It's the time of the year again where I clean out my file folders and toss out documents that is not needed. Here is the guideline that I use. I clipped it from a news article years ago.

Tax documents
Tax returns, W-2 forms, receipts, and real estate closing statements should be kept for at least seven years. The IRS may audit you within three years if it suspects good-faith errors; six years if it believes you underreported your income by at least 25%; and unlimited time if you did not file a return or filed a fraudulent one.

Investment records
Keep it as long as you own the securities, plus another seven years. You'll need it to prove capital gains and losses.

Bank statements
Keep it only for one month. You need these long enough to check the accuracy of the transactions. Unless the the statement is your only record for a tax-related transaction, then keep them longer.

Retirement plan statements
For tax purposes, keep them for a year. For Roth IRA statements, keep it until you retire, to prove you already paid tax on your contributions

Credit card statements
Shred after you pay it and after checking for errors. Just like with the bank statements, unless it is your only record for a tax-related transaction, there's no need to keep them longer.

Paychecks
One year, until you receive your W-2 .