Question for the audience

[laceblade]

Okay, so on the road to getting my life in order includes sorting out financial things. Today, I bought a book for $1 called Get a Financial Life by Beth Kobliner. It explains things so nicely! Things that I once had only a vague idea about are much more clear to me now.

The first thing I have to do is to get organized.

This book recommends keeping bank statements for three years, in case a person were to get audited (I might switch to receiving these via e-mail if possible, though; I'm all about not wasting paper).

It doesn't say anything, though, about how long to keep pay stubs. I'm sure it's okay to throw away my old pay stubs from ShopKo (I haven't worked there for nearly a year, and even then, I think I only worked a total of 5 days in 2007), but I really have no idea how long I should hold on to pay stubs from my current job. The only book advises only that I keep them, but surely not forever...?

Comments

[lavendersleeves.livejournal.com]

Conventional wisdom says, save all stubs/ important receipts, etc, for 7 years. However, the odds of *you* being audited are extremely low. To be audited, you generally have to make...well, money. And not the kind of money you get from working at Shopko. If you ran your own business or had a real career, it would be different.

[hfnuala.livejournal.com]

In the UK we get a 'P60' at the end of the year - which is a summary statement from your employer of all the money they've given you and what tax they've deducted. The rule of thumb I go by is once I've got the P60 I can throw away my pay slips. No idea if there's a similar set up in the US.

[messener.livejournal.com]

I agree with hfnuala. In the US the W-2 should cover you. And since I don't think you'll ever get audited for a year that hasn't ended yet, you shouldn't need to ever keep paystubs (I don't know if there's any real "rule" to go by for these).

My father (a CPA) always said that people are legally required to keep all tax documents for 7 years. So just hold onto your annual income tax returns, which should have copies of the W-2s and any other documents attached. If you file electronically be sure to print out and keep a hard copy.