How long to keep files

**madhen** · 10-05-2011, 10:43 AM

I am one of those "as long as I have room, I'll hang on to it" types, but saw this on another site (learnvest.com) and thought it was a decent guide to use as a basis.

4. Junk the Filing Cabinet

Go big or go home—we mean it when we say that paper-free can be a way of life. Check out this handy chart for how long you need to keep important documents:

Receipts—1 month
Bank Statements—1 year (save annual statements for 7 years in case you get audited)
Credit Card Statements—7 years
Loan and Mortgage Statements—For the length of the loan or mortgage, plus 7 years
Medical Bills—1 year after they’ve been paid off
Tax Documents—7 years
Home Improvement Receipts—Until your house sells. Proof of spending can sometimes be used to lower your taxes, and you may need proof to the buyer of how recent the improvements or repairs were
Investment Statements—Indefinitely
Closing Documents—Keep closing documents for mortgage and/or loan

**krbshappy71** · 10-05-2011, 01:26 PM

THANK YOU SO MUCH!!!

I have been sorting through EVERYTHING trying to figure out what to keep, throw away, keep but don't move to new location (I have the option to leave stuff at old house), and this paper-filing stuff is totally difficult for me to let go of.

**mndtrp** · 10-05-2011, 10:32 PM

If you are keeping things that are available online from financial institutions, you can export all of the data, and then store it on discs or your hard drive. That alone can save a lot of space.