There are so many records that are going digital, and that you may never need to print out. But older documents that were not available in electronic format when you got them, as well as some documents that are still only available in physical form need to find a long-term, if not permanent, storage location in your home. I’ve researched what can safely be disposed of right now, how long to keep other things, and all the rest that you need to keep forever. Hopefully you will be able to throw away some paper clutter today with no regrets or fear that you’re making a mistake.

What To Keep Forever

Find a safe yet easily reachable location for these documents to be stored, because they need to stay with you for the rest of your life. Take the items to which you won’t need constant access to a safe deposit box at your local bank, so that if you are robbed or your home is damaged, your vital files will still be safe. Safe deposit boxes usually cost only about $20-30 annually, and have the advantage of being kept securely in a place that is probably much more theft-proof, natural disaster-proof, and damage-proof than your own home. Here’s what you need to keep with you or near you forever: Items in bold are strongly recommended to be stored in a safe deposit box.

• Birth Certificates, Adoption Papers, and Custody Papers
• Citizenship and/or Naturalization papers
• Social Security Cards and/or Other National Identification Cards
• Marriage, Separation, and/or Divorce Papers
• Diplomas and Transcripts
• Medical History Documents
• Appraisal and Inventory of Household Goods
• Insurance Policy
• Tax Returns
• Real Estate Documentation
• Living Will
  
• Audit Information
• Appraisals

What to Keep for a Limited Time

Most documents on this list are only useful for you to keep for the duration of the life of the item they refer to. When the underlying item or the document expires, safely dispose of the documents to avoid paper clutter taking over your life and overwhelming you.

• Passports: keep until they are replaced
• Automobile titles, along with warranty information and receipts for purchases and servicing for the automobile: keep until you sell the car
• Stocks, Bonds, and Savings Accounts: keep until you sell them or close them, plus six years for tax purposes
• Bank Account Documents: keep until you close the account, plus six years
• Canceled Checks: keep for three years
• Credit and Debit Card Information, plus Account Statements: keep until you close the account, plus six years
• Income Records: keep for six years
• Records of Tax Payments: keep for six years

As you can see, there are plenty of papers that it is truly necessary to hold onto. Paper clutter is an annoying but unavoidable aspect of life, but you can reduce the stress of thinking about all that paper by dealing with the situation today. Sit down and go through your papers and set aside everything you will absolutely need to keep. If you haven’t signed up for a safe deposit box yet, go get one. Find a seldom-used area of your house, and some sort of paper storage unit to keep your vital documents until then. We will discuss paper storage techniques in a later post, but hanging files, folders, or binders should do well for you until then. For more suggestions on where and how exactly you should store each file, check out this family records article. And if you really don’t want to rent a safe deposit box, you might want to look at this article about getting your own home vault.