# How long should someone keep their credit card/bank statements/bill statements?



## eulogy (Oct 29, 2011)

I'm just curious. Right now I just hang onto them, but I don't know if this is fully necessary. I would hate to think that I would be required to hold onto them for the same length as tax documents.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

If the bills or credit cards in question are not part of your tax records (for instance, you have claimed a tax deduction for that bill), then there is no need to keep them for 7 years or whatever.
Credit card charges can be disputed up to 60 days, I believe.
Beyond that, there is no need to keep the statements.
As for bank statements, once you have cross checked against your passbook or personal records, no need to keep them either.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

Depends on a bunch of factors ...

I seem to recall the CC company wanting any challenges or questions to be fairly quick (say thirty days?) ... so I'd start with sixty days.

If you are using the info to compare year to year, then at least a couple of years (or scan it and have a good backup strategy for the electronic copy) ... but it's at your discretion.

On the other hand, where the statement is proof of a charitable donation or medical expense for tax purposes, then the tax document guidelines would come into pay.


So review what is being charged and it may define most, if not all of your answer.


Cheers


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

HaroldCrump said:


> ... Beyond that, there is no need to keep the statements.
> As for bank statements, once you have cross checked against your passbook or personal records, no need to keep them either.


So you never compare what you paid in the previous year or two versus the current charges? 

.... interesting.


Cheers


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

Eclectic12 said:


> So you never compare what you paid in the previous year or two versus the current charges?
> 
> .... interesting.
> 
> ...


Bank _charges_? What are they? :wink:


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## andrewf (Mar 1, 2010)

If you're paying bank fees, you're doing it wrong.


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Eclectic12 said:


> So you never compare what you paid in the previous year or two versus the current charges?
> .... interesting.


You mean compare expenses?
Of course I do.
But I don't need to retain paper statements for that.
I have my own expense records, going back many years.

One problem in doing comparison using statements is that it will never say what the expense was for.
It only lists merchant and amount, like Wal-Mart $20, or Shopper $25 etc.
Maintaining personal records is the best way.


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## blin10 (Jun 27, 2011)

why not scan them or download them as pdf and hold it on your hard drive forever sorted by a year ?


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## fraser (May 15, 2010)

I only kept them when they were part of my tax records-backups to original receipts for auto, home office, entertainment expenses. I have not had these expenses for a few years. I do not even print my bank statements or credit card statements. I reconcile them on line. End of story. If I need them, I have on line access for a year or more. That is all I need.


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## Eclectic12 (Oct 20, 2010)

andrewf said:


> Nemo2 said:
> 
> 
> > Bank _charges_? What are they? :wink:
> ...


Who said anything about bank charges or fees?

When one pays with a CC, it is a charge against one's card, as I understand it.

As for interest or fees - I might have an one interest charge by missing a payment in the last seven years ... otherwise, the balance is paid in full with no fees in sight.




HaroldCrump said:


> You mean compare expenses?


Charges ... expenses ... whatever one wants to call them.

(Cue the "you say towmatoe, I say toMato" song in the background ... ) 




HaroldCrump said:


> Of course I do.
> 
> But I don't need to retain paper statements for that.
> I have my own expense records, going back many years.
> ...


Hmmm ... so are you keeping a different set of paper (ex. the itemised receipt) or recording the info separately?

The expenses I'd be comparing aren't wrapping up separate items a total ... I typically don't use the CC records for rollup types such as Wal-Mart or Shoppers or Loblaws.


Cheers


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## tombiosis (Dec 18, 2010)

One problem in doing comparison using statements is that it will never say what the expense was for.
It only lists merchant and amount, like Wal-Mart $20, or Shopper $25 etc.


HC shops at WalMart?
who knew?
:biggrin:


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## HaroldCrump (Jun 10, 2009)

Eclectic12 said:


> Hmmm ... so are you keeping a different set of paper (ex. the itemised receipt) or recording the info separately?


I keep my own records for expenses.
At the end of every billing cycle, I cross reference the CC statements against my records and if everything matches, I file the statement away for 60 days.
After 60 or 90 days, shred it.



