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Solutions for ALL Businesses

What Should Be Shredded? Tips for Shredding Documents at Work and at Home

7/14/2017

8 Comments

 
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“One day I may need this.” We have all had that thought cross our mind as we sift through bank statements, letters, and other important documentation deciding what should stay and what should go.  But what is worth saving and what is better off in the shredder? Check out our tips for work and home to keep you organized and safe from identity theft.

Home
Save.  Any physical copies of anything related to state or federal matters, including certifications, licenses, or deeds. These are important forms of identification that are typically only valid in their original form and can be a lengthy process to replace.  Keeping any proof of warranty for the duration you own the warranted product is essential to insure you receive proper service if the product breaks or malfunctions. A good rule of thumb is, keep anything that would be a hassle to replace causing you to sit on the phone with customer service for hours or go to a government office.

Shred. Tax audits and receipts, home sale, purchase, lease, or improvement documentation should be shredded after 6-7 years. Pay stubs, bank statements, medical bills, and records can be shredded after one year.  Everything else, go ahead and shred.  To keep your identity safe and secure, shred anything with your name, phone number, address on it, social security number, or banking information on it.  

Work
Save. The same rules apply for work as they do at home, if the document is going to be hard to replace, keep it in a safe spot. There are a few extra documents you want to keep an eye out for like union agreements, procedure records, training manuals, bylaws, insurance records, accident reports, claims, legal and important correspondence, copyrights and trademarks, articles or incorporation, and actuarial reports.

Shred. It’s important that for the safety of your business and your employees that you shred employee application forms, ID badges, and records when they leave the business, financial information, branded, damaged or faulty goods, as well as supplier records or information. Some paperwork is best kept for a few years before shredding such as budgets and purchase orders. Use your best judgment. ​
8 Comments
Hannah Schroeder link
10/9/2017 06:39:13 pm

You did a great job of explaining how you should shred tax audits and receipts after 6 or 7 years. My sister is doing her taxes by herself for the first time this year, and she doesn't know if she should keep the papers. I'll tell her that she can keep them, but she should probably find a paper shredding service so she can get rid of them when it's time.

Reply
sutton turner link
4/26/2018 12:56:00 pm

I like how you said to keep your identity safe by shredding any personal information. My dad makes sure to shred anything that has his name, number, address, or anything else on it. Thanks for the tips for secure paper shredding.

Reply
Goyum link
7/24/2018 05:33:48 am

I highly recommend shredding all the important papers, not just sensitive papers. Otherwise it is very simple to identify what is important — it’s shredded.

Reply
Ridley link
8/17/2018 01:59:21 pm

I appreciate your tips for what documents to shred. We're cleaning out our home's office, and I found a massive stack of paperwork here. I'm sure we've got tax audits, receipts, home purchase and improvement documents, and everything else in there! We'll have to get those all shredded, like you said.

Reply
Bram link
9/24/2018 02:45:33 pm

Thanks for that tip about noting if a document is hard to replace. If it is, then keep it till you can replace it! I have never thought of it that way before. I guess another way to judge whether or not to keep a document is if it was expensive to acquire.

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Jocelyn McDonald link
5/13/2019 10:47:54 am

My husband and I gathered a lot of documents in our home that contain sensitive information, and we're thinking of getting the papers shredded. Your article had great tips about paper shredding, and I liked how you said after 6-7 years, we should shred tax audits and receipts, home sale, purchase, lease, and improvement documentation. Thanks; we'll keep this in mind when getting our papers shredded.

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Laurel Larsen link
7/24/2019 05:16:56 pm

I like that you differentiated between documents that need to be saved and ones that need to be shredded. I definitely struggle with determining which papers need to be kept or thrown out, so this was fantastic. It's interesting that some important documents should be shredded after 6-7 years! My file cabinet is getting a bit thick so I'll be going through and getting rid of any unnecessary items.

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Stefan Bradley link
9/11/2019 11:57:22 am

I appreciate that you brought up how you should shred your tax audits every 6-7 years. My wife tends to keep all of our documents inside of a drawer, but I am starting to realize that some of these documents have become irrelevant and should be properly disposed of. Perhaps it would be best to shred some of the old files that we no longer need in our home.

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