As for insurance, keep your paperwork for as long as you have the policy and keep documentation for any unresolved claims of coverage. For health insurance, keep any records (explanation-of-benefit forms, receipts and invoices) covering treatments that are in progress or that are not completely paid for or resolved.
Can I throw away old insurance policies? When you receive your new policy in the mail each renewal, you can discard the old one. However, keep billing statements and the declarations page and make sure you have your auto insurance card whenever driving.
Life insurance policies should be stored indefinitely and all other insurance documents should be stored safely for as long as the policies remain active.
Comparing your EOBs to your monthly statements is a good way to understand what you are being charged for, and it gives you another opportunity to look for overcharges. Unlike medical bills, EOBs should be kept from three to eight years after your procedure, or indefinitely if you have a reoccurring condition.
Personal insurance documents should be kept for as long as they are valid. Business insurance policies should be kept for at least seven years after the policy has ceased for paper copies and at least 10 years for electronic copies.
KEEP 3 TO 7 YEARS
Knowing that, a good rule of thumb is to save any document that verifies information on your tax return—including Forms W-2 and 1099, bank and brokerage statements, tuition payments and charitable donation receipts—for three to seven years.
The best practice is to keep the policies forever. If you are confident that you will not have any claims brought against you for latent matters, a good rule of thumb is to keep the policies for six years. Nearly all potential claims will have expired within this timeframe.
For health insurance, keep any records (explanation-of-benefit forms, receipts and invoices) covering treatments that are in progress or that are not completely paid for or resolved.
Keep them as long as needed to help with tax preparation or fraud/dispute resolution. And maintain files securely for at least seven years if you've used your statements to support information you've included in your tax return.
The short answer is most likely five to ten years after a patient's last treatment, last discharge or death.
Most bank statements should be kept accessible in hard copy or electronic form for one year, after which they can be shredded. Anything tax-related such as proof of charitable donations should be kept for at least three years.
Keep records for 3 years from the date you filed your original return or 2 years from the date you paid the tax, whichever is later, if you file a claim for credit or refund after you file your return. Keep records for 7 years if you file a claim for a loss from worthless securities or bad debt deduction.
To be on the safe side, McBride says to keep all tax records for at least seven years. Keep forever. Records such as birth and death certificates, marriage licenses, divorce decrees, Social Security cards, and military discharge papers should be kept indefinitely.
Credit card statements and utility bills are documents that should be high on anyone's list for shredding. Bills of that nature tend to have very sensitive information. So once payment is confirmed and you no longer need to reference that bill, make sure the document is destroyed.
Once you know it's right, there's no need to hold on to the monthlies anymore. Bank statements: Once you know your monthly statement is correct, you can toss the statement at the end of the year. But if you've used a check to pay for a large or deductible purchase, hold on to it.
While household bills and bank statements should be kept for at least two years, and insurance documents as long as they are valid.
In general, 401k plan records must be kept for a period of not less than six years after the filing date of the IRS Form 5500 created from those records.
Keep canceled checks for one year unless you need them for tax purposes. Refer to them when you reconcile your accounts each month so you know what has cleared. If your bank does not return your canceled checks, you can request a copy for up to five years.
You could turn it back in to the insurance company, but all they will do is throw it away. For the sake of identity protection, you can shred the card or tear it into tiny pieces, but insurance cards do not contain a great deal of personal information, and most people simply drop their old cards in the trash.
Generally, auto insurance companies keep records for seven years. These records include auto insurance claims.
Generally, the IRS can include returns filed within the last three years in an audit. If we identify a substantial error, we may add additional years. We usually don't go back more than the last six years. The IRS tries to audit tax returns as soon as possible after they are filed.
As a general rule, there is a ten year statute of limitations on IRS collections. This means that the IRS can attempt to collect your unpaid taxes for up to ten years from the date they were assessed. Subject to some important exceptions, once the ten years are up, the IRS has to stop its collection efforts.
Many people often ask if they really need to keep all of their receipts for taxes, and the short answer is yes. If you plan to deduct that expense from your gross income, you need to have proof that you made the purchase.