How Long Should I Hold On To My Old Bills & Other Documents? (2024)

Thank goodness for electronic billing, bill-pay and account access. The digital world can help you save time, be more organized and cut down significantly on paper… Significantly — but not completely.
No matter how much of your financial life you have online, you still need to save some paper documents. (Okay, maybe you don’t need the actual paper if you scan it all in and back up what you need to save.)
Here’s how to not suck at tossing paperwork.

To hold for a year or less (with some buts):

Monthly utility/cable/phone bills: Once you know the bill is correct, toss it. But if you deduct some of these costs on your tax return, you’ll want to save them with your return (more on that in a moment).
Credit card statements: If you know all the charges are correct, you probably don’t need to keep this. But if you make a big purchase and your lender offers some product protections, consider holding onto that month’s bill. Also, if there’s a deductible purchase on the statement, hold that for your tax return.
Medical bills: Once you know your claim has been paid by your health insurance company, you probably don’t need to save these. But if you’re potentially deducting medical expenses on your tax return, hang on to the bills.
Monthly/quarterly account statements: Hold on to statements from your investment and retirement accounts until you receive the year-end one, which summarizes the previous 12 months. Once you know it’s right, there’s no need to hold on to the monthlies anymore.
Bank statements: Once you know your monthly statement is correct, you can toss the statement at the end of the year. But if you’ve used a check to pay for a large or deductible purchase, hold on to it.
Pay stubs: If you still actually get these, you can toss them after you reconcile them with your W-2 at the end of the year. But if you’re planning to apply for a mortgage, your lender may want to see a few month’s worth.

To hold for longer

Tax Returns: You don’t want to be missing tax-related documents if Uncle Sam has questions about your tax returns. Hold the returns and supporting documents for at least seven years. The IRS can randomly audit you three years after you file — or six years afterward if it thinks you skipped out on reporting your income by at least 25%.
Year-end account statements: These will show the cost basis for your investments, so you want to hold on to them for as long as you have the investment. (And then a bit longer to support your tax return.)
Retirement plan statements: Hold on to your annual statements as long as you have assets in the accounts. This will help ensure your eventual withdrawals are taxed the right way. This is especially important to show if you’ve saved pre-tax or after-tax dollars to your 401(k), and to show your savings to both traditional and Roth options. For your IRAs, be sure to save Form 8606 — the document that shows if your contributions were deductible or nondeductible.
Home-related documents: Keep your purchase documents, and also all home improvement records, which can be used to calculate your cost basis when you sell your home, potentially saving you a bundle in taxes. If you’ve done work that needed a permit or town inspection, hold on to these, too, for as long as you own your home.
Insurance Policies: Hold onto to your policies for home/renters insurance, car insurance and umbrella insurance for the year. When you get a renewal, toss the old one. Keep your life, disability or long-term care policies as long as they’re in force.

To hold indefinitely

Loan paperwork: As long as you’re still paying a loan (car, mortgage, student loan — the works), keep all your docs and contracts. When you pay off the loan, the lender will give you a payoff statement. Keep this forever, just in case some zombie debt comes back to haunt you.
The important stuff: While you can replace the following documents, it will be a major headache. Invest in a firebox or a safety-deposit box for:

Birth certificates
Adoption records
Death certificates
Marriage and divorce papers
Military records
Wills, powers of attorney and health care proxies
Social Security cards
Passports
Appraisals for jewelry, art or other valuable property (unless you sell the item)
A videotape of your home’s contents to help with insurance claims in the event of a home fire. Update this once a year.

A few thoughts on e-documents

Editor's Note: This article originally appeared on Consumerist.

FAQs

How Long Should I Hold On To My Old Bills & Other Documents? ›

KEEP 3 TO 7 YEARS

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How long should I hold onto my old bills & other documents? ›

Keep For Seven Years

This category includes all supporting documents for your income tax return, plus a couple of other miscellaneous ones. This may seem like a long period of time, but it's not an arbitrary number – seven years is how far back the IRS can go to audit a tax return.

