Updated July 2026
And what should be shredded.
Whether you're filing an insurance claim, applying for a loan, settling an estate, or recovering from a disaster, having the right documents can save time, stress, and money.
Some papers can be tossed without a second thought. Others contain sensitive information that should either be securely stored or carefully shredded. Knowing the difference helps protect your identity, finances, and future.
Keep these forever and ever.
These documents deserve a permanent home in your filing system or safe place. They help verify identity, ownership, and major life events.
- Vital records: Birth, marriage, adoption, and death certificates.
- Identity documents: Passports, Social Security cards, military IDs.
- Estate and legal papers: Wills, powers of attorney, living wills.
- Property and ownership records: Home deeds, mortgage documents, vehicle titles.
- Insurance essentials: Life insurance policies, declarations pages.
- Financial history: Copies of your 1040 tax returns, pension/retirement plan documents.
- Education and long-term records: Transcripts, accident reports, safe deposit box inventory.
Documents to keep until they're no longer needed.
Some records only need to be kept while they support an account, asset, or warranty.
- Loan documents until the loan is paid off.
- Appraisals for jewelry, art, or valuables until updated or sold.
- Warranties and receipts until the warranty expires.
- Home inventory photos/videos for insurance claims.
- Investment statements until you’ve documented cost basis.
- Vehicle maintenance records until you sell the car.
- Medical bills until insurance pays the claim (longer if used for tax deductions.)
Documents to keep for a specific period of time.
Some records have a reccomended retention period.
Keep for seven years:
Tax records, receipts, and supporting documents.
Keep for six years:
Home purchase, sale, and improvement records after selling a home.
Keep for three years:
Charitable donation records and year-end investment statements
Keep for one year or less:
Paystubs, bank statements, ATM receipts, utility bills, annual insurance statements, credit card statements (unless you need them for warrenties or tax purposes.)
What documents should be shredded?
Instead of throwing sensitive documents that have your personal information in the trash, shred them. That includes:
- Expired credit cards.
- Old IDs and passports.
- Documents with account numbers.
- Statements you no longer need.
- Records containing Social Security numbers or other sensitive data
How to store important documents.
A good storage system helps you quickly access the information you need while protecting it from loss, theft, and disaster.
This can be especially important after a wildfire, flood, or other emergency when you may need immediate access to insurance information, account records, or proof of ownership.
👍Pro-tip: Use a three-layer approach to store documents.
- Store active documents you may need quickly in a fire-rated, water-resistant safe.
- Consider a safe deposit box or another secure off-site location for permanent records and irreplaceable documents.
- Store encrypted copies of insurance claims, estate planning, and disaster recovery in a secure cloud platform or on an encrypted external hard drive.
Creating a record-keeping system doesn't have to happen all at once.
Start with a few documents each week. Keep what matters, digitize what makes sense, and securely dispose of what you no longer need.
Your future self will thank you the next time you need to find an insurance policy, replace a lost document, apply for a loan, or navigate an unexpected life event.