{"id":14713,"date":"2021-04-29T16:42:07","date_gmt":"2021-04-29T22:42:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/?p=14713"},"modified":"2024-05-06T13:25:37","modified_gmt":"2024-05-06T19:25:37","slug":"how-long-should-i-keep-statements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/how-long-should-i-keep-statements.html","title":{"rendered":"How long should I keep credit card statements?"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image size-large\"><img decoding=\"async\" width=\"1500\" height=\"500\" src=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-14714\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail.jpg 1500w, https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail-1100x367.jpg 1100w, https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail-768x256.jpg 768w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 767px) 600px, calc(100vw - 35px)\" \/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><em>The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice.&nbsp;<\/em><a href=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/disclaimer\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\"><em>See Lexington Law\u2019s editorial disclosure for more information.<\/em><\/a><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Do you have filing cabinets stuffed full of old records, or a pile of paperwork on the kitchen counter that dates back six months? If you\u2019re asking yourself how long you should keep credit card statements or other important documents, get some guidance below.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-long-should-you-keep-credit-card-statements\">How long should you keep credit card statements?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>It\u2019s a good idea to keep credit card statements for <strong>one year.<\/strong> That\u2019s true for bank statements and your paycheck stubs too. Here\u2019s why:<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul><li>You may need the documents to verify information, such as whether you were charged for or paid for a service.<\/li><li>Credit card and bank statements help you get a big picture of your spending habits, which can be important when setting up or evaluating a personal budget.<\/li><li>When you\u2019re filing your taxes, you can turn to these documents to verify business expenses or charitable donations.<\/li><li>Statements can provide proof that you made a loan payment on time if you ever need to dispute a late payment.<\/li><\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>When you first receive a statement, review it for accuracy before you make any payment and file the document away. The sooner you address an inaccuracy, such as a charge that you didn\u2019t authorize, the better your chances are at getting the issue resolved.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>One great thing about credit card statements, as well as bank statements and pay stubs, is that you don\u2019t have to keep physical copies. If you have online access to the information, you can pull it up as needed. You may want to download and save copies of your statements, though, because in some cases, if you close your account, you may not have access to the information anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-what-about-other-records\">What about other records?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Credit card and bank statements are far from the only financial paperwork most people deal with. Here\u2019s a quick rundown of how long you should keep other types of documents.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-tax-documents\">Tax documents<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>You should keep a copy of your actual tax returns forever. You may need them in the future for reference or as supporting documents when you want to buy a home or take another action that requires proving your income.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>All of the backup information that goes with your tax returns, such as W2 income forms and receipts, should be kept as long as there\u2019s a potential audit window. You\u2019ll need those documents if the IRS asks questions about your return. According to the IRS, <a href=\"https:\/\/www.irs.gov\/businesses\/small-businesses-self-employed\/irs-audits\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">it usually doesn\u2019t go back more than six years<\/a>, so you can probably toss supporting documents after that time.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-legal-filings\">Legal filings<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Keep legal documents such as bankruptcy filings, lawsuits or motions forever. This is also true for documents related to major financial events with legal ramifications such as wills, powers of attorney or estate filings.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h3 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-utility-bills-and-other-receipts\">Utility bills and other receipts<\/h3>\n\n\n\n<p>Bills for utilities, insurance and other services don\u2019t need to be kept very long. You can typically toss them within a month. If you paid the bill and have documentation that the payment cleared, such as a new statement reflecting the credit, you typically don\u2019t have a lot of use for the old bill.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The same is true for most receipts. Unless you\u2019re going to claim an expense on your taxes or want to hold on to the receipt in case you need to return something, you can usually toss a receipt as soon as you see the correct amount cleared your financial account.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-should-you-store-your-documents\">How should you store your documents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>All of the above documents can contain sensitive information, so you want to store them in such a way that they\u2019re kept confidential and private. You also want to ensure they\u2019re as safe as possible from the elements and disasters involving fire and water.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The most important documents, such as your Social Security card and passport, you may want to keep in a fireproof, waterproof, locked safe. These are the types of documents that would cost a fair amount in time, money and hassle to replace.