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People are well-aware that they're supposed to shred old documents, but more often than not, they'll simply be laying in giant stacks in the storage area for years. You should know that identity theft affects 11 people every year, costing $54 billion in damage. If you don't want to be a statistic, then hiring a Los Angeles shredding service is in order. Here are examples of documents that you need to shred immediately: Bank statements Any document with bank account details on it should be shredded. There was a time when old brokerage and bank statements contained Social Security numbers; these types of documents are a veritable gold mine for those who perpetrate identity theft. That means the older your bank statements are, the sooner you have to have them shredded. Ideally, you should hold on to bank statements for as long as you need them, and then shred them the instant the cease to be useful. Pay stubs Pay stubs are rife with personal information that could ruin a person's entire financial life if it were to fall in the wrong hands. Phil Blank, managing director for consulting firm Javelin Industries and Research, advises: "Absolutely shred your pay stubs, because some institutions will ask you as validation the amount of your last deposit; if (fraudsters) have that pay stub, they can give the bank that information." Keep pay stubs for one year max, then shred. Canceled checks A canceled check can be a ticking time bomb; just because it has “void” written on it doesn't mean it ceases to be dangerous. Remember, bank account details are listed on the bottom of each check. There's no time frame or reason for you to hold on to canceled checks—shred them immediately. Old tax returns The biggest concern with old tax returns is Social Security numbers because not only the owner's numbers are in there, but the dependent's as well. As a general rule, tax returns need to be kept safe on the chance that you get audited. The National Endowment for Financial Education recommends that tax returns should be kept three to four years. Using document shredding services Companies often have documents too much for the lowly office shredder to handle. When that happens, it's better to let reliable Los Angeles shredding services handle the job. Learn how safe shredded documents are from livescience.com/33665-shredded-document-secure-safety.html.
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