Discuss saudade's answer to: How long do i need to keep house tax receipts?

There are some things that should be kept 7 years, such as bad debt or securities that became worthless.  And some things like fraudulent returns may require keeping records for your lifetime.  The cost of real estate, or the cost basis of a security, needs to be kept until 3 years after the return where you sell the asset for a capital gain or loss, which could be almost 5 years from the sale.