Saturday, April 14, 2012

Opting Out of Credit Card and Insurance Offers

If you are not interested in credit card and insurance offers that clog up your mailbox, take the simple step to opt out by contacting the Consumer Credit Reporting Industry at www.optoutprescreen.com or (888)567-8688.

Paperwork- How Long Should You Keep It?

In most households, paper build-up is a major problem, mostly because we don't know how long we are supposed to keep things. Here is a guideline to help you in your decisions:

Credit card receipts and statements- 45 days

Paycheck stubs, retirement plan and savings statements, credit union or bank records, bills- 1 year

Tax records- 7 years

Statements showing IRA contributions and legal correspondence- Forever!

*Some documents that you would normally keep for no more than a year should be kept longer such as receipts that validate a warrantee or will be used for tax deductions, or bills that might provide evidence of an item's value if it's stolen or destroyed. If in doubt, keep it.