Poll: Do you have a Bank Safety Deposit Box?

[audreyh1]

We don't have one, but we should. Primary concern is digital assets that aren't backed up off-site.

Which is why we have one (well, two). Off-site backups. DH has thousands and thousands of large digital image files.

 

[Dash man]

This is what's making me nervous. Are there other venues or types of businesses that rent that kind of secure space?

Our attorney has put our will, trust, POAs into a secure cloud location. They also have originals of each document. I’m uploading copies of original birth, wedding and death certificates to the site along with my own digital copies on my computer and Carbonite backup. Deeds and DD214 also. If a fire destroys our safe I think the documents can be found. It doesn’t seem a safe or safety deposit box alone is a good option by itself.

 

[rk911]

This is what's making me nervous. Are there other venues or types of businesses that rent that kind of secure space?

the branch where we had been banking and had our box since 1988 recently closed. we were offered a box at the next closest branch but it was a lobby box...not a box in a secure vault. lobby boxes are single keyed boxes. lots of banks in our area but not so many with traditional vault boxes and those that did has no empties. so we transfered to the next closest branch and a lobby box. no charge for the first year and then the rent reverts to what we were paying for the vault box...$30 p/y.

 

[Sunset]

We store jewelry, important documents, and encrypted USB drive with instructions to decrypt the content in the safety deposit box. Not sure why bother to encrypt the content at all.

Best to have it encrypted.
I know of a bank that was broken into over a weekend, and all the safety deposit boxes were pried open.
While the thieves were interested in cash, gold, and jewels, you never know if they would just take everything and sort it out later.

Unlike an account at a bank, safe deposit boxes are not federally insured.

 

[mystang52]

I have both a bank safe deposit box and a fire safe at home. All critical papers are at the Bank box. Many years ago I sold my car, could not find the title. After the hassle of getting a replacement title, then and there I saw the value of a Safe deposit box. Now we know where any important papers are. For a whopping $50 a year or so, well worth it to me.

 

[Carol1862]

I have a significant amount of valuable handed down jewelry going back a couple of generations. It’s not the kind of stuff I’d wear everyday, but I do wear a piece or two when I go to a wedding. (which before Covid was about 3 times a year).

My grandmother was given coins when she babysat around 100 years ago and I’ve been told they’re very valuable.

My great grandfather (mid-late 1800’s) brought with him from Europe when he immigrated binoculars which also has deep sentimental value to our family.

I keep the deed to our home and bonds in there too.

Bank is local. Even during Covid all you have to do is call and they let you in by appointment. They were never closed.

I wouldn’t risk these items being stolen.

 

[CRLLS]

Thanks for all the interesting responses so far. The banks being closed during Covid and not being able to access the Safe Deposit Box is rather unfortunate. I don't think anyone could have foreseen that happening a year or more ago. Perhaps that is a good note to self about the future. I do have concerns about being able to access a Bank Safety Deposit Box upon the death of the owner. Even with a co-signer on file, I believe that the only document or item that can be actually retrieved from the box is the Will and then, only to be presented to the courts. That regulation may vary by state. That alone has driven our decision to having a home safe.

As more and more B&M banks are eliminating the SDB's I wonder how much longer they will not be available at all.

 

[Sunset]

Thanks for all the interesting responses so far. The banks being closed during Covid and not being able to access the Safe Deposit Box is rather unfortunate. I don't think anyone could have foreseen that happening a year or more ago. Perhaps that is a good note to self about the future. I do have concerns about being able to access a Bank Safety Deposit Box upon the death of the owner. Even with a co-signer on file, I believe that the only document or item that can be actually retrieved from the box is the Will and then, only to be presented to the courts. That regulation may vary by state. That alone has driven our decision to having a home safe.

As more and more B&M banks are eliminating the SDB's I wonder how much longer they will not be available at all.

I was co-signer on the box (or POA), either way I was able to access the box before her death.
When my Mother died, I went to the bank, opened the box, emptied it, and put it back.
Next week I notified them she died.
No way I was going to be locked out of the box, which contained her Will , etc.

 

[GreenER]

I have a significant amount of valuable handed down jewelry going back a couple of generations. It’s not the kind of stuff I’d wear everyday, but I do wear a piece or two when I go to a wedding. (which before Covid was about 3 times a year).

My grandmother was given coins when she babysat around 100 years ago and I’ve been told they’re very valuable.

My great grandfather (mid-late 1800’s) brought with him from Europe when he immigrated binoculars which also has deep sentimental value to our family.