> The expenses I'd be comparing aren't wrapping up separate items a total ... I typically don't use the CC records for rollup types such as Wal-Mart or Shoppers or Loblaws.


Now I am curious...you pay cash for big box store shopping?
Where do you use CC then, if you at all do?


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## eulogy (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks for all the opinions everyone. Gave me some perspective on the statements.

I think grabbing a statement that has a charitable donation or some sort of tax related cost, and saving it with my tax documents for that year.

As of right now, I just scan the statements right now. I was just thinking about it from a security perspective. If I ever lost my laptop, or someone got access to it. Not that there is a lot of information, but it does have my full name, address and credit card numbers on the statement. I know I could technically do some sort of encryption of these statements, but it seems like going a little overboard for just some statements. My thought is that it's just better to get rid of them say after a year or two, instead of encrypting and hanging on for a long time.

Also since no one really commented on other bills, I'm sure the same tax rules apply. But probably not that important to save (say like cell phone, cable, etc).


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## hboy43 (May 10, 2009)

Hi:

Once I had a bicycle stolen. I could produce a statement for my insurer that showed a $1000 purchase at Joe's bike shop. They inferred that I indeed had a bicycle and how much I paid for it so my c,lain was not a hassle.

Pretty low probability low value event, so I toss my statements every 5 or 10 years whenever I get tired of tripping over the box(es).

hboy43


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## Mortgage u/w (Feb 6, 2014)

epost. no paper. no hassle. no filing. its all done for you.


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## Dave (Apr 5, 2009)

CC company statements - 7 years with tax documents
CC with big purchases - 1 year for the warranty 
Rest - can shred if statement matches expenses

I also keep most of my documents digitized to keep my life simple.


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## NorthKC (Apr 1, 2013)

I kept 3 years of telephone/internet/cable. It often came in handy when negotiating the price and pointing out the ridiculous price increases.

Credit card - I kept for 5 years when one of the banks swapped my accounts with another person and had to tell them all the transactions that I did up to 3 years before hand before they would finally correct it.

Tax stuff - 7 years

Any item with warranty purchased - keep until end of warranty period.

Remaining items, shred after entering into Quickbooks/Excel.


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## eulogy (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks for the advice everyone. I decided to hold onto what needs to be holded onto for a designated timeframe (like tax related expenses) and big purchases. But other than that, I'm going to start dumping old documents. I store them in a digital format now and that allows me to store as much as I want for as long as I want, but for general security reasons I think dumping them after a period of time is for the best... just in case. And really the value in a 5 year old credit card statement is probably quite limited for me.


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## Sherlock (Apr 18, 2010)

I have never kept them at all. As soon as I receive my credit card statement in the mail, I open the envelope and read it, then throw it in the garbage. If I ever need that info in the future it is all online so what's the point of keeping the paper? In fact I wish there was a way to get the banks to stop mailing me those statements at all.


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## AltaRed (Jun 8, 2009)

That should be possible. I only see an online (PDF) version of my CC statements.


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## Nemo2 (Mar 1, 2012)

AltaRed said:


> That should be possible. I only see an online (PDF) version of my CC statements.


As do we....no mailed statements at all.


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## Addy (Mar 12, 2010)

We keep ours for one year, simply because once a year we make up new files for things like utility bills, credit card statements, etc. We have files for things that we don't get rid of annually (ie receipts for major purchases).


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## Westerly (Dec 26, 2010)

If you're in business, or own a corporation, keep all records including personal statements for 7 years. Keep all statements (including personal) that support business asset purchases for 7 years 'after asset disposal" (which could by 50 years.)


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## eulogy (Oct 29, 2011)

I was just going through my documents, getting rid of things and such. I was looking at my tax documents and I have some from 2006. This puts them past the 7 year mark. I know you're supposed to hold onto these documents for 7 years, but if the CRA suspects fraud (not if you actually did it or not) they can go back further. Should they just be held onto forever?


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