Anything with a social security number, an active account number, and any combination of a name and birthdate. Medical records with patient names. Old medical records often include a social security number as the ID number; these should be shredded. Also any credit card applications mailed to you; an ID thief could easily fill it out and apply for credit in your name.
What's a waste of your time:
Your name & address on letters and catalogs- this is easily available information and not worth the time to shred.
What kind of shredder to buy:
A simple strip shredder is sufficient in almost all cases. The idea is to deter a potential thief; if given a choice between your shredded documents and someone else's unshredded documents, the thief goes for the easier, unshredded info. Someone would really, really want your info to piece together shredded strips.
Do you want the shredder to accept staples or shred credit cards? Then pay a bit more for these features. And a wide enough opening to allow unshredded documents to be trashed in the same receptacle is convenient.
Read an interesting article on shredder evaluations: http://www.consumersearch.com/www/office/paper-shredders/fullstory.html
Monday, March 27, 2006
What to Shred
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2 comments:
Maura
would you add a line on how long we should keep financial statements - bank statements/checks, tax records/filings, tel bills, etc. Our files are bulging and would be lovely to purge this old stuff!
Janine
Janine-
1. If you don't deduct them on your taxes, there is no need to keep utility bills longer than one year.
2. The tax return itself (a copy of what you sent to the IRS) should be kept forever, but the supporting docs only need to be kept 7 years.
3. Real Estate and stock/bond/mutual fund statements need to be kept for 7 years after you sell them.
4. As for bank statements, keep the most detailed document, which is generally your register. Keep checks for deductible items for 7 years. Staple checks for big ticket items with warranties to the warranty.
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