2-Minute Tip: Safely Disposing of Old Documents

Back in January, Tisha’s Two-Minute Tip explained the guidelines for record retention for your business – letting you know what you need to keep and what you can get rid of. (If you need a refresher course, watch the video below and download Tisha’s Record Retention Guidelines.) So now that you know what you can get rid of – what’s the best way to dispose of those hard copies filling up storage boxes?

These records should always be destroyed in a way that doesn’t allow identity thieves to gain access to your personal information. Tax time is the peak season for identity theft because so many people are disposing of old records and documents. They may be useless to you, but these documents are a treasure trove to identity thieves. So the best way to get rid of them is to shred them thoroughly and completely.

You could stand in front of your office shredder all day long, but there’s often a better way to go about it. Many banks and financial institutions will host free “Shred It” events this time of year. You can take your old records to these events and they will shred them onsite to make sure they’re disposed of correctly. Frost Bank is hosting two of these events in DFW this month:

If you’re not near either of these locations, talk to your bank to find out if they plan to host something similar in your area.