Introduction
A safe deposit box is nice and and you know your stuff is safe and but sometimes it’s not the best place for everything. Certain items are safe to put into a safe deposit box and but there are surprising things you might wish you didn’t keep locked up. From limited access to potential damage and some things are simply better off outside of a safe deposit box. The essay explores seven categories of items that are probably best kept elsewhere than in a safe deposit box.
What about Cash?
While a safe deposit box might look like the perfect solution to an individual who wants to keep cash and it still seems logical as it represents easy value and indeed can offer security. However and limited access comes at a price with safe deposit boxes. It can be a real headache when it comes to cash. Let me get into the reasons why it won’t be the perfect fit for a safe deposit box. Here’s what goes on
Accessibility Woes
Unlike a checking or savings account and a safe deposit box usually has very limited hours and is only accessible during bank hours. That can be a headache if one has to have cash in an emergency outside of the banking hours. Imagine needing cash for a car repair in the middle of the night or an unexpected medical expense. By the time the bank opens the window for business and one might miss the opportunity.
Lost Liquidity
Storing a lot of cash in a safe deposit box means it is not readily available for everyday transactions. You will miss out on the convenience of using a debit card or drawing money from an ATM for everyday purchases.
Alternative Options
Happily and there are still alternative ways to store cash that offer both security and accessibility. Look into high yield savings accounts or money market accounts. These accounts offer
FDIC Insurance
As long as your money is in an insured bank and up to a certain limit and your money is insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) if the bank fails.
Liquidity
You can gain quick access to your cash with online banking and debit cards and and ATMs.
Potential Returns
These accounts often pay out better interest rates than simply hiding money in a safe deposit box.
What Crucial Documents?
Important documents that you need at any given moment require accessibility above all things in the safe. Here’s why important documents that require immediate access shouldn’t be locked up in your safe deposit box
Time Sensitive Situations
Life will throw you a curveball. You may need your passport for that last minute business trip or have a medical emergency requiring presentation of your healthcare directive. In such time sensitive situations and the waiting for the bank to open to retrieve your documents from a safe deposit box may cause unnecessary delays and stress.
Importance of Immediate Access
Documents like passport and wills and living wills and health care directives and and even power of attorney documents are a must have in many legal and medical situations. Immediate access to these documents can be more helpful during emergencies or other critical life events.
Beyond The Case of Emergency
Important documents may be needed for other reasons not necessarily related to an emergency. You may need your birth certificate for a background check or your social security card for tax purposes. Having to visit the bank to retrieve them interrupts your workflow and adds an unnecessary step.
Finding the Right Balance
While safe deposit boxes offer peace of mind for irreplaceable valuables and important documents require a more accessible solution. Here are some alternative strategies
Home Fireproof Document Safe
Invest in a fireproof document safe for your home. This offers a good balance between security and accessibility. Keep copies of the most crucial documents readily available in this safe.
Digital Copies
In the digital age and consider creating a secure digital copy of your important documents. Scan them and store them in a password protected cloud storage service like Google Drive or Dropbox. Make sure to have strong passwords and enable two factor authentication for added security.
Trusted Contacts
Share with your closest friends or family and or even with your lawyers and the location of your paper safe and your digital copies. You will then be assured that somebody you really trust can access the documents on your behalf in case you need him to do so.
Irreplaceable Treasures Beyond the Vault of a Safety Deposit Box
While safety deposit boxes offer a secure and high security space for valuables and for irreplaceable items with deep sentimental value and the limitations of a safety deposit box can outweigh the security benefits. Here’s why your most treasured heirlooms and photos and or pieces of art may be better off in someone else’s care
The Hidden Threat of Damage
Safety deposit boxes may protect against theft and but they cannot protect against environmental factors. Fluctuations in humidity and temperature can be highly damaging to delicate items. Valuables such as old family textiles and family photos and or even paintings can all be ruined by improper storage.
Memories Meant to be Shared
The very thing that makes a sentimental item special is that it shares memories of our past. Stashing a family heirloom away in a safety deposit box means that the item is rarely seen or appreciated. These treasures should see the light of day and should be admired.
Climate Controlled Solutions
For items of irreplaceable sentimental value and look outside of the humble safety deposit box. Consider a climate controlled storage unit. These units employ systems that keep temperatures and humidity consistent and thereby reducing the risk of damage. Many facilities also feature added security systems and such as alarms and video surveillance.
Finding the Right Balance
While the ultimate security of a safety deposit box might seem tantalizing and consider these alternative approaches for protecting your irreplaceable treasures
Restoration and Conservation By the Pros
For really precious or delicate items and seek the counsel of professional conservators. They can appraise your item and suggest proper storage and display methods. This will not only extend the lifespan of your heirlooms for many years to come but will ensure that your family’s treasures are preserved for generations.
Digital Preservation
You may wish to have high resolution scans or photographs made of your treasured items. Store these digital copies in an online and secure cloud storage system. This way you’ll have a permanent copy even if the physical item is broken or lost.
Sharing Your Story
Much of what makes many of these sentimental items so valuable is the history and stories behind them. Record the history and meaning of your treasured items. Jot down family stories. Record oral histories from generations past and create a digital archive to keep alive the legacy of these cherished possessions.
What are those perishable treasures ?
Safe deposit boxes are great for keeping things safe. But for things with a built in expiration date and the nice and safe confines of a safety deposit box can very quickly become a time bomb. Here’s why keeping perishable things in a safety deposit box is setting up a recipe for disaster
The Inevitable March of Time
Perishable things and by definition have a finite lifespan. This includes organic stuff like important documents printed on ordinary paper and some fabrics and or even some photographic prints. Over time and the controlled environment of a safety deposit box and while secure and can hasten deterioration due to things such as
Humidity Fluctuations
Even minor fluctuations in humidity can make paper dry and crumble or photos crack together.
