This week Kyle provides us some valuable information about how long to keep important (or not so important) documents.

As May rolls in I have been doing some Spring cleaning in my home office. Sorting through piles of old bills, bank statements, tax related stuff, and on and on. I have always been unsure on how long I needed to keep these documents for tax purposes, or in case I somehow needed to use them to prove my identity, or some other unforeseen situation. So I did some research that I wanted to pass along to you. I got this information from the IRS.gov website along with BankRate.com. Hope it helps.

~ Tax Related Documents. – Keep tax returns, receipts, cancelled checks, and any tax related documents for 7 years. IRS can go back 6 years if they suspect you of tax fraud.

~ Bank Statements. - The experts say not to shred these until 1 year has passed.

~ Credit Card Statements. – 45 days if not tax related, 7 years if any purchase on your statement is tax related.

~ Paychecks. – Keep pay stubs for 1 year. Once your W-2 arrives, make sure it matches your pay stubs before you destroy them.

~ General Bills. – Bankrate.com suggests 1 year. For big tickets items, keep receipts longer than 1 year for insurance reasons in case of fire or theft.

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