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>For other documents, create a filing system in a filing cabinet or file box. Use folders so that you can easily find the information you need and make time at least once a year to go through the documents to purge items that are no longer necessary.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you\u2019re tech savvy, you can convert many of your paper documents to digital files. Do so by scanning them in and saving them on a cloud drive or an external hard drive. Some documents, such as legal forms, require original notarized signatures or stamped certificates for validity and may need to be maintained in paper copy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-how-should-you-get-rid-of-documents\">How should you get rid of documents?<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>When you\u2019re ready to get rid of old documents, shred them using a shredder for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/news\/financial-security-survey.html\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">utmost security<\/a>. Many times, the print on these types of documents is quite small. Simply tearing the paperwork up by hand doesn\u2019t get the pieces small enough that information isn\u2019t easily accessed or put back together by fraudsters.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\" id=\"h-safeguard-all-of-your-information\">Safeguard all of your information<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>Whether you\u2019re dealing with physical paperwork or digital documents, take steps to safeguard your sensitive information. All an <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/life-events\/identity-protection-priority.html\" target=\"_blank\" aria-label=\"undefined (opens in a new tab)\" rel=\"noreferrer noopener\">identity thief<\/a> needs is a few bits of information, such as a Social Security number and address to start gathering enough information to take out credit in your name.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Use strong passwords for all of your accounts. That typically means a password that is eight characters or more and has upper and lower-case letters as well as numbers and special characters. Avoid using easy strings of information, real words and names.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Shred your paper copies and keep items out of public access. You should also check your credit reports regularly to ensure no suspicious activity is reported.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>If you do find something odd on your credit reports or you just want a partner in monitoring your credit and keeping yourself safe from identity thieves, sign up for <a href=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/credit-repair-services\">Lexington Law<\/a> to learn more about our services.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/lexingtonlaw.com\/disclaimer\"><strong><em>Note:<\/em><\/strong><\/a><em> Articles have only been reviewed by the indicated attorney, not written by them. The information provided on this website does not, and is not intended to, act as legal, financial or credit advice; instead, it is for general informational purposes only. Use of, and access to, this website or any of the links or resources contained within the site do not create an attorney-client or fiduciary relationship between the reader, user, or browser and website owner, authors, reviewers, contributors, contributing firms, or their respective agents or employers.<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>Learn how long to hold on to important paperwork, including credit card statements and tax documents, in this article from Lexington Law.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":63,"featured_media":14715,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[516],"tags":[],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO Premium plugin v18.1 (Yoast SEO v18.3) - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>How long should I keep credit card statements? - Lexington Law<\/title>\n<meta name=\"description\" content=\"Learn how long to hold on to important paperwork, including credit card statements and tax documents, in this article from Lexington Law.\" \/>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/how-long-should-i-keep-statements.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"How long should I keep credit card statements?\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"Learn how long to hold on to important paperwork, including credit card statements and tax documents, in this article from Lexington Law.\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/how-long-should-i-keep-statements.html\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Lexington Law\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2021-04-29T22:42:07+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2024-05-06T19:25:37+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail-1.jpg\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"500\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/jpeg\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"Lexington Law\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"5 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"WebSite\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/#website\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/\",\"name\":\"Lexington Law\",\"description\":\"\",\"potentialAction\":[{\"@type\":\"SearchAction\",\"target\":{\"@type\":\"EntryPoint\",\"urlTemplate\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/?s={search_term_string}\"},\"query-input\":\"required name=search_term_string\"}],\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\"},{\"@type\":\"ImageObject\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/how-long-should-i-keep-statements.html#primaryimage\",\"inLanguage\":\"en-US\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail-1.jpg\",\"contentUrl\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/01\/AdobeStock_370792787_thumbnail-1.jpg\",\"width\":1500,\"height\":500,\"caption\":\"Cheerful attractive hipster girl chatting in social networks sharing multimedia information with followers,charming female manager feeling happy received good advertising offer checking email on phone\"},{\"@type\":\"WebPage\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/how-long-should-i-keep-statements.html#webpage\",\"url\":\"https:\/\/www.lexingtonlaw.com\/blog\/credit-cards\/how-long-should-i-keep-statements.html\",\"name\":\"How long should I keep credit card statements? 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