QuickTip: How long to keep what paperwork?

Are you drowning in a sea of paperwork and files 'just in case' because you're not sure what you're supposed to save and for how long? Develop a clutter-free lifstyle by following these simple tips:

Keep for Three Months

• Credit card statements
• Insurance bills
• Paycheck stubs
• Utility bills

Keep until you have Checked Against Statement

• ATM and debit receipts
• Deposit slips
• Purchase receipts (unless they apply to a warranty or tax claim, then keep with warranties or taxes)
• Utility bills

Keep for One Year

• Canceled checks (unless they apply to a tax claim)
• Check registers

Keep for Three Years

• Bank statements
• Tax returns and all related receipts

Items to Keep for a Long Term

• Insurance policies (until they go out of effect)
• Legal documents, such as adoption papers and contracts
• Military papers
• Mortgage paperwork (until three years after you move)
• Patents and copyrights
• Records relating to the cost of home or property improvements
• Warranties (until you don't have the item anymore)

Items to Keep for a Lifetime

• Automobile titles
• Inventory of home and wallet
• Life documents (birth, marriage certificates)
• Property deed
• Stock and bond certificates
• Trust papers (will, power of attorney, health care directive)

Toss Every Month

• ATM And bank-deposit slips, after you've recorded the amounts in your check register and checked them against your monthly bank statement.
• Credit-card receipts, after you've checked to make sure the item appears correctly on your monthly statement.
• Sales receipts for minor purchases, after you've satisfactorily used the item and if it has no warranty.

Toss After One Year

• Monthly bank and credit-card Statement (if you don't itemize deductions).
• Monthly or quarterly brokerage and mutual-fund statements, after you've reconciled them with your year-end summary.
• Monthly mortgage statements, as long as your year-end statement clearly shows the total amount you've paid in interest and property taxes over the course of the year.
• Phone and utility bills (as long as you don't have a home office, use your phone for business calls, or anticipate any need to prove long-term residency).
• Paycheck stubs, after you've reconciled them with your annual W-2 or 1099 forms.

Retain for Seven Years

• W-2 AND 1099 forms.
• Year-end statements from credit-card companies.
• Phone and utility bills (only if you deduct any portion for business expenses, have more than one home, or have moved within the past few years).
• Canceled checks and receipts/statements for: annual mortgage interest and property taxes, deductible business expenses, child-care bills, out-of-pocket medical costs, or any other tax-deductible expense.

Keep Indefinitely

• Your annual tax returns. Your year-end summaries from financial-services companies.
• Confirmation slips that list the purchase price of any investments you own.
• Home-improvement records.
• Receipts for major purchases. (any item whose replacement cost exceeds the deductible on your homeowners' or renters' insurance policy).
• Beneficiary designations.

Be sure to shred the documents you can now discard! How many of you can now free up some file space?