Paperless, shredding and the like (paying, credit, accounts, income)
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
I recently went through several boxes of old financial data, bank statements, anything with personal information etc. and it was one helluva chore. Seriously considering about going paperless. Anybody have an opinion on this?
To go paperless or not?
How long do you keep your financial data, tax returns etc, before they hit the shredder?
Once heard that 7 years was the way to go before they hit the shredder.
One of the reasons why I had not opted to go paperless, is because its always nice to have something tangible in front of you.
It's been nearly 30 years that intoning, "Theeee... Paperless Office of the Future" has gotten bigger and bigger laughs.
My practice for years was to bundle each month's bills, receipts etc. and toss them in a file drawer. Whenever the pile got deep, I'd go through the drawer and toss all the bundles older than about a year. I don't recall ever not-having a statement or bill I needed to refer to.
The other half's practice was to toss everything at the end of a billpaying session; we had to request a duplicate statement or call up to argue a bill issue at least twice a year.
I've gone largely paperless, but a recent need to document two years of finances was a chore, especially for closed accounts and the like.
Tax files I keep indefinitely - but even after several decades, they fit in one b-box.
I recently went through several boxes of old financial data, bank statements, anything with personal information etc. and it was one helluva chore. Seriously considering about going paperless. Anybody have an opinion on this?
To go paperless or not?
How long do you keep your financial data, tax returns etc, before they hit the shredder?
Once heard that 7 years was the way to go before they hit the shredder.
One of the reasons why I had not opted to go paperless, is because its always nice to have something tangible in front of you.
Paperless for bank/brokerage account statements, utility bills, credit card bills. I keep hard copies of W2 forms, tax returns, etc, for a long time, longer than seven years. They take up very little space.
The IRS allows scanned copies of receipts, W2's, etc. There is absolutely zero reason to keep them as long as one is organized. At the end of tax time I scan everything used (or keep downloaded account summaries) and upload the to the year's tax folder on the cloud.
"Paperless" doesn't mean getting rid off the document.
I'm not putting any of my private information out on the cloud. Call me paranoid... that's fine... and probably it's all out there already and I just don't know it?
Paperless for bank/brokerage account statements...
Which become inaccessible if you change accounts. I believe in the paperless concept, but if I need, say, two years' statements for some purpose and the account was closed, it becomes a huge headache to get copies, or even check transaction details. (Speaking from experience.)
I'd put financial statements in a separate class from utility bills and maybe even credit card statements.
I'm not putting any of my private information out on the cloud. Call me paranoid... that's fine... and probably it's all out there already and I just don't know it?
It's much more protected there than at your house.
I keep paper files of everything related to house basis, until a year after having sold the house, and then shed them.
I keep paper files for all documents supporting income tax returns for 7 years in separate Banker's Boxes, then shred them.
I still get paper statements. I prefer it that way, even though I'm on auto-pay for most everything. I keep paper trade confirmation receipts until 7 years after I no longer have a position in them (part of the supporting documents for income tax returns).
I've thought about scanning everything, but its too much work.
I do etc. for everything. I of course still receive hard copy forms from a few places that do not offer electronic or electronic-only.
At tax time, I scan any receipts or hard-copy documents that I did not already have electronic versions of. I print the full return in PDF. I then save that PDF, the turbo tax native file, and the electronic copies of all my documents in a zip file. The zip file gets stored on my financial flash drive and gets saved in the appropriate year folder on my Google drive.
I do hold on to a physical folder for 3 years just in case (3 years worth isn't too bulky), but after 3 years I toss it.
If you're really worried about needing access to 2-3 years of financial monthly/quarterly statements at a moments notice, I would just save the PDFs quarterly/annually. Also, even though, on a website, a certain institution may only allow access to 6-12 mos worth of statements, if you contact them, they can usually quickly and easily provide electronic copies of statements going back much further.
I find very little reason to keep hard copies of most things these days.
It's much more protected there than at your house.
Protected from what? Fire, sure. From break ins? Even if someone broke into our house (which has never happened) they wouldn't come across these documents. They're extremely secure from that perspective.
Please register to post and access all features of our very popular forum. It is free and quick. Over $68,000 in prizes has already been given out to active posters on our forum. Additional giveaways are planned.
Detailed information about all U.S. cities, counties, and zip codes on our site: City-data.com.
Please register to participate in our discussions with 2 million other members - it's free and quick! Some forums can only be seen by registered members. After you create your account, you'll be able to customize options and access all our 15,000 new posts/day with fewer ads.
