What is the Reccommended Length of Time to Keep Your Irish Credit Card Statements

It’s hard to know what to do with old financial statements – which ones to keep and which to shred. But there are guidelines, and in general, if the statement could have to do with taxes, you should keep it for a long time, perhaps several years. Of course, if you do all your banking online, it is rather a moot point, because there aren’t paper records to protect. But how do you know what to do with other financial statements?

Tax returns should have the longest shelf life, as should receipts for things like charity contributions, cheques, mortgage interest, and other documents that may affect your taxes. You should keep such records for several years, if not forever.

For bank statements that don’t have any long term importance, you can get rid of them after a year. Documents related to pensions should be kept for at least a year, and permanently if possible. The same goes for bank statements where there might be something that relates to your taxes.

You should keep your credit card statements anywhere from a couple of months to several years. Again, it depends on whether the statements contain tax related expenses. If not, keep your receipts until you get your monthly credit card statement. If they match up, go ahead and shred the receipts. Hang onto the credit card statement for another month or so, and if there are no purchases with long term importance or related to taxes, you can get rid of them then.

Cross cut shredders are more destructive than regular shredders, but even with regular shredders, if you mix up the shredded paper that collects, you’re going to put off all but the most determined (or crazy) criminals wanting your financial information.The term “get rid of” goes well beyond tossing your statements into the bin. At the very least, they should be run through a shredder.

Some people go farther than shredding their financial records. Some incinerate them, and others get very creative, using them to line the cat box or composting the bits with chicken manure (if they have chickens). These measures are probably not necessary, but it does point up the need to keep your financial information close to the vest.

If you have the option of having your statements online, it may be worthwhile. For one thing, they’ll be archived, and for another, you won’t accidentally leave them lying around in plain view where a dishonest repairman or untrustworthy flat mate might see them.

Peter Carville is a freelance article writer who writes for Financial Facts about the current financial news and the credit crunch.

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