Shred once payments clear on the bank statement. Proof of purchase for larger items should be maintained for insurance reasons.

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If year-to-date information is reflected on the most recent pay stub, the individual statements from throughout the year are not needed. Save the most recent pay stub only until the checkbook has been balanced. Note that three to six months of history may be requested by some mortgage companies if you are planning to apply for a mortgage.

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Keep until statement is received and reviewed. Maintain for seven years if business related.

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Keep until statement is received and reviewed. Maintain for seven years if business related.

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Shred once the checkbook has been balanced.

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Maintain three months of statements.

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Keep bills for three months unless you are writing them off for tax purposes.

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Maintain three months of bank statements if you’re planning to apply for a mortgage. Otherwise, shred the statement once the checkbook has been balanced. Should you require them, banks will furnish copies of past statements upon request.

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Maintain receipts and acknowledgement letters with applicable tax returns.

Shred quarterly statements once the annual summary arrives. Maintain annual summaries until the account is closed.

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Keep Home/Auto/Umbrella insurance records for five years or until the asset is sold, whichever is less.

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Premium insurance statements, doctor’s bills, prescriptions, and hospital bills should be maintained for five years from the date of service.

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Maintain for seven years.

The general rule is seven years. The IRS has three years to audit a tax return with the following exceptions: underreported income greater than 25 percent has a six-year statute of limitation; fraud has no time limit.

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Capital gains and 1099 forms should be maintained for seven years with the corresponding tax return. Confirmations of trades in non-retirement accounts should be maintained indefinitely or until the asset is sold in order to determine the cost basis and related capital gain on the sale of the asset. Then they should be included with the tax return support for the year of the sale. Prospectus can be shred or discarded immediately (after reading, of course).

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Maintain as long as you own the property, but no less than 10 years because of warranty and workmanship guarantees.

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Keep as long as you own the product; shred once the product has been discarded.

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Maintain as long as you own the car.

Maintain indefinitely or until the money is withdrawn from the IRA.

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Maintain as long as the mortgage is open. Once paid off, maintain for seven years.

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Purchase price of home and documentation of capital improvements, such as a deck or a roof repair. Maintain until the home is sold.

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There are also some types of documents you should never discard. Some examples include: birth certificates, adoption paperwork, education records, professional license records, military records, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, and death certificates.

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