What to Shred
With IDTheft on the rise one of the questions I’m asked the most is “What do I need to shred?” Everyone has a different level of comfort with what they shred versus recycles. This week I’ll share with you the list of items I recommend you shred. Before I give you the list let’s talk for a minute about shredding. When I say shred I mean send the paper though the shredder so it is chopped to smithereens, I DO NOT mean make a pile of papers to be shred later. As we all know later never comes! So this is something you need to do right there in the moment. Which means the shredder needs to be conveniently located and easy to plug in. It also means if your shredder uses liners you need to have those nearby as well. If you do not currently own a shredder may I suggest you purchase one this week? The relatively small investment of a shredder can save you countless thousands should your identity ever be taken.
That being said may I suggest you print and hang the list near the shredder for future reference, so here it is: What You Need to Shred ¤ Address labels from junk mail and magazines ¤ ATM receipts ¤ Bank statements ¤ Birth certificate copies ¤ Canceled and voided checks ¤ Credit and charge card bills, carbon copies, summaries and receipts ¤ Credit reports and histories ¤ Documents containing maiden name (used by credit card companies for security reasons) ¤ Documents containing names, addresses, phone numbers or e-mail addresses ¤ Documents containing passwords or PIN numbers ¤ Documents relating to investments ¤ Driver's licenses or items with a driver's license number ¤ Employee pay stubs ¤ Employment records ¤ Expired passports and visas ¤ Identification cards (college IDs, state IDs, employee ID badges, military IDs) ¤ Investment, stock and property transactions ¤ Items with a signature (leases, contracts, letters) ¤ Legal documents ¤ Luggage tags ¤ Medical and dental records ¤ Papers with a Social Security number ¤ Pre-approved credit card applications ¤ Receipts with checking account numbers ¤ Report cards ¤ Resumes or curriculum vitae ¤ Tax forms ¤ Transcripts ¤ Travel itineraries ¤ Used airline tickets ¤ Utility bills (telephone, gas, electric, water, cable TV, Internet) Note: To be clear, this list is meant to act as a guide, obviously only shred the paper when it is time. For example when I say tax papers I do not mean this year's I mean anything prior to seven years ago. So that's it for this week's challenge, until next Monday I hope you have a clutter-free week! Happy organizing, Jamie
Print the list here!
and see what shredder I use...
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