Retain documents when necessary, shred them when not

The FTC recently published advice on how long we should retain documents or digital files that contain financial information. The time periods range from one year to forever.

Documents you should keep for a year include:

• Bank statements
• Pay stubs
• Undisputed medical bills
• Credit card and utility bills
• Deposited checks

You should keep tax-related documents for at least three years, including income tax returns; tax-related documents like canceled checks, receipts, W-2s and 1099s; and records related to selling a home. There are a few situations in which the IRS recommends keeping documents longer, including one that would strike me as an attempt at humor if it wasn’t the IRS – “Keep records indefinitely if you file a fraudulent return.”

The FTC recommends keeping these documents forever:

• Birth certificate or adoption papers
• Social Security cards
• Valid passports and citizenship or residency papers
• Marriage licenses and divorce decrees
• Military records
• Wills, living wills, powers of attorney, and retirement and pension plans
• Death certificates of family members
• Vital health records (especially those that pre-date electronic health records)

Finally, the FTC recommends keeping certain documents for as long as you own a vehicle, home or major appliance. They include the title to your vehicle, the title or deed to your home, home improvement receipts, rental agreements and leases, and sales receipts and warranty information for major appliances.

The FTC received over 1.1 million reports of identity theft in 2024. Almost 500,000 involved some kind of credit card fraud, most involving fraudulent use of an existing account. Tennessee ranked 24^th among all states in the number of identity theft reports per 100k population at 212. Mississippi was 17^th at 268 per 100k population and Arkansas 25^th at 209.

The Department of Justice says crooks are most interested in your name, address and phone number; date of birth, Social Security Number and driver’s license number; credit card and bank account information; and your mother’s maiden name.

Many of the means crooks use to obtain our sensitive personal and confidential information are technologically based – for example, phishing emails or calls or messages spoofing government agencies that trick us into providing information. The Identity Theft Resource Center reports that in 2024 almost 1.4 million notices were sent to consumers whose information may have been compromised in a data breach.

But there’s an old saying that “One man’s trash is another man’s treasure.” Many cases of identity theft start with crooks simply getting possession of trashed documents that contain account numbers, Social Security numbers, birth dates, and other personal information.

You should store documents securely or digitally and shred them when you no longer need paper copies. The FTC recommends shredding some documents immediately, including ATM receipts; offers of credit or insurance (what you may consider junk mail but valuable to identity thieves); cleared checks after 14 days; credit reports; prescription information for medicines you no longer take; expired warranties; and expired credit cards, driver’s licenses and other forms of identification.