Your Guide to Throwing Away Old Receipts and Documents

You might be tempted to throw away bank statements because it’s easier, but it’s not the safest option. When dealing with documents related to sensitive information, there’s a better route to take.

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Why Is It Important to Destroy Your Financial Information and Sensitive Documents?

While you might be thinking about how easy it would be to throw away your old receipts in the trash or stash documents in a box somewhere in your house, these disposal methods come with various risks, including identity theft and leaked financial information.

Instead, shredding your sensitive documents is a valuable solution offering the peace of mind you deserve. Aside from financial and identity theft prevention, shredding your important information offers several advantages, including:

• Environmentally friendly: Shredded paper can be recycled and reused to minimize the need for additional paper production and decrease the risk of paper ending up in landfills.
• Assured confidentiality: By shredding your sensitive information, you’ll make sure you’re the only person with access to crucial personal or company information such as phone bills or business profits.
• Saved space: Old papers can stack up quickly and take up valuable space in your office or home, making shredding extremely useful in maintaining an organized environment.

Tips for a Secure Document Shredding Experience

If you’re considering taking advantage of all the benefits a shredding strategy offers, make sure you keep the following tips and tricks and mind.

Shred All Documents With Sensitive Information

According to the Federal Trade Commission, all documents with sensitive information, such as credit card numbers and bank account information, should be shredded to protect your identity from theft. Old bank statements and many other types of documents fall under this category. Some notable documents to shred include:

• Sales receipts
• ATM receipts
• Paid utility, internet and phone bills
• Canceled and voided checks
• Expired warranty coverage
• Credit card, insurance and bank solicitations
• Packing slips and online purchase orders

Choose Your Shredder Method

You can destroy bank statements, insurance information and other types of sensitive documents in a few different ways. Cross-cutting is almost always the most effective strategy, using two sets of blades to produce horizontal and vertical cuts. The results of this method are significantly smaller, confetti-like pieces that are subsequently much more difficult to reconstruct. This is often the go-to option for more sensitive personal and business documents.

Split cutting is another shredding strategy you might consider. This process uses a single set of blades to cut paper into long, thin strips. While it’s an effective way of safely destroying unwanted documents, it creates larger cuts compared to cross-cutting and could allow recreation with some time and effort. If security isn’t your main priority, split-cutting might be the way to go.

Keep Time in Mind

While some documents can be shredded right after you receive them, it’s recommended to hold onto certain documents for set periods of time. For example, you will want to keep your old bank statements accessible for one year.

Timing is important in bank statement disposal because these documents may need to be referenced for financial purposes. Store your statements in waterproof bags or lock them in a safe while they’re in your possession.

Other documents to shred after one year include:

• Paid credit card statements
• Pay stubs you’ve checked against your W-2
• Medical bills following payment and any disputes

The Internal Revenue Service (IRS) can audit these materials up to seven years prior, which will also affect your document storage. Bank documents to store for seven years include:

• Tax returns
• W-2s
• Tax-related receipts and canceled checks
• Records for tax deductions
• All other tax records

Shred Regularly

Continuing with the theme of time, it’s wise to implement a consistent shredding routine. Setting a schedule makes it easy to avoid a buildup of sensitive information, which would make it much more difficult to manage, organize and protect. You can store “to-be shredded” documents in a designated box to simplify your organization in between your shredding jobs.

Eliminate Your Paper Trail

You can always switch to digital channels when you don’t want to worry about destroying your documents. Most banks offer completely digital processes, known as eStatements. These documents will appear in your inbox every month, and you’ll easily be able to download copies onto your computer and organize them into folders for easy access. Other precautions you might want to think about implementing into your digital management strategy include:

• Set up two-factor authentication.
• Use strong passwords.
• Leverage encryption storage solutions.
• Back up your computer or hard drives regularly.
• Minimize access.

Turn to TrueShred for Help

At TrueShred, we make secure document shredding a simple process. Our residential and commercial shredding services comply with privacy requirements and have transparent pricing. We operate in Washington, D.C., Virginia and Maryland with on-site and off-site shredding. Get in touch with us today to shred your bank statements and protect yourself from identity theft.