Jill on money: financial spring cleaning 2025

By Jill Schlesinger

Happy spring, or as I like to call it, Shredder Mether! This is my annual reminder to comb through your physical and electronic financial files and store. This can help you better manage your money and potentially discover savings.

What to launch – what to shred?

If you have not yet invested in a shredder, let’s get this on the list of things to do. As a reminder, crooks and fraudsters like when you throw important documents, with personal confidential information in your garbage.

Please get into the habit of shredding as much as possible all year round. Here are the categories of financial documents to shred or keep.

Income declarations

Generally, the IRS may include declarations of income filed in the past three years in an audit. If they identify a substantial error, they can add additional years, but the agency generally does not return more than the last six years.

Therefore, keep your feedback and all support documents for six years, just to be safe. Anything beyond six years can go directly to the shredster. If you work with a income trainer, ask if they will keep electronic copies of all the declarations filed.

Bank and investment statements

If you manage your accounts online, discover the duration of the duration of your documents. For those who still receive paper declarations, keep them for a year and for taxable investment accounts, report any confirmation of purchases or sales for tax purposes.

Keep the files related to home improvements and major purchases until you have the assets. (Note: if you think you may ask Medicaid in the short term, many states require that you show five years of declarations, so you will have to hang on them.)

Credit card invoices

Unless you need to reference something for tax or commercial purposes, or for proof of purchase for a specific item, you can shred them (or delete them) after 45 days. Like bank statements, report what you may need for taxes, such as charitable contributions.

Utility and telephone invoices

Record (or delete) after paying, unless they contain tax deductible expenses.

Home improvement / big purchases

Keep all the receipts until you have the assets.

Insurance policies

Keep as long as policies are in force. Once you have canceled the coverage or the term of the policy is increasing, shred them.

Important docs to keep forever

In a fireproof safe, on the cloud or in a safe, keep the birth and death certificates; Social security cards; marriage licenses; divorce decrees, military liberation papers; and inheritance documents.

Regarding this category, if you have a question of knowing if you have to hang on to something, do not hesitate to be a hobby.

Examine / consolidate accounts

The beginning of spring coincides with the end of the first quarter and tax time, a perfect opportunity to review your taxable investments. If these accounts have generated too much capital income or earnings, you may be better in the process of exchanging mutual or negotiated funds on the stock market.

Of course, before doing anything, make sure you understand if there is a tax consequence to move on to cheaper alternatives.

If you have orphaned investments or bank accounts that need attention, plan to combine them. The resulting higher balance can help avoid or reduce costs and even help you get better offers, without forgetting, this will help you rationalize your financial life.

The same rule applies to former retirement or investment accounts looking for a house. The combination of accounts facilitates the monitoring of your entire portfolio and can help you maintain the desired allowance.

Jill Schlesinger, CFP, is CBS News business analyst. Former trader of options and CIO of an investment consulting company, it welcomes comments and questions to askjill@jilloney.com. Consult your website in www.jillonmoney.com.