Do you have a safe deposit box?

[albireo13]

still have one but, considering getting rid of it. BoA hours are minimal and it gets to be a PITA to get to it when you need to. That plus, important estate papers should not be in there anyway.

 

[frank05]

Moved on to cloud storage of important documents. The problem is government agencies are slow moving and many are still stuck on the idea of an “original” paper will/trust and other document so stuck keeping a version in the home safe.

 

[Cognito]

I went from a box on the floor in the lobby of PNC to Chase in downtown Milwaukee. Gringotts.
Then, no more box.

 

[Yipper]

Funny. I had that to begin with and then I changed it. But both are acceptable.

Yeah I know but it’s because people have used it wrong for so long it’s become acceptable. Sorry for calling it out. It’s a pet peeve of mine that exposes the ridiculous things I seem to care about. Haha.

 

[OnTheBeach]

I thought the results would be 80+% would have safe deposit boxes. The results surprised me. We don't keep valuables in the deposit box. We keep original SS Cards, birth certificates, titles to the cars, deeds to the houses etc. These documents would be very difficult to replace if they were lost. We have a safe at home but feel safer having these items in a bank vault.

 

[pb4uski]

I was the opposite. I thought that very few would have safe deposit boxes...5% or so... 10% at most... in part because I don't have anyone in my orbit who has one.

 

[street]

Please. Please. Please. STOP calling it a "Safety" Deposit Box... it's a "Safe Deposit Box" because it's in a SAFE! Please.

I agree. Yes we have one kids have proper authority to access it. Has all valued items for them in one place. I was in ours a few days ago.

 

[sengsational]

We had a free one with NationsBank then they changed the name to FeeOfAmerica and they started charging for it. Then they closed the branch and we had to put the papers in a "fireproof" box in the basement. The building sat empty a few years. Now a credit union bought the building, we joined the credit union and the papers are back in the same vault.

 

[Midpack]

We had one years ago, but when our then bank discontinued safe deposit box service, we just bought a fireproof safe for home. Much easier access and much more space, so we never looked into safe deposit boxes again. Maybe there are larger ones available, but our Trust docs alone wouldn't have fit in our old box. We also keep all important docs and valuables in the safe, no way we'd want to go to a safe deposit box to retrieve DW's valuable jewelry when she wants to wear it.

 

[Lorenzo]

I thought the results would be 80+% would have safe deposit boxes. The results surprised me. We don't keep valuables in the deposit box. We keep original SS Cards, birth certificates, titles to the cars, deeds to the houses etc. These documents would be very difficult to replace if they were lost. We have a safe at home but feel safer having these items in a bank vault.

The thing is, none of those are "very difficult to replace."

 

[pjigar]

No but I wish that I did. It would be convenient to store computer backup hard drives.

-gauss

I used to have a safe deposit box for storing backup and some documents. Now we use a fireproof safe located in a different building.

 

[OldShooter]

I am not sure we have ever had one. The gun safe in the basement serves well for documents and backup drives. Plenty of space for small stuff like that.

Anyone contemplating a "fireproof" safe be sure to do your research. Most are "fire resistant." Read and understand the UL certifications that may apply to your needs.

 

[YB88]

My concern with the 'store at home' approach is that fireproof boxes aren't as fireproof in general as I think that most people expect. Depends on the nature, location, duration of the fire. And of course there can be other issues with home storage. We keep some things at home in a wall safe, with sort-of digital backup of all of those (and of course things in the safe deposit box too where applicable). So I guess for us there are three tiers of security: (1) Just generally in a locked house, possibly in some cases not easy to find (2) In wall safe --- stuff that we want to stay secure but it's too much of a PITA to go to the bank when we want access, and (3) Most secure, where we recognize that nothing is ever 100% secure.

 

[pacergal]

We used to have one, stopped years ago.
We bought a larger fire resistant safe and put the "important" papers in there.
But there is nothing that couldn't be replaced if something happened to them.

 

[Cat-tirement]

Used only for storing encrypted off-site backups. This means I'm not concerned about it being broken into as contents would be useless to anyone else.

It's unfortunate that these have become so hard to find. The primary reason I stick with my bank is for the box.

 

[Spock]

I have one but am thinking of closing it only because the relatively new construction local community bank building the safeTY deposit boxes aren't boxes... just plastic trays in a rack behind individual doors for each tray.

Wells Fargo closed their massive branch office and "built" a flimsy new building out of modular trailers so they don't offer safe or safeTY deposit boxes at all.

First Interstate had a really nice setup but they charge a $10/monthly fee if I don't physically go into the branch and talk with somebody every month. Checks and deposits do not count as account activity to avoid the fee... they want you to physically come in to the branch once a month. I closed the account and told them why.

