Updated November 2026 · Southern New Hampshire
What documents to shred first: a priority list ranked by risk
When you know what documents to shred first, a closet full of paper turns into one afternoon of work. This post ranks household paper from the most dangerous to the least, explains what a thief could do with each kind, and tells you what to keep.
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Quick answer
Shred in this order: anything with your full Social Security number (old tax returns, W-2s, loan applications), then paper with full bank or card account numbers, then medical and insurance paper, then credit offers and convenience checks, then anything with your birth date or signature, and last, paper with only your name and address. Keep anything still inside its retention period, such as tax records for at least 3 years under IRS guidance. New Hampshire Document Shredding shreds the box at its Tewksbury, MA counter for 99 cents a pound plus $34.90 per job, part of our residential shredding service.
Why rank what you shred at all
Most people put off shredding because the job looks endless. Three filing drawers, a closet shelf of shoeboxes, the folder from a parent’s house. Faced with all of it, they do none of it, and the most dangerous paper sits in the same pile as twenty years of grocery receipts.
Ranking fixes that. Not every sheet of paper carries the same risk. A Social Security number lets someone pose as you to a lender or the IRS. A grocery receipt lets them know you bought apples. If you only have one hour this weekend, spend it on the first kind.
The FTC’s identity theft advice is simple: keep documents with personal or financial information in a safe place, and shred them before you throw them away. The priority list below is how to apply that rule when there is too much paper to handle at once. Start at the top, stop when you run out of time, and pick up where you left off.
It also saves money. You pay by the pound to shred, so pulling the dangerous paper out first, and recycling the harmless paper, keeps the bill small. Our post on identity theft from trash shows what thieves look for when they go through a bin, and it lines up closely with the top of this list.
The risk ladder: six levels, top to bottom
We sort household paper into six levels by one question: what could a stranger do with this sheet? The higher the level, the more damage and the harder it is to undo. The diagram puts them in order.
Two things move a sheet up the ladder. The first is a number that can be used on its own, like a Social Security number or a full account number. The second is a combination: name plus birth date plus address is close to what a lender asks for to verify identity. A sheet with all three belongs higher than its type suggests.
What documents to shred, ranked by risk
Here is the full list, level by level, with what a thief could try and when the paper is safe to shred. Use the last column with care. Paper that is still inside a retention period stays locked up until its date passes.
| Level | Documents | What a thief could try | When to shred |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1. Full SSN | Old tax returns and worksheets, W-2s, 1099s, loan and mortgage applications, old credit reports, benefits statements, HR and hiring forms | File a tax return in your name, open new credit, pose as you to an employer | After the IRS period for that tax year has passed |
| 2. Account numbers | Bank and card statements, cancelled checks, deposit slips, brokerage and retirement statements, closed loan papers | Take over an existing account, write checks, run up charges | Once reconciled, unless it supports a tax return still in its period |
| 3. Medical | Explanation of Benefits statements, medical bills, old insurance cards, prescription paperwork, lab and visit summaries | Get medical care or file insurance claims in your name | Once the claim is settled and nothing is disputed |
| 4. Credit invitations | Prescreened credit and insurance offers, convenience checks, balance transfer offers, pre-filled applications | Reply to an offer as you, or cash a check tied to your account | The day it arrives |
| 5. Verifiers | Pay stubs, anything with your birth date, signed forms, old ID copies, school and enrollment forms | Answer security questions, back up a fake application, forge a signature | When the year-end statement matches or the form is superseded |
| 6. Name and address | Catalog labels, utility and phone bills with no full account number, receipts, shipping labels | Confirm where you live, add detail to a larger profile | Shred the label, recycle the rest |
Level 1 is where tax-related identity theft starts. The IRS describes its Identity Protection PIN as a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a tax return using your Social Security number. Anyone with a Social Security number or ITIN who can verify their identity can get one. If an old return ever went missing, it is worth setting up.
Medical paper, level 3, is the one people skip. The FTC lists getting a bill or an Explanation of Benefits statement for services you did not receive as a warning sign of medical identity theft, and it tells you to shred medical papers before you throw them away. Film x-rays are a different material, and our post on whether to shred medical x-rays explains how they are handled.
For level 2, our post on when to shred old bank statements covers how long to keep them. For level 4, our guide to what junk mail to shred shows you how to sort the mailbox and opt out at the source.
Rank by risk, shred by date
The ladder tells you what is dangerous. It does not tell you when you are allowed to let it go. For tax paper, that answer comes from the IRS, and it is the reason level 1 documents so often sit in boxes for years.
Property records follow a different clock. The IRS says to keep them until the period of limitations expires for the year you dispose of the property, because you need them to work out depreciation and the gain or loss on a sale. For a house you have owned for decades, that means the closing papers and improvement receipts stay until well after you sell.
Write the shred-after year on the outside of each folder as you file it. Next year’s purge then takes minutes. Our document retention guide covers household and business records beyond tax, and our post on how long to keep tax records goes deeper on returns.
What documents to shred later, or never
A priority list is also a keep list. Once a box goes through the shredder, nothing in it can be pulled back out, so set these aside before you pack anything.
Original identity papers
Your Social Security card, birth certificates, passports, marriage and divorce papers, naturalization documents and military discharge papers. Keep them locked and in one place.
