If you want to protect your identity from criminals, it’s important to safely dispose of bank statements. Thieves often go through trash to find the personal information they need to steal identities and money from victims.
But you can ensure that the sensitive data from your bank statements isn’t used against you by getting rid of them properly. Here are some tips to help you dispose of bank statements safely.
When Can You Get Rid of Bank Statements?
If you have a big stack of financial documents on your desk, you may be wondering how long you should keep bank statements before tossing them. Tax experts say you can throw away bank statements after a year, with one important exception.
Any bank statements involving tax deductions you’ve taken should be kept for at least three years. So if you have a statement that proves you made a tax-deductible charitable contribution to the Red Cross, don’t chuck it.
However, if your bank allows you to access your statements online, you may not need to keep paper copies on hand. Most banks will maintain digital records of your statements for three to five years in case you need them at tax time. But make sure you check with your bank to confirm their policy before you get rid of your paper copies.
What’s the Best Way to Safely Dispose of Bank Statements?
Now you know which bank statements you can toss. But how do you get rid of them without giving away sensitive financial data to criminals? The most common way to safely dispose of bank statements is to shred them by hand or in a shredder.
However, this method isn’t foolproof. If you shred your documents by hand, you may not break them up into small enough pieces. It can also take a long time to shred all your documents up one by one.
Automatic shredding machines can break down your financial documents faster. But criminals may still be able to put your bank statements back together, especially if you have a strip cut shredder.
Strip cut shredders only shred your banks statements in one direction, turning them into long strips. With enough effort, a criminal could piece these strips of paper back together. There are even software programs that can unshred documents, making it easier for identity thieves to steal your info.
Cross cut shredders that slice papers in multiple directions are more secure. But they usually cost more and take longer to process your documents, and they’re not 100% safe.
If you want total certainty that identity thieves can’t stitch your bank statements back together, you should try burning them.
Why Burning is The Best Way To Safely Dispose of Bank Statements
Burning your documents is the best way to get rid of them because it turns them to ash. This makes it impossible for scammers to reconstruct your bank statements and get their hands on your personal data.
Burning your bank statements is also cheaper than buying a shredder and replacing it whenever the motor burns out. All you need is a lighter or some matches, which are a lot more affordable than cross cut shredders.
Before you start burning your documents, make sure you familiarize yourself with fire safety rules. Always stay nearby the fire and keep an extinguisher on hand in case things get out of control. Only burn your documents on calm days—if it’s too windy, the flames could spread.
Make sure you keep flammable objects away from the fire so nothing ignites. It’s also a good idea to break up the ashes at the end to ensure there are no stray pieces of sensitive documents remaining that scammers could read.
Finally, if you like this idea, and want to do it safely, here is a great article on how to safely burn your bank docs.
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What’s your favorite way to get rid of your sensitive documents and protect yourself from identity theft? Let us know in the comments section below.
Vicky Monroe is a freelance personal finance and lifestyle writer. When she’s not busy writing about her favorite money saving hacks or tinkering with her budget spreadsheets, she likes to travel, garden, and cook healthy vegetarian meals.
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