Do you keep paper bank statements?

sebtomato

Millyonare said:

Download PDFs for everything. Save them to a 1TB USB stick or SSD hard drive, such as SanDisk Ultra. If no PDF available, take a screenshot, with a visible time and date, and save that. A USB stick is so small, the size of a thumb, it can be stored virtually anywhere, with a password, making them much more secure than the cloud.

Really not a good idea to store important document on an external drive or USB stick. They get corrupted, they stop working.

I use cloud backup and I am pretty confident my files will be recovered in any scenario (computer issue, ransomware, file, flood, theft etc.). My files are encrypted at source too (using my own password) so the cloud company cannot read the files. Also, all versions of the files are saved, so even ransomware wouldn't matter.

Millyonare

sebtomato said:

Millyonare said:

Download PDFs for everything. Save them to a 1TB USB stick or SSD hard drive, such as SanDisk Ultra. If no PDF available, take a screenshot, with a visible time and date, and save that. A USB stick is so small, the size of a thumb, it can be stored virtually anywhere, with a password, making them much more secure than the cloud.

Really not a good idea to store important document on an external drive or USB stick. They get corrupted, they stop working.

I use cloud backup and I am pretty confident my files will be recovered in any scenario (computer issue, ransomware, file, flood, theft etc.). My files are encrypted at source too (using my own password) so the cloud company cannot read the files. Also, all versions of the files are saved, so even ransomware wouldn't matter.

Corrupted USB sticks or hard drives can easily be recovered, with software like Disk Drill. If worried about backups, then just buy a second or third USB stick for ~£5 and copy everything to them once a day or week (takes seconds). Store in a waterproof box with desiccant inside a fireproof wall-safe, for extra security, if desired.

If the cloud is hacked, one's documents go with it. The huge Capital One / Amazon hack was back in the news just a few weeks ago. A tiny USB stick, well placed, is unlikely to ever be found by a burglar.

The cloud is achingly trendy right now. But it's not infallible.

Eco_Miser

I have paper statements back to 1970, but I don't receive paper statements any more. Should probably get rid of the paper ones (except that statement number one).

If you think that your bank will always provide you with a new pdf for old statements, remember that if you close or transfer your account, you will lose access to that, possibly in seconds.

Brie

not all computers allow you to open PDFs or store them so paper is the only option for some.  also I don't know how long files will be accessible online.  I haven't checked with my bank accounts but my credit cards only normally go back 12 months.

but this is unlikely to be a fire hazard as tightly packed paper doesn't burn easily.  

refluxer

Brie said:
not all computers allow you to open PDFs or store them so paper is the only option for some.

What computers are you thinking of ? Any PC, laptop, phone or tablet should be capable of opening and displaying a PDF file with readily-available, free PDF software/apps so that shouldn't be an issue.

Brie said:

also I don't know how long files will be accessible online.  I haven't checked with my bank accounts but my credit cards only normally go back 12 months.

This seems to differ from bank to bank. Some only make them available for 12 months, whereas others will for a lot longer in my experience. I make a point of downloading them regardless though, so I always have a copy on my PC (old-school !) which I back up to external storage every now and again.

Freecall

refluxer said:

What computers are you thinking of ? 

Lots of computers struggle with PDF's....

sebtomato

Millyonare said:

sebtomato said:

Millyonare said:

Download PDFs for everything. Save them to a 1TB USB stick or SSD hard drive, such as SanDisk Ultra. If no PDF available, take a screenshot, with a visible time and date, and save that. A USB stick is so small, the size of a thumb, it can be stored virtually anywhere, with a password, making them much more secure than the cloud.

Really not a good idea to store important document on an external drive or USB stick. They get corrupted, they stop working.

I use cloud backup and I am pretty confident my files will be recovered in any scenario (computer issue, ransomware, file, flood, theft etc.). My files are encrypted at source too (using my own password) so the cloud company cannot read the files. Also, all versions of the files are saved, so even ransomware wouldn't matter.

Corrupted USB sticks or hard drives can easily be recovered, with software like Disk Drill. If worried about backups, then just buy a second or third USB stick for ~£5 and copy everything to them once a day or week (takes seconds). Store in a waterproof box with desiccant inside a fireproof wall-safe, for extra security, if desired.

If the cloud is hacked, one's documents go with it. The huge Capital One / Amazon hack was back in the news just a few weeks ago. A tiny USB stick, well placed, is unlikely to ever be found by a burglar.

The cloud is achingly trendy right now. But it's not infallible.

I have had many corrupted USB and hard drives that couldn't recovered. You clearly don't know much about IT.

If my cloud backup provider was hacked, then all the hackers would get is encrypted data. My cloud provider doesn't know the decryption key, so that can't be stolen.

Yes, you can always have physical backups in multiple places, but how often are you going to remember to make copies? My files are backed up four times a day automatically, and also multiple versions are kept.

sebtomato

Brie said:

not all computers allow you to open PDFs or store them so paper is the only option for some.  also I don't know how long files will be accessible online.  I haven't checked with my bank accounts but my credit cards only normally go back 12 months.

but this is unlikely to be a fire hazard as tightly packed paper doesn't burn easily.  

PDF is for sure the best long term format to store documents. I wouldn't use any other format. 

kaMelo

sebtomato said:

Brie said:

not all computers allow you to open PDFs or store them so paper is the only option for some.  also I don't know how long files will be accessible online.  I haven't checked with my bank accounts but my credit cards only normally go back 12 months.

but this is unlikely to be a fire hazard as tightly packed paper doesn't burn easily.  

PDF is for sure the best long term format to store documents. I wouldn't use any other format. 

I would have agreed with you,  for simplicity, portability and future proofing I don't see any other alternative.
I have managed to beg an old copy of Acrobat Pro from someone who now subscribes to Adobe's online offerings. It's not the most up to date version but using it allowed me to scan all my old paper statements going back decades to PDF with OCR which makes them searchable too. Took ages but it allowed me to clear a few reams of paper.

I also think it's important never to rely on any company to keep statements available for ever, always download them and keep your own copy. As for backup use the 321 method.  Keep three versions of a file on two different types of media with one (at least) off site.

GTR_King

I am still happy to revive paper statements, 

What if my laptop broke internet banking went down Hard drive broke no internet, that would be no good.

that’s why I always keep one months worth of statements for all my accounts together then after that month I file them all away with the rest of my statements for each account works for me