Take Time To Clean Out Your Financial Records This Spring

Take the Time to Clean out Your Financial Records This Spring

Nowadays, you and your family may have spent a lot more time indoors than usual. This change has the
ability to upend routines, and it takes no time at all for clutter to collect all over your home. 

As spring cleaning guides fill the web, it’s easy to take control of your messiest, most disorganized spaces.
And with the kids home from school, you’ll have extra hands to help you get it done faster. 

As you move through your space and find things to clean, don’t forget one extra chore: organizing your bills.

Let’s be honest — this may be your least favorite task. But before you simply throw everything out, check in
with this guide. Some bills and receipts are important for your finances, and we’ll let you know how long
you should keep them.

Receipts

Do you always say “yes” when the cashier asks you for a receipt? Then your wallet, pockets, and drawers
may show off a pretty impressive collection of paper. 

Luckily, you can confidently throw away most of these receipts. The only exceptions may include:

• Receipts for a major purchase or service. If you’ve recently bought a new furnace or hired a

plumber, you’ll want to keep this proof of payment, as you may need to present it to activate a
warranty or return the item.

• Receipts used for taxes. Did you claim a purchase on your income tax? You’ll want to keep these

as proof of payment. Jump to the section about taxes to learn how long. 

Loan Agreements

Have you relied on a personal loan or line of credit recently? If so, you may have a few loan or line of credit
agreements hanging around.

At the very least, you should keep a hold of them until the term of your loan or line of credit. But to be safe,
you may want to retain these for your record for much longer. 

If you’re still not sure about the lifespan of your loan agreement, get in touch with your financial institution.
If your financial institution is anything like CreditFresh, a team of customer service representatives will be
available seven days a week, happy to help answer any question you may have.  

Financial Statements and Bills

Broadly speaking, you don’t need to keep your monthly bank statements or bills indefinitely. 

A general rule of thumb is to keep line of credit or credit card statements for 60 days. Once again, the only
exception is those documents you’ll need for taxes. 

During those 60 days, make sure you review your checking account statement, line of credit or credit card
bills. If you spot any purchases you didn’t make, get in touch with your financial institutions right away.

Taxes

Officially, you only need to keep tax returns and supporting documents for three years after you filed. But
unofficially, you may want to keep them as long as six. That’s how long the IRS may take to audit your tax
returns if they suspect you grossly underreported your income. 

Some financial advisors recommend you keep them forever. This will protect you in case an error occurs
decades later. 

After being cooped up indoors for so long, it may feel good to throw out any paper or receipt you come
across. But this relief may be short-lived if it ends up being something important. Follow this guide to
make sure you don’t discard what you need.