I keep the deed to our home and bonds in there too.

Bank is local. Even during Covid all you have to do is call and they let you in by appointment. They were never closed.

I wouldn’t risk these items being stolen.

Bank safety deposit boxes aren't insured and are not necessarily all that secure. We have one still, but we are considering a fireproof box at home for documents and cloud backup for photos. The following is a good article from NYT last year.

https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/safe-deposit-box-theft.html

 

[Sunset]

I have a significant amount of valuable handed down jewelry going back a couple of generations. It’s not the kind of stuff I’d wear everyday, but I do wear a piece or two when I go to a wedding. (which before Covid was about 3 times a year).

My grandmother was given coins when she babysat around 100 years ago and I’ve been told they’re very valuable.

My great grandfather (mid-late 1800’s) brought with him from Europe when he immigrated binoculars which also has deep sentimental value to our family.

I keep the deed to our home and bonds in there too.

Bank is local. Even during Covid all you have to do is call and they let you in by appointment. They were never closed.

I wouldn’t risk these items being stolen.

Banks are not totally secure either, so take photos of the stuff in the box, and understand if the bank is robbed, you will have to sue the bank for any hope of getting some payment.

I do think the box is great for paperwork, and encrypted backups, but still a risk for jewels, and (IMHO) stupid for cash.

 

[mountainsoft]

The banks being closed during Covid and not being able to access the Safe Deposit Box is rather unfortunate.

Our bank branch closed for a few months due to COVID, so I was unable to access our safe deposit box during that time. We weren't traveling anywhere so we didn't need our passports, but I did take a small risk not updating my backup hard drive there for a few months.

In all fairness, I could have made an appointment to gain access to our safe deposit box if I really needed to, but it wasn't a big priority to me.

I do have concerns about being able to access a Bank Safety Deposit Box upon the death of the owner.

When my mom had a stroke, she assigned me as her Power of Attorney. With paperwork in hand I had no issues accessing (and closing) her safe deposit box. She didn't have anything stored in there anyway, it had been empty for years.

If you think you may need access in the future, I would try to arrange a POA while that person is still alive.

As more and more B&M banks are eliminating the SDB's I wonder how much longer they will not be available at all.

Depending on what you are storing, they aren't always necessary. In my case, it's just a place to store a backup hard drive. I encrypt any sensitive data on the drive, so it doesn't matter if someone else gets access to the drive. I could just as easily store the drive with a friend or family member, any other location would do, as long as I could get to the drive when I need it.

 

[audreyh1]

I was co-signer on the box (or POA), either way I was able to access the box before her death.
When my Mother died, I went to the bank, opened the box, emptied it, and put it back.
Next week I notified them she died.
No way I was going to be locked out of the box, which contained her Will , etc.

When DF was doing poorly I got doc originals out of DF’s box and took the will to his attorney to keep. I guess I was lucky that I had notice. I’d had signing authority for years and had already pulled out originals for POA’s and living will/health instructions when DF went into care home.

 

[kcowan]

We had a fireproof safe on our acreage but when we moved to our condo, we went with a locked strongbox that is hidden in the condo. We have master set of keys and its key is with the other keys. I only do backups once a month, so it gets infrequent use. I do more frequent backups in the cloud. I have had to do cloud restores a couple of times related to software glitches.

 

[Carol1862]

Ok, you’ve given us a lot to think about. We are considering closing the box. The papers can be stored in our Fire box at the house. Right now it has our birth certificates, passports and SS cards in there. We’ll move our savings bonds, deed to the house and wills there as well

As for the jewelry I think we’ve come up with a place in the home to keep it. No place is foolproof but it’s the best we can come up with. We don’t want a large safe which would be hard to impossible to conceal.

Suggestions are always welcome!

 

[sengsational]

The safe deposit box discussion comes up often here. I'll chime-in.


Having $5K on deposit made it free many years ago, but now they have more onerous requirements with Merrill Lynch, and I'm not willing to go there. I pay $60/yr. I tried to get DW to kick BofA to the curb (a credit union has the same box for $20), but she doesn't like change.


I poured a slab in my basement and routinely kick myself for not putting in a safe. Not safe from floods, but probably safe from fire.

 

[Murph]

But its empty

I have one at Chase which I got for free when I deposited x amount in their bank. I used it for a short while to store some cash, until I emptied it. Not sure now what to keep in there.

