Q We were told by our tax accountant to keep seven years of records in case we are audited. We had started an IRA back in the 1980s. My wife had a 401(k) at one of her employers. I currently have a 401(k) with my employer. Over the years we have rolled over money from one fund to another. I have the paperwork from each fund from the time it was created. Is there a need to keep all those statements or can one just keep the past seven years as you do with other papers?

HARLAN, OSSEO

A No, I would keep the paperwork on your retirement plans. Put the information into your permanent file. Now, when you get your annual summary on the accounts at the end of the year you can shred the quarterly statements. But those retirement plan and investment records are invaluable, especially if there is a dispute.

For instance, when my 83-year-old dad died he had several retirement plans with different investment companies, including a small portfolio that was quite old. He hadn't added to it for a long time. But the money was there in case my parents needed it. When the major mutual fund company was contacted about the account after he died, an employee said it didn't exist. Well, my mom had all the paperwork to prove ownership of the retirement account. The company admitted that they hadn't bothered to check their records at an off-site storage facility.

Fact is, the retirement plan paperwork doesn't take up that much room and it's an invaluable part of your retirement security.

Speaking of records, your accountant recommends that you keep your returns for at least seven years. That's good advice. But I would add: Keep the actual tax return permanently. I learned this from a conversation with Ed Slott, the irrepressible accountant and IRA-expert based in Long Island. I was interviewing him several years ago for an episode of the public television show, "Right on the Money." Slott told me that he keeps the actual returns forever.

"You can keep 50 years of tax returns and it wouldn't take up that much space," he said. "You could recreate your whole life from just the actual return."

Ed Slott's father found that his saved tax returns were useful. When he turned 65 in 1990 he applied for Social Security. He had worked his whole life. But Social Security said he didn't work in 1977. He didn't get a credit for earning an income that year. So, Ed's father brought his 1977 tax return to the nearby Social Security office and he was credited with the year.

"You never know when you are going to need something like that," said Slott. "So I'd save the actual return forever."

Chris Farrell is economics editor for American Public Media's "Marketplace Money." Send questions to cfarrell@mpr.org.