15 Jun To Keep or Shred? – Financial Documents
Whether you are a household, a small company, or a large corporation, you are continuously receiving financial documents. From monthly bank statements, receipts from purchases, balance sheets, tax returns, etc., it can be challenging to determine what to do with all of the financial statements.
Every document has its own lifespan, you determine that case by case. To make it more digestible, you can break your financial records into three categories; shred immediately, keep for a few weeks, or save them for the foreseeable future. If you intend on keeping certain records for a long period, you need to store them in a secure location. If you immediately know you are going to dispose of a financial statement, shred them to ensure they are unreadable.
Financial Documents to Securely Store
The IRS recommends recordkeeping as far back as 7 years, explaining which documents to keep, and why you should keep them. If you are planning to keep any of the following documents, you will need a secure place to store them. After 7 years, it is recommended that you shred them.
- Any documentation that proves you are an owner of an asset
- Examples: home deeds, mortgage documents, titles, and warranty certificates.
- Transferred titles (assuming it’s a duplicate)
- Insurance policies
- Examples: health, life, car, home, or renters’ insurance.
Financial Documents to Shred Once You’re Done
If any of the documentation has a name, phone number, social security number, card number, address, account information, or signatures, these are statements you may need for the month or for review. When you are ready to dispose of them, the IRS recommends shredding them to prevent identity theft!
- Bank statements
- Utility or credit card bills
- Receipts if you are not planning on returning the purchase
- Expired debit or credit cards
Financial Documents to Shred Immediately
These are documents that come in the email, better known as “junk mail”. Fliers, catalogs, or brochures that companies might send to your home or business. Typically, these do not have any personal information other than your name and mailing address. Shredding your junk mail will help keep your stored financial documents to a minimum.
How to Properly Dispose of Financial Documents
You may be used to tossing your financial statements in the trash putting you at risk of identity theft. If you are a business, it puts you, the company, and your employees at risk. Greenway Shredding and Recycling is a secure and reliable paper shredding service. Whether you are a business or residential customer, your financial documents will be processed by a secure chain of custody, with cross-cut shredding technology, and you will receive a certificate of destruction after the service is complete.
All of our shredded paper products are collected and sent to paper mills to be recycled into usable products! You can read more about this process here.
Contact Greenway Shredding and Recycling today to properly dispose of your financial documents!