If piles of financial documents have taken over your home, it’s time to clean up the clutter. Here are a few ways to clean your financial house. Get Organized Sort through the piles and arrange documents into groups. For example, put all your tax records into one group and credit card statements into another. Throw out any documents you no longer need. It’s a good idea to shred the documents that you decide to discard. Once you get organized, set up a simple filing system. Then, when you receive a financial document, decide right away whether to file it or discard it. If you don’t let the documents pile up, you’ll be able to stay on top of the clutter. What To Toss • Utility bills once you’ve paid them. • Credit card statements that you have verified as accurate and have paid. (You will probably want to hang on to statements that you may need for warranty, insurance, or tax purposes.) • Bank deposit slips and ATM receipts after the transactions have appeared on your bank statements. • Quarterly retirement plan or investment account statements once you’ve checked them against the annual summary. • Pay stubs after you have received and verified your W-2. What To Keep • Copies of state and federal tax returns — indefinitely. • Information you used to prepare your tax return, such as W-2s, 1099s, receipts, and canceled checks — for six years. • Records of investments, real estate, and other purchases — for six years after the asset or property is sold.
Clean Up the Clutter