Property and estate
Deeds, titles, wills, trusts, powers of attorney and the records you need to figure the gain or loss when you sell a property. These outlast every other folder in the house.
Anything still in its period
Tax records inside their IRS period, statements that support a return still open, active insurance policies, warranties for things you still own and records of an open dispute.
If a copy of a level 1 document is outdated but the original is not, shred the copy and keep the original. A photocopy of a Social Security card is more dangerous than the card in a locked drawer, because nobody notices when a copy goes missing.
A one-afternoon priority purge
Most households can clear their level 1 and level 2 paper in a single afternoon if they work in order. You need a table, three boxes and a marker. Label the boxes shred, keep and recycle.
Work one drawer or one box at a time. Do not try to read everything. Scan each sheet for a Social Security number, an account number, a birth date or health details. Those four things decide the pile in a few seconds.
When the shred box is full, close it. A full banker’s box holds about 30 pounds of paper, which costs about $64.60 at our counter with the per-job fees.
- Pull the keepers first. Originals, deeds, wills and anything still in its retention period come out before anything else and go in a locked spot.
- Sweep for level 1. Go through every box and drawer for paper with a full Social Security number that has passed its date. Into the shred box it goes.
- Then levels 2 and 3. Statements, cancelled checks, Explanation of Benefits forms and medical bills that are settled and reconciled.
- Clear levels 4 and 5 as you go. Offers, convenience checks, old pay stubs and signed forms join the shred box as you find them.
- Recycle level 6. Tear off address labels for the shred box. Everything else goes in your town’s paper recycling under its rules.
- Make one trip. The $34.90 per-job fee is the same for one box or five, so bring everything at once.
Our counter is at 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, on Route 38 near I-495, about 15 minutes south of the New Hampshire line. Walk in Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m., no appointment, and the paper is shredded the same business day. Leave staples, paper clips and folders in. Our drop-off shredding page has the details, and our shredding rates list every price, including pickups by zone if you cannot make the drive.
Frequently asked questions
What documents should I shred first?
Start with anything carrying your full Social Security number that has passed its retention date, such as old tax returns, W-2s and loan applications. Then shred statements with full account numbers, then medical and insurance paper, then credit offers and convenience checks, then pay stubs and anything with your birth date or signature.
How long should I keep tax records before shredding them?
The IRS says most income tax records can go after 3 years. Keep employment tax records at least 4 years, records for unreported income over 25 percent of gross income 6 years, and records for a worthless securities or bad debt deduction 7 years. Keep them indefinitely if you did not file a return.
Should I shred medical bills and EOBs?
Yes, once the claim is settled and nothing is disputed. The FTC tells you to shred medical papers before throwing them away and lists an Explanation of Benefits for care you never got as a warning sign of medical identity theft. Read each EOB when it arrives, then shred it when you no longer need it.
What should I never shred?
Original identity papers such as your Social Security card, birth certificates and passports, plus deeds, titles, wills, trusts and powers of attorney. Also keep anything still inside its retention period, active insurance policies and property records you need to figure the gain or loss when you sell. Pull these out before you pack a box.
Is it safe to recycle paper with only my name and address?
Usually, yes. A catalog or flyer with your name and address tells a stranger little they could not find elsewhere. Tear off the label and shred it if you like, then recycle the rest under your town’s rules. Shred anything that also shows a birth date, an account number or a signature.
What is an IRS Identity Protection PIN?
The IRS describes it as a six-digit number that prevents someone else from filing a tax return using your Social Security number. Anyone with a Social Security number or ITIN who can verify their identity can get one, and parents can request one for dependents. It is a good step if old returns ever went missing.
How much does it cost to shred a priority box?
At our Tewksbury counter you pay 99 cents a pound under 10 boxes, plus $34.90 per job. A banker’s box holds about 30 pounds, so one box costs about $64.60, two about $94.30 and five about $183.40. At 10 or more boxes you pay $20 per large box instead.
What about old phones and computers with scanned documents?
Treat them like level 1 paper if they ever held tax returns or statements. A home shredder will not destroy them. Bag them separately and bring them with your paper. We physically destroy drives, phones, USB sticks and other media at our Tewksbury office and quote them per item.
Sources
- Federal Trade Commission, What To Know About Identity Theft (checked November 2026)
- Federal Trade Commission, What To Know About Medical Identity Theft (checked November 2026)
- Internal Revenue Service, How long should I keep records? (checked November 2026)
- Internal Revenue Service, Get an Identity Protection PIN (checked November 2026)
- U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Mail Theft (checked November 2026)
Start at the top of the list
Pull your level 1 and level 2 paper this weekend, box it, and bring it down any weekday between 10 and 5. You pay 99 cents a pound, the paper is shredded the same business day, and you leave with a Certificate of Destruction.
Where we shred
1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876. Route 38, near I-495. Free parking out front, and staff help you unload.
Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m. Witnessed sessions and pickups outside these hours by appointment.
- Drop-off: walk in, 99¢ per pound
- Pickup: from $129.95 by zone
- Witnessed: $1.99 per pound, $100 minimum
New Hampshire Document Shredding · 1215 Main Street, Unit 115, Tewksbury, MA 01876 · (978) 636-0301 · Monday to Friday, 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.