 

[Gumby]

We use ours for the originals of important documents, such as citizenship papers, birth certificates, marriage certificate, wills, warranty deed for the house, certificates of title for the cars, social security cards and my Form DD-214.

 

[papaof2]

Gave up the bank safe deposit box several years ago when the price went UP again. I now have a small Sentry safe that is UL fire-rated.

The manual combination safe, a Sentry SFW123CS2 (manual combination because some of the electronic ones can be opend with a large magnet and it leaves no marks) is five times the size of the bank box we had. It was about $100 at the time and the current similar 1.23 cu ft models are $120 to $150 depending on the seller (Walmart, Home Depot, Office Depot, etc).

It's one of the few products that the maker will replaced if it's damaged in doing it's job. If yours goes through a fire, send a picture and the fire report and they will replace it for free.

 

[Global Wizzo]

Safe Dep Bx

I keep one at the bank for originals of critical docs and password and account lists, rare coins and about a years worth of cash.

As far as I know, only a floor safe buried below the foundation that is insulated along with a fire block cover can protect docs and media from the temperatures associated with a major fire.

Data back ups are another issue. Good ideas from all here.

 

[Jeb-NY]

I have a fireproof box that I store in a larger fireproof safe that weighs about 900lbs plus contents bolted down in the basement against a wall that is completely underground. Might not survive a California style fire but we don't live in an area that catches fire all the time. I do daily backups and monthly backups of our computers. I have two sets of drives that I alternate for monthlies, the most recent is in the firebox with important paper and a few other things. The month old backups are just in the safe with other things that can be replaced with money. I don't bother locking the firebox because anything that can be carried away does not have to be locked for security.

 

[cranberryjoe]

I had a box at the bank for many years but finally dropped it a few years ago. It kept originals of "important" papers and photos of my property for insurance purposes, safe from fire.

It was always a hassle to make two trips to the bank to retrieve an item and return it, especially during my working years when my time off rarely overlapped bankers hours. I usually had to access it at least once a year, sometimes several times. Often those important originals sat at home for weeks or months until I got around to taking them back to the bank. So much for fire protection.

As technology advanced, I started keeping digital copies of those "important" papers encrypted in the cloud. Likewise for photos of property. I converted all my paper savings bonds to digital at Treasury Direct. Every important original paper I kept in the box, such as passports and car titles, could be replaced relatively easily if they were lost. When the bank started making big annual increases in the rental rate, I cancelled.

Now I keep those important original papers in a fire safe at home. It's much more convenient. I already had the fire safe since there were some things I wanted to protect from fire that wouldn't fit in the bank box or I wanted to access frequently, and I didn't want to rent a bigger box at the bank.

 

[RunningBum]

As far as I know, only a floor safe buried below the foundation that is insulated along with a fire block cover can protect docs and media from the temperatures associated with a major fire.

I poured a slab in my basement and routinely kick myself for not putting in a safe. Not safe from floods, but probably safe from fire.

Me too. Partly, I didn't realize that most of the fire proof boxes are only good to a certain temp, and the other is how our fire dept works. Because I live in a mountain village, where fire can easily spread due to the hills and also high winds we sometimes get, the fire dept has these priorities:

1. Save lives
2. Contain the fire to the one structure
3. Try to save the structure on fire

Quite often they can only do 1 & 2. There's probably another priority of keeping their fire fighters safe, and that comes between 2 & 3. If a fire has consumed much of the house such that it'll be a total loss, they aren't going to send people in to try to keep my fire proof box intact if there's any risk to them, which there always is if they go into a burning building. Pretty much all of the other contents are burned, smoked out, or water damaged by this point.


I'm not quoting their policy, but this is basically right. It didn't really sink into me until this thread, that any fire that starts inside my house, or an out of control fire that consumes the whole mountain, is probably going to ruin my contents. However, if I have to evacuate, my cat, my wallet, my laptop and cell phone, and that box are the first things I'll grab if I have any time at all.

 

[wet_eagle]

We have a safe deposit box and keep some items in a fireproof safe at home. BUT, we found out the hard way that fireproof safes are NOT waterproof.

 

[meleana]

We have safes at home and our son knows how to access them when we pass.

 

[RunningBum]

We have a safe deposit box and keep some items in a fireproof safe at home. BUT, we found out the hard way that fireproof safes are NOT waterproof.

Hmm,that would be a problem with burying a safe below the foundation. You'd have to keep it from pouring in directly from any seam, and also provide drainage from the hole.