 

[richardsok]

Twenty years ago I started buying gold coins and bars and kept them in a couple of mayonnaise jars buried where only my daughter knew where on our property in Bucks County, PA. Had to give that idea up when we sold out and moved to Florida. Put it all in a safe deposit box with my daughter listed as primary owner and me secondary (on the advice of R48). I haven't gone back to peek in years and don't even know how much gold is really in there. Probably, I'm guessing, one of the best investments in my life. I intend never to sell.

 

[MarieIG]

Yes, I have two.

I remember when DF was ill, his bank was ripping out their boxes and I went to empty DF's safety deposit box. The bank staff initially tried to reject my power of attorney, but it was a fully comprehensive, durable, NYS compliant POA (which at that time were quite long and specific) and I had the bank manager contact their legal department. With the endorsement from the legal department the box was opened for me.

When DGM passed, my parents were still around and healthy. For some reason, I was assigned to emptying her box. I don't remember the paperwork needed, but I do remember wandering around Harlem until I found the bank, and that a bank officer was present when I opened the box - which was empty.

DH and DS are authorized on my boxes and they have instructions that when I am on my way out, empty the box before, ahem, letting me go. And no, the will is not in there.

 

[sengsational]

DH and DS are authorized on my boxes and they have instructions that when I am on my way out, empty the box before, ahem, letting me go. And no, the will is not in there.

I understand not having the will in there, but if the box is held jointly, is there a reason to empty it before one person takes their leave? The reason I am wondering is that I don't have that instruction in my ducks in a row file. NC is a community property state, if that makes a difference.

 

[The Cosmic Avenger]

Been considering getting one recently, and fire is the primary reason.

I've looked into "fire proof" safes, and don't think they'd necessarily save paper.

We got one of those "fireproof" document boxes decades ago, then we got a home safe and I decided to just keep the box inside the safe.

I had one until about 3 years ago. I surrendered it when PNC Bank kept raising the fee to have it. When I first got it, it was free with the level of money I kept in combined checking/savings. Over the course of 5 years, they kept changing the rules and increased the rates. When it got to $75/year, I gave it up. When I spoke to my bank contact about it, she said she felt that PNC no longer wanted to be in that business for some reason. New branches being built didn’t even offer them. For existing customers, they raise the price to nudge people toward giving them up.

Oh, good to know! We recently opened a PNC account with just the minimum balance because we had no local brick and mortar bank, and I wanted to exchange rolls of coins for bills. They also will do a Medallion guarantee, which took me weeks to figure out and then an hour of driving the last time I needed one. But we were also considering getting a safe deposit box.

 

[RunningBum]

I understand not having the will in there, but if the box is held jointly, is there a reason to empty it before one person takes their leave? The reason I am wondering is that I don't have that instruction in my ducks in a row file. NC is a community property state, if that makes a difference.

An accident (auto, plane, etc) could take out both of you at the same time. When COVID was at its most lethal, how often did it take out both people?

 

[MarieIG]

I understand not having the will in there, but if the box is held jointly, is there a reason to empty it before one person takes their leave? The reason I am wondering is that I don't have that instruction in my ducks in a row file. NC is a community property state, if that makes a difference.

Rules about opening the box may change and/or vary by state. I recall when my mother was close to passing DF and I went to the bank to clear out their jointly held box. We were both crying and the bank manger asked us if anyone had died. We responded no, that my mother was in the hospital and she said ok. I haven't looked into it lately but my understanding was that NY would seal the box even with a spousal ownership.

I am not familiar with NC law which could be different.

 

[mountainsoft]

The problem with safe deposit boxes is they are not safe.

We keep a backup hard drive, some old photo negatives (need to weed through those), and our passports. None of these would be a major loss if someone broke into our safe deposit box.

I digitize everything I can, so having numerous redundant backups is important to me. I have an external hard drive I back up to nightly, and swap this about once a month with the drive I keep in the safe deposit box. I also use a cloud storage service to backup our most important files. Everything is encrypted, so no real worries if someone got access to our drives/files.

I don't rely on the cloud service as it only works if I have internet access, and I can't do a full system restore from there if I have a major crash.

In theory I could store the backup drive at our daughter's house instead of the safe deposit box. Any off site location would do. But I prefer to store it at the bank where I can access it any time, even if our daughter isn't home.

 

[tulak]

I had one until late last year. Chase is getting rid of their safe deposit boxes, so I had to empty it out. I won’t get a new one, too much of a hassle. I used it for important paperwork and backups. Nothing of value, except to me.

Don’t have an alternative, but most of the important stuff is backed up to a spare drive and in the cloud, so that’s probably good enough.

 

[big-papa]

Yes, we've had one for a few decades now at our credit union.