Important documents that pertain to things such as income tax should be kept for up to 7 years before you can get rid of them.
However some important documents like Titles, Deeds etc should be kept forever or until you sell the item or house, property etc.
I always keep tax records and other important documents like that for 7 years minimum even though sometimes I only need to keep those documents for 2 to 3 years I keep them longer just to be safe.
Bank Records and Bank Statements should be kept for 6 years before disposing of them.
Some other important documents that you should always keep are.
- Annual tax returns.
- Deeds, mortgages and bills of sale.
- Year-end statements for investments.
- Legal documents (birth certificates, marriage license, divorce papers, passports)
- Home improvement documentation and receipts.
- Receipts for major purchases—for warranty and insurance purposes.
- Wills.
- Living wills.