What to Shred and What to Keep

There will be a free community document shredding event taking place concurrently with our Foothills Community Business Expo on Sept. 13 at USC Verdugo Hills Hospital. Presented by the three local chambers, along with Athens Services and SCORE of Greater Los Angeles, the shredding truck will be parked in the lower hospital parking lot from 5 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

Shredding sensitive documents is an important step in preventing identity theft and can cost up to $10 a box. We will provide this service free of charge for up to 10 boxes. Simply pull your car up to the shredding truck on the east side of the hospital and volunteers will help unload. Documents are shredded on site.

What should you bring to the shredding event?

Tax Information & Returns: The IRS has three years from when you file your tax return to start an audit (no limit on fraudulent returns). Therefore you can shred documents that support your 2014 tax returns and earlier. Keep copies of your actual tax returns forever.

Investment Records and Statements: Documentation of purchases and sales of investments must be kept for three years past when you report them on your taxes.

Bank Statements and Canceled Checks: Most people keep bank statements and checkbook registers for several years to document important purchases. Canceled checks, however, can take up a lot of space. Keep those that support tax deductions and consider shredding the rest.

Paycheck Stubs: These can include very sensitive information such as Social Security and financial institution account numbers. You may need to keep the last three months paystubs if you are applying for a loan. Otherwise you only need the most recent one. Shred the rest.

ATM Receipts: Keep ATM receipts until you can compare them with your bank statement. Then carefully dispose of them.

Credit Card Receipts: Generally keep receipts until you have compared them to your credit card statement. However, if the receipt is for something that you may want to return, keep it longer.

Utility Bills and Other Household Receipts: Unless you are claiming household expenses as tax deductions, there is no need to keep these types of records very long.  Probably safe to toss in the trash but safer to shred.

Insurance: Insurance policies and claims information should be kept for as long as the policy remains in effect. Shred afterwards.

Home Financial Information: Deeds, mortgages and information on home improvements should be kept for as long as you own the home plus three years for tax purposes. Shred afterwards.

Documents to Keep Forever: Wills, powers of attorney, birth certificates, marriage documents, divorce or childcare orders, trust documents, business agreements, military records and other such permanent records.

After dropping off your items to shred, we encourage you to park and enjoy the Expo inside the air-conditioned fourth floor community room in the hospital.  Free food, prizes, information and giveaways are available at this event open to all area residents.  

See you on Sept. 13!