How long do I need to keep financial documents?

Question

I have a bunch of older bank statements, pay stubs and the like in a filing cabinet. How long do I need to keep these papers. Also what about the old auto insurance statements (you know the ones they send you when the policy renews every year). Its taking over my filing cabinet.....how long must I keep this stuff?

Answer 1

Mortgage documents keep one year past the loan payoff. Bank statements and pay stubs five years in case any problems with taxes or other debt issues. Insurance papers keep the originals and just the changes in policy updates. The billing statements maybe a year, but keep the record of payment such as checking account or credit card charges for three to five years in case of issues.

Hopes this helps.