Lack of Light Control
Darkness can be helpful to some things but to others like some dyes used in photographs continual darkness can cause them to fade.
The Risk of Unforeseen Delays
Only by withdrawing items from a safety deposit box do you have to go to the bank during its operating hours. For example and a time sensitive document like a passport renewal application gets stuck in the box due to some unforeseen circumstances and you may miss important deadlines.
Alternative Storage Solutions
For perishable items the key is to forego extreme security for proper storage conditions. Here are better options
Archival Quality Storage
For important documents and consider archival quality storage solutions. These involve using acid free folders and boxes specifically designed to prevent paper degradation. Climate controlled storage facilities might also be appropriate depending on the specific needs of the documents.
Professional Archiving Services
For things of truly exceptional or irreplaceable value and consult professional archivists. They can evaluate the state of the documents and recommend proper storage techniques and even offer digitization services so that you have a more permanent and accessible record.
Digital Copies
In this digital era and digitizing the most important documents becomes more practical keep digital copies in a secure cloud storage or in a cloud storage service with strong passwords and two factor authentication.
House Key in safe deposit box?
If you have a spare house key and it doesn’t make too much sense to hide it in a safe deposit box. It only defeats the whole purpose. Here’s why a safe deposit box might not be the best hiding place for your spare key
Defeats the Purpose
The whole purpose behind a spare house key is to have a backup key to get into your house in case you are locked out. If you stow your spare key in a safe deposit box and you will be stranded outside with no way to get to it and defeating the whole purpose.
Time Sensitive Situations
Getting locked out can be frustrating and especially when the weather is bad or when it’s late at night. The added time waiting until a bank opens and you can access your spare key from a safe deposit box only adds further to the hassle and inconvenience.
Better Alternative Places to Hide
Trusted Neighbor
Hide a spare key with a trusted neighbor you know you can rely on in an emergency. Ensure they know when and how to use the key.
Magnetic Lockbox
Mount a magnetic lockbox outside your home somewhere less apparent. Choose a combination you’ll remember easily and share it only with trusted individuals who need the key.
Key Safe with Combination Lock
Install a key safe with a combination lock near your front door. This allows for easy access to the spare key without sacrificing any security.
Important Considerations
Security
Regardless of where you choose to hide your spare key and security should be of utmost priority. Don’t place the spare key in an overt location. Do not bury it in the garden under a doormat or in an obvious place under a loose floorboard.
Extra Keys
Make a couple extra keys. Keep one handy and lend another to a trusted friend or relative living in the immediate vicinity.
Alert Your Family
All family members living in your house should know where the backup key is kept and how to get it in an emergency.
Everyday Important Documents?
Safe deposit boxes serve a very good purpose to keep irreplaceable valuables safe however and for everyday important documents and accessibility trumps ultimate security. A safe deposit box might seem like a good idea and but the inconvenience of retrieval can outdo the benefit. Why keeping everyday important documents readily available is important
Frequent Need
Important documents such as birth certificates and social security cards and insurance policies and or even tax returns are frequently needed throughout the year. This could be for things like applying for a loan and enrolling a child in school and or filing your taxes. The idea that a trip to the bank to retrieve these documents from a safe deposit box is going to disrupt your workflow and add unnecessary steps.
Time Sensitive Situations
Sometimes a person needs immediate access to certain documents. Think about the time when you need your passport for an unscheduled job interview or your proof of insurance for a sudden medical emergency. The delay you have to wait for the bank to open to access your safe deposit box can cause substantial inconvenience and stress.
Solutions in a Digital Age
In this digital age and fortunately there are secure and and of course and easily accessible alternatives to keeping everyday important documents.
Digital Copies
Take the time to scan your documents and save them in a password protected cloud storage like Google Drive or Dropbox. Make sure to create strong passwords and enable two factor authentication for added security. This will allow you to access copies of your documents from any device with an internet connection.
Secure Document Management Apps
There are many secure document management apps that allow you to upload and organize and access documents electronically. Most of these apps offer additional features including document encryption and password protection.
Finding the Right Balance
A safe deposit box will surely alleviate your fears of losing all those tangible goods and keeping you peaceful and but everyday documents require a more accessible solution. Two step approach
Fireproof Document Safe at Home
When you’re storing the physical copies of your most important documents and a fireproof document safe at your home gives you a good balance in security and accessibility
Digital Copies
Make sure to create secure digital copies of all of your documents and save them into a well known cloud storage solution. That is your readymade backup in the event of an emergency or the loss of physical copies.
Conclusion
Safe deposit boxes offer a sense of security and but they’re not a one size fits all solution. Valuable but irreplaceable legal documents or irreplaceable jewelry are properly served by a safe deposit box. But most things of value have better places to keep them aside from a safe deposit box.
This essay thus explored seven categories of things you’d regret keeping in a safe deposit box. From restrictions on liquid access for cash to the potential damage from environmental factors for sentimental items and careful consideration is due for what belongs in the vault and what thrives on accessibility.
The takeaway? The balance between security and accessibility is key. For everyday documents and home copies kept in a secure place or digitized backups provide convenience. For irreplaceable treasures and climate controlled storage is probably a better option than the potentially damaging environment of a safe deposit box.
At the end of the day the best storage solution depends upon the item. By understanding the limitations of safe deposit boxes and exploring alternative options and you can ensure your valuables are not only secure but also readily accessible when you need them. Remember that a safe deposit box is the haven for the truly irreplaceable while other things may be better protected and utilized through more accessible and appropriate storage solutions.