How long should you keep it?
Keep until the warranty expires or you can no longer return or exchange
- Sales Receipts (unless you need it for tax purposes and then keep it for 3 years)
What to keep for 1 month
- ATM Printouts (when you balance your checkbook each month throw out the ATM receipts)
What to keep for 1 year
- Paycheck Stubs (you can get rid of them once you have compared to your W2 & annual social security statement)
- Utility Bills (you can throw them out after one year, unless you're using these as a deduction like a home office, then you need to keep them for 3 years after you've filed that tax return)
- Cancelled Checks (unless needed for tax purposes and then you need to keep for 3 years)
- Credit Card Receipts (unless needed for tax purposes and then you need to keep for 3 years)
- Credit union and bank Statements (unless needed for tax purposes and then you need to keep for 3 years)
- Quarterly Investment Statements (hold on to until you get your annual statement)
What to keep for 3 years
- Income Tax Returns (keep in mind that you can be audited by the IRS for no reason up to three years after you filed a tax return. If you omit 25% of your gross income that goes up to 6 years and if you don't file a tax return at all, there is no statute of limitations.)
- Medical bills and cancelled insurance policies
- Records of selling a house (documentation for capital gains tax)
- Records of selling a stock (documentation for capital gains tax)
- Receipts, cancelled checks and other documents that support income or a deduction on your tax return (keep 3 years from the date the return was filed or 2 years from the date the tax was paid -- which ever is later)
- Annual investment statements (hold onto 3 years after you sell your investment)
What to keep for 7 years
- Records of satisfied loans
What to hold while active
- Contracts
- Insurance documents
- Stock certificates
- Property records
- Stock records
- Records of pensions and retirement plans
- Property tax records disputed bills (keep the bill until the dispute is resolved)
- Home improvement records (Hold for at least 3 years after the due date for the tax return that includes the income or loss on the asset when it's sold)
Keep Forever
These documents should be kept in a very safe place, like a safe deposit box.
- Marriage licenses
- Birth certificates
- Wills
- Adoption papers
- Death certificates
- Records of paid mortgages