The key to unlocking your personal information, even your very identity, can be made out of paper. For some scamming thieves, one piece of paper carelessly tossed in the garbage may have all the information they need to make your life miserable.

Paper documents may seem to be a bit out of date in this digital age, but they just keep piling up. If it’s building up at your house, and you are concerned about identity and personal information theft, it’s time to shuffle through that paperwork and safely dispose of what you do not need to keep. The most secure way to dispose of it is to shred it. 

A shredding opportunity

An upcoming Better Business Bureau shredding event in Wichita, is your chance to make some headway in paper document disposal. From 9 a.m. until noon on Saturday, Oct. 20, you’ll get your chance. It’s free and you may bring up to three boxes to shred. This time the location is moved to the WSU Hughes Metropolitan Complex parking lot at 5015 East 29th Street North. (Suggested cash or food donations for the Kansas Food Bank will be gratefully accepted.)

Your Better Business Bureau has guidelines for consumers regarding what to shred and what to keep. Some things to know:

Keepers

Hang on to these indefinitely:

• IRA Contribution Statements

• Pension/Profit Sharing Informational Returns

• Retirement/Savings Plan documents

• Income Tax Payment Checks

• Deeds, Mortgages and Bills of Sales

• Legal correspondence

• Plan and Trust Agreements

• Real Estate Records of Improvement (for length of home ownership)

• Birth Certificates

• Social Security Cards

• Marriage licenses and divorce decrees

• Passports

• Education records

• Military service records

Keep then throw away after 7 years

• Income Tax Returns and Worksheets

• Tax-related Medical Bills

• Tax Deduction Records

Keep for shorter periods

• Contracts (purchases and sales) – 6 years after the termination or disposal of item

• Sales Receipts – 6 years

• Insurance policies – 6 years after policy termination

• Contracts and Agreements – 6 years

• Settled Insurance Claims – 4 years

• Medical Bills – 3 years

• Utility Records – 3 years

• Bills – 1 year (larger purchases should be retained for insurance purposes.)

• Bank Deposit/Withdrawal Slips – Shred after reconciled with monthly statement)

• Credit Card Receipts – Shred after reconciled with monthly statement

• Paycheck Stubs – Shred after reconciled with W-2 and taxes paid

Shred or secure these documents

Sign up for paperless statements from your credit card companies and bank or credit union. Older paper statements should be shredded. Tax records contain your Social Security number, full name, birthday and address. That makes them treasures for thieves. Shred old ones, as outlined above, and secure more recent ones safely. Medical records and bills also contain personal information that means they should be secured or shredded when out of date. Pay stubs also have valuable information for thieves. Shred old ones.

Junk mail

Annoying, unsolicited junk mail just keeps flowing into our mailboxes. Especially concerning are those “pre-approved” credit card and loan offers. They can have personal information in them that you must not simply throw away. Shred them. Even harmless seeming junk mail still has your name and address on it, sometimes in multiple places, and you should at least black out that information before discarding. Ideally, it should be shredded as well.

Vigilance is required whenever paper records are involved. Make it a habit to shred everything you shouldn’t keep. (And store safely what you do keep.)

If you have questions or concerns regarding what to shred, what to keep, or upcoming shredding opportunities, contact your Better Business Bureau at 800-856-2417, or visit their website at bbb.org.