You should hold onto marriage certificates, separation or divorce papers, birth certificates, current passports, medical records, insurance policies (for as long as they’re active), wills, Social Security cards, diplomas and transcripts, adoption and custody papers.
The same goes for your car title, registration and repair records, mortgage deeds, real estate bills of sale, receipts for home improvement projects, property appraisals and an itemized inventory of your household goods in case you ever need to settle an insurance claim.
For that reason, also keep receipts for large purchases like rugs, jewelry and artwork, as proof of their value.
Those items can all be kept indefinitely and in paper form, according to Janet Alvarez, executive editor of Wise Bread.
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