Keep or shred? Take stock of your papers
It may surprise you, but experts say that you only need to keep bank statements for one year. Credit: iStock
March 20 brought us the official beginning of spring. To mark that occasion, don't take on the dreaded task of cleaning the garage. Instead, start with a purge of the financial variety.
You've already gotten part of the way there through your tax preparation. So use that momentum to attack all of those piles of papers that multiply by the year.
To begin, make sure you have access to an adequate shredder. You should also buy a fireproof safe for your home to store important documents. While bank safe deposit boxes can be useful, remember that they are only accessible during branch operating hours, and some of your documents could require immediate access.
Paperwork that you can toss
Paperwork to keep for as long as you own the asset
Paperwork to keep forever (in a safe or safe deposit box)
Birth certificates
Death certificates
Social Security cards
Marriage licenses
Divorce decrees
Pension plan documents
Copies of wills, trusts, health care proxies/living wills and powers of attorney (attorney/executor should have copies)
Military discharge papers
Copies of burial deeds and plots
Safe-deposit box inventory
