Home Record Keeping… How Long Should I Maintain The Following Bills/documents (see Below)?

1. Anonymous Says

   cable, internet bills can be kept for about a year, should you have any grievance with service providers.
   Utilities, phone bills must be kept filed for atleast 1 year in case you notice variation in amount billed due to technical error.
   Health care:about 1 year as you’d renew your health insurance, and benefits would be again explained “terms and conditions”.
   Bank Statements retain the last 6months to 12mths or you can always request the bank should you lose it, of course a statement request will come with fees refer “Bank guidelines”
   Business receipts; (not clear what business) but suggest you retain them in a file or best scan and store as back up file for later reference /data base to gain more biz.

2. bluebell Says

   The tax man can ask for documents up to 6 years later, so keeping yours for that length of time would be sensible, especially seeing as you are self employed. If he decides to do an audit, the info he checks could be more detailed than for an employee.

3. Chris C Says

   All bills, I scan into the computer.
   Routine bills I shred immediately after they’re paid.
   Health care bills: We rarely receive them, but I shred them as soon as they’re paid. We also never get past the 2% of our salary for spending on healthcare (medical premiums come out pre-tax for us).
   Investment statements: I pick them up electronically, and store them to disk.
   Bank/Credit union statements: I receive them electronically, so I don’t do anything more than copy them to disk
   Business receipts: I’d keep them for 8-10 years.
   I keep as much as possible electronically.

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