Organizing Your Financial Documents: How Long to Keep Them

Organizing Your Financial Documents: How Long to Keep Them

This script provides practical guidance on organizing and retaining key financial documents. It advises keeping tax records and supporting documents for at least seven years as recommended by the IRS, bank and investment statements for three to seven years, medical receipts for seven years, utility bills and credit card statements for three years, and major purchase receipts until the item is disposed of. Additionally, it suggests retaining paycheck stubs for one to three years, not discarding insurance policies until they expire, securely storing estate planning documents until they become invalid, keeping retirement plan statements until the accounts are cashed out, and holding onto home purchase paperwork until the mortgage is paid off or the home is sold.

00:00 Introduction to Organizing Financial Documents
00:12 Practical Tips for Record Keeping
00:20 Specific Document Retention Guidelines