How long should paperwork be kept, such as pay stubs, utility bills, tax returns etc. be kept?

Income tax related documents should be kept at least 7 years, even tho the IRS will only go back 3 years.

Final statements from ANY account you close (utility, cell phone, loans, credit cards) keep FOREVER. So often, these come back to haunt you.

Pay stubs -- trash after you receive the W2 for that year. You only keep them to verify the accuracy of the W2.

Bank statements -- 7 years just to be safe.

Utility bills -- one year is more than you really need to. I only save a year's worth to compare last year to this year.

Credit card statements -- 3 years is sufficient

For mortgage, during the entire life of the loan. Just store it in a large folder or in a box labeled mortgage statements.

For tax related stuff like the return and the receipts, five years to be safe. Just store each year in different boxes.

Toby, the IRS statute of limitations is 3 years from the date you file your tax return or 3 years from the date you amend your tax return, whichever is later. Note it is NOT 3 years from the end of the tax years. For example, the tax return for 2012 was due April 15, 2013. Therefore they have until April 15, 2016 to audit your return. Once this time is past IRS can not come after you unless they can prove willful criminal fraud.

You can also shred your other documents 3 years after you filed your tax return, Toby.

utility bills shred every 3 months.

pay stubs every month

tax paper work if personal only minimum 7 yrs.

any after that scan to computer file and shred.

mortgages keep only front pages after u paid it off.

car loans shred as soon as u have title released.

the IRS says 7 years. Throwing out means what, paper documents? Scan what's important into your computer, keep on a cd or flash drive for the future.