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How many years of paperwork should you keep? ›

To be on the safe side, McBride says to keep all tax records for at least seven years. Keep forever. Records such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, Social Security cards, and military discharge papers should be kept indefinitely.

How far back do you need to keep important documents? ›

You also should consider saving documents that verify the information on your returns for at least seven years, like W-2 and 1099 forms, receipts and payments. If you have receipts related to assets, like receipts for home remodeling projects, keep these for as long as you are the owner.

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How long should a person hold on to their bank statements? ›

Most financial experts say you should keep your bank statements in either digital or hard copy for at least one year. Once they've been in the filing cabinet (or your computer hard drive) for one year, you can finally shred the paper or press the delete button.

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Is it safe to throw away old bank statements? ›

Bank statements and canceled checks. Even if they're old statements, they should be shredded.

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How long to keep bank statements after death? ›

How Long Should You Keep Bank Statements After the Death of a Loved One? After the passing of a loved one, we generally recommend keeping their bank statements for at least three to seven years. Retaining financial records for an extended amount of time is important.

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What papers to save and what to throw away? ›

Credit card receipts: Discard them after a purchase shows up on your statement unless you need them as records for taxes or as proof of purchase in case you need to return an item or make a warranty claim. Pay stubs: Save them until you reconcile them with your W-2 form and yearly Social Security statement.

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Is there any reason to keep old bank statements? ›

You should keep bank statements for at least seven years, in case the IRS needs to verify transactions during an audit. If you have ample storage space, consider keeping them for longer.

Can the IRS audit you after 7 years? ›

Generally, the IRS can include returns filed within the last three years in an audit. If we identify a substantial error, we may add additional years. We usually don't go back more than the last six years. The IRS tries to audit tax returns as soon as possible after they are filed.

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Should I keep my 20 year old tax returns? ›

Basic rule: Keep tax returns and records for at least three years. The statute of limitations for the IRS to audit your return and assess taxes you owe is generally three years from the date you file your tax return.

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What is the best way to keep old documents? ›

Caring for Your Paper Documents

Store papers in a cool, dry, dark environment.
Heat and humidity can cause paper to become brittle or moldy, and light can cause fading or yellowing.
Store papers in archival containers.
Boxes, paper sleeves, folders, or mats should always be preservation quality.

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What do you do with the documents that are no longer needed? ›

Shredding is a common way to destroy paper documents and is usually quick, easy and cost-effective. Many retailers sell shredders for use within your office or premises, enabling you to shred and dispose of the documents yourself.

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How long should I keep old bills? ›

Keep for a year or less – unless you are deducting an expense on your tax return: Monthly utility/cable/phone bills: Discard these once you know everything is correct. Credit card statements: Just like your monthly bills, you can discard these once you know everything is correct.

How long to keep cell phone bills? ›

KEEP A MONTH

If you're self-employed, you may need your utility, cable and cell phone bills for tax purposes. Otherwise, you can dispose of them as soon as you verify your payment was processed. You can also dispose of bank withdrawal and deposit slips after verifying them with your monthly statement.

Should I keep old checkbooks? ›

It's a good idea to go through your checks once a year and to keep those related to your taxes, business expenses, home improvements and mortgage payments. You can shred the others that have no long-term importance. If you bank online, of course, you can simply print out the statements you might need down the road.

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Do I need to keep credit card statements for 7 years? ›

If you use your credit card for business expenses or tax deductions, it's a good idea to keep your credit card statements for up to seven years. That's because the IRS has until then to audit your tax return.

How long should you keep documents relating to investments? ›

It's smart to divide your investment records into those you'll use for short-term reference and those that go into long-term files or storage for three to seven years or longer.

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How do you preserve old bills? ›

Start by storing your notes in a reasonably cool, dry place—one that remains that way. Anywhere that is subject to extremes of heat, cold or humidity is the wrong place to store them. Ideally, conservators recommend a temperature between 18 and 22 degrees centigrade and between 45 and 50 percent relative humidity.

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