How to Secure and Utilize a Safety Deposit Box
If you have valuable items at home, moving them to a safety deposit box can help you feel more secure. It’s a great way to protect your belongings from theft or natural disasters like tornadