you did have a record of what was stolen and you had a replacement value contract with the insurance company? For small-market stuff like that it seems like it would be pretty easy to find. But it brings up another thing I always do... and this is getting somewhat OT... but when I travel, I always keep a backup of my packing list, whether or not I print it out. One comes with me and one stays home. So if the airline loses my luggage, or if it gets stolen someplace, I have a record of every pair of $15 smartwool socks... every irreplaceable souvenir T-shirt (those ride in carryon, but are still vulnerable to theft)... etc. It adds up.

[Irulan]

For stuff like that, each year we just buy one of those accordion folders that has the months already printed on it. Doesn't take any ambition at all to jam receipts into the pocket for the current month.

And Tuck, that doesn't seem quite right if you did have a record of what was stolen and you had a replacement value contract with the insurance company? For small-market stuff like that it seems like it would be pretty easy to find. But it brings up another thing I always do... and this is getting somewhat OT... but when I travel, I always keep a backup of my packing list, whether or not I print it out. One comes with me and one stays home. So if the airline loses my luggage, or if it gets stolen someplace, I have a record of every pair of $15 smartwool socks... every irreplaceable souvenir T-shirt (those ride in carryon, but are still vulnerable to theft)... etc. It adds up.

SOme insurance companies are really tight, no matter what your policy says. I had a friend who had a major robbery; she had recepits for EVERTYHING even jewelry she'd bought 20 years ago, and they still want to to depreciate it all.

I take pictures of my stuff, put the disc in the safe box.

[malkin]

I'm a horrible packrat, but lately I've been throwing all the paper away, reasoning that if I keep it, I won't be able to find it anyway, so what's the point.

Of course now that you've raised some important reasons for keeping stuff, I may have to rethink that practice.

[ny biker]

Cheez. The box I'm going through right now has IRA statements from 1997. For an account I closed at least 6 years ago.

One envelope had a photocopy of my drivers licence from 1994. I still have the same haircut.

============ Update
It gets better.

I just found an insert in a bank statement that gives advice for preparing for Y2K. Oddly enough, there's no mention of stocking up on canned goods and ammo.

And someone PLEASE tell me why I still have bank statements from 1993!!!

I have moved four times since then. I have paid movers to move these papers FOUR times.

!!!!

Sigh.

[Mr. Bloom]

I just found an insert in a bank statement that gives advice for preparing for Y2K.

Ah, the biggest NON-EVENT we ever OVER-PREPARED for!

[sundial]

I'm an accordion file freak. I love to file stuff and keep it on hand for years. I learned a valuable lesson when I volunteered to help Katrina survivors--have your paperwork on hand. Don't trust establishments to have your records available should a major catastrophic event occur.