Shredding Personal Documents and When to Dispose of Them
When you put a piece of paper
in the trash it can be difficult know what happens to it. Since few people burn
trash anymore, it is likely that your trash passes through several stages on its
way to a landfill or incinerator. Every step that occurs once the trash leaves
your control has risk that someone will find personal information they can use
to cause you harm.
One way to safeguard personal
information is to shred it before it goes into the trash. Shredding devices are
available at most office supply stores. You may want to consider one depending
on your level of concern. In addition, First National Bank offers several free
shred days throughout the year, so be sure to check with your branch for current
event information.
Item
Retention Guidelines
On Disposal
Tax information and
returns
There is a general
three year statute of limitation for your taxes. This means the IRS has
three years from when you file your return to start an audit. (There is
no limit for fraudulent returns). Therefore, you need to keep documents
that support items on your tax returns for those three years. Each year
you can throw out the three year old documents, but you should keep
copies of tax returns forever.
Shred
Investment records
and statements
Investment records must
be kept to support your tax returns. Documentation of purchases and
sales (either confirmations or brokerage statements including the
information) must be kept for three years past when you report the sale
on your tax return. You may find it helpful to keep brokerage
statements for many years.
Shred
Bank statements and
cancelled checks
Some people keep every
cancelled check and others toss most of them. Certainly you should keep
cancelled checks that support any tax deductions and any that you think
may come in handy. Otherwise, cancelled checks can take up a lot of
space. Bank statements are a bit different. You may want to keep them
for some period (three years or so) so you can document your payments
for important items. Together with your checkbook register, you would
be able to identify when and how much you paid for almost anything.
Shred
Paycheck stubs
These documents can
include very important information including Social Security number and
financial institution account numbers if you use direct deposit. You
may need to have the last three month’s stubs if you are planning to
apply for a loan. Otherwise, you should only keep the latest stub.
Shred
ATM receipts
Keep ATM receipts until
you have compared them with your bank statement. Then dispose of them
carefully.
Shred
Credit card
statements
Even though there is no
requirement to keep these statements, you may want to save them for some
period (a year) in case there is a dispute, you want to return an item
or if you want to be able to analyze your spending.
Shred
Credit card receipts
Generally keep receipts
until you have compared them to your credit card statement. However, if
the receipt is for something that you may want to return, keep it
longer.
Probably shred
Utility bills and
other household receipts
Unless you are claiming
household expenses as tax deductions, there is no need to keep these
types of records very long. You can always use a cancelled check to
document payment.
Probably safe to toss
in trash.
Warranties
Keep warranties for as
long as you own the item or until the warranty period expires.
Probably safe to toss
in trash.
Insurance
Insurance policies and
claims information should be kept for as long as the policy remains in
effect.
Shred
Home financial
information
Deeds, mortgages and
information on home improvements should be kept for as long as you own
the home plus the three year period for tax purposes.
Shred
Personal documents
and pictures
This is your personal
preference.
Shred anything
containing sensitive information and private pictures.
Permanent Files
Documents to keep forever
include wills, powers of attorney, birth certificates, marriage documents,
divorce or child care orders, trust documents, business agreements, military
records and other such permanent records.
Electronic data files with
personal information
Floppy diskettes and CDs should
be shredded, destroyed or made unusable in some manner. Computer hard drives
deserve special attention. Hard drives may have information on finances, taxes,
user names, passwords and other information that should not fall into the hands
of fraudsters. Deleting files and formatting a hard drive does not permanently
remove the files from the system. Before disposing, recycling or donating a PC,
the hard drive should be removed and physically destroyed.
Equal Housing Lender.