How long to keep old utility bills?
If you track utility usage over time, keep your bills for one to two years. If you claim a home office deduction, keep them for three years. - To avoid identity theft, be sure to shred anything you throw away that contains your personal or financial information.
Utility bills and phone bills can be shredded after you've paid them, unless they contain tax-deductible expenses.
Bank statements: All business banking, credit card, and investment statements, as well as canceled checks, should be kept for seven years, possibly longer, depending on your business or tax circumstances. Hiring records: Keep job advertisements, applications, and resumes on file for at least one year.
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.
According to the Federal Trade Commission, all documents with sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and bank account information, should be shredded to protect your identity from theft. Old bank statements and many other types of documents fall under this category.
Additional records such as statements, hospital bills, car repair bills, copies of prescriptions, etc. should be kept up to five years from the date the service was provided. Utility and phone bills: Shred them after you've paid them, unless they contain tax-deductible expenses.
After paying credit card or utility bills, shred them immediately. Also, shred sales receipts, unless related to warranties, taxes, or insurance. After one year, shred bank statements, pay stubs, and medical bills (unless you have an unresolved insurance dispute).
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).
- Cell phone.
- Cable, telephone, internet and other streaming service statements (unless you're deducting them for work or home office-related expenses)
- Brokerage statements.
- Credit card bills.
- Pay stubs.
- Social Security statements.
- Utility bills.
In general, if you don't have any open claims, you don't need to keep old, expired insurance policies. However, if you have any open claims or have been involved in an incident that may result in a claim, keep all paperwork related to the incident and your policy until the claim is resolved.
Should I shred everything with my name and address?
To protect your privacy, you should also consider shredding items that include: Names. Addresses. Phone numbers.
The best way to properly dispose of documents that contain your personal information is to shred them before discarding them.
- At least 90 days if you need to dispute charges. ...
- One year if you want to track expenses. ...
- One year if you need to add up business expenses. ...
- Three to six years for personal tax deductions. ...
- A few years for extended warranties.
Three years is the general recommendation
The general rule for keeping copies of your tax records is to store them for at least three years. Having a paper trail is the best way to protect yourself if the IRS scrutinizes your financial history.
Keep For 30 Days Or Less
Utility bills and phone bills can be shredded after you've paid them unless they contain tax-deductible expenses.
- Annual statements for 401(k), IRA, Roth IRA and other investment accounts.
- Mortgage records and other documents related to the purchase of your home (such as real estate commissions or legal fees)
- Legal documents.
- Receipts for home improvements (until you sell the property)
Many people toss old utility bills, bank statements, and other sensitive documents in the trash without a second thought. However, failing to dispose of these papers properly can put your personal information at risk.
Medical bills should be retained for at least a year, and for tax purposes, they should be kept for three years to align with IRS audit regulations. Ongoing treatment bills should be preserved until the issue is resolved. Prescriptions have a different retention period, with the slips not requiring long-term storage.
Bank statements and canceled checks. Even if they're old statements, they should be shredded. Your name, address, phone number, and bank account information are in those statements, along with your habits, purchases, and banking history.
Shredding your utility bills helps reduce paper waste, which in turn helps the environment. Professional shredding companies securely recycle shredded documents after permanently destroying them.
Should I shred my old driver's license?
But what about old forms of ID including expired passports and driver's licenses? Shred them. Even if they're expired or the address is out of date they could still be useful to an identity thief.
It's a good idea to hang onto bank statements, but not forever. All bank statements, pay slips and credit card statements (once you've paid the bill) should be shredded and disposed of after one year. Sales and ATM receipts, on the other hand, should be shredded after one month, unless you need them for tax purposes.
KEEP 3 TO 7 YEARS
Knowing that, a good rule of thumb is to save any document that verifies information on your tax return—including Forms W-2 and 1099, bank and brokerage statements, tuition payments and charitable donation receipts—for three to seven years.
To align with California's statute of limitations, residents should retain their tax returns and all supporting documentation for at least four years. This time frame provides adequate coverage in case of a state audit.
If you receive paper pay stubs, you can shred them at the end of the year, but you should keep them until you receive and compare them to your W-2 form from your employer.
