Can we talk about statements???

blondie42107 · April 2014

I'm reorganizing our filing system and just curious on MM's thoughts. All of our EOB for medical are available online and available for print up to 18 months. Should I print them out and save for a certain amount of time? I always compare and call our insurance or doctor's office is I have any questions/concerns. The only time I have really been serious about having my own paper copy is when I was pregnant. Both times I printed each EOB and kept a close eye on our copays and out of pocket max. Also most of our utility and monthly bills are all paperless statements. Should we print occasionally? Even all of our banking is paperless. I can access at anytime to print out our account statements.

What's important to keep and for how long?

brij2006 · April 2014

Usually the rule of thumb is to keep paperwork for 7 years, because that's how far back the IRS can go to audit.

Me personally, I only print off bank statements and CC statements so I have a record of each and every transaction made.

As far as the paperless documents, I just put the electronic copy in a folder in my e-mail. Then I can always go back and narrow it down by year if I ever get audited.

smerka · April 2014

Unless you are deducting medical expenses on your tax return, I can't see any reason to keep them.

Erikan73 · April 2014

I think it's more important to keep the bills you receive from the doctor's or some sort of record so you can easily find when you paid what bill. I've run into issues with doctor's offices double billing me and know what date I paid them & how (or what check number) helped me to dispute the bill and not double pay.

jtmh2012 · April 2014

I read online that you should keep medical documentation for as long as the issue is considered open. Unless you are using it as a deduction for your taxes.