Shredding important documents is a crucial element of keeping sensitive information confidential. Specifically, it can help you proceed with important matters with less worry, as you can feel confident that prying eyes cannot access any sensitive information. Still, an imperative aspect of this process includes knowing exactly which kinds of documents need to be shredded and which ones you should keep. With so many types of sensitive records, it can be tricky to determine which falls into each category.
If you are in the process of selecting which documents to shred, our document and paper shredding team can help you make those decisions.
What Documents Should You Not Shred?
Before getting into what kinds of documents you should shred, you should know that there are certain documents that you should never shred. Knowing what kinds of documents to include in this category can help you save time and headaches down the line. Documents that you should not shred include:
- Birth certificates
- Wills
- Trusts
- Original copies of Social Security Cards
- Military Records
- Citizenship documents
- Adoption papers
- Custody decrees
Most of these original documents are considered difficult or impossible to replace. Consequently, you might have a very hard time should you accidentally dispose of them. It is best practice to keep documents like these in a safe and hidden place.
If you are in doubt, you can always bring something to a professional shredding center to have an expert determine whether you can shred it. They should be able to offer you the advice you need to prevent mistakes from occurring.
How Do You Know Which Documents Need to Be Shredded?
It is not necessarily intuitive to know exactly which documents you need to shred and which ones you should preserve. In fact, even amongst the documents that need to be shredded, there are different tiers in terms of how long one should wait to shred them. In general, you can separate these documents into the following categories:
- Short-term documents
- Situation-specific documents
- Indespensible documents
Short-term and situation-specific documents should be disposed of within a reasonable time frame, while indispensable documents should never be shredded. Your shredding specialist should be able to identify which documents fall under which category.
A professional shredder will know exactly which documents need to go and which ones should stay. This can save you hours of sifting through paperwork that you might not have the expertise to organize into meaningful categories. This advice, consequently, can help train you to identify such documents yourself.
Documents You Should Shred
Many different types of documents need to be shredded to preserve the sensitive information they contain. Commonly shredded document types include:
- Bank statements
- Audits
- Financial statements
- Health insurance forms
- Legal documents
- Medical records
- Tax records
- Photographs
Many more types of documents can be considered for disposal and shredding. Discussing with your shredding professional whether you can shred the particular set of documents you have in mind can help you determine how to handle other similar documents in the future.
Organize Your Documents, Organize Your Life
Careless organizations combined with large shredding projects have the potential to be devastating. Accordingly, meticulously managing the documents you keep and dispose of is an important step to having a well-balanced and organized life.
Keeping track of your documents and creating a system to organize them into shred and no-shred categories helps you avoid careless mistakes that cost you a lot of time and money. Shredding certain documents can be absolutely disastrous, as some are very difficult to replace or are necessary for completing tasks or verifying information.
On the other hand, keeping every single file and document that you receive is somewhat unrealistic. It would result in rapidly accumulating paperwork and, subsequently, confusion and clutter in both your personal and professional lives.
Your Best Resource for Shredding Important Documents
Secure Shred Compnay is one of your best resources for on-site documents and data destruction. If you have private information that you would like to be rid of, contact us today to discuss your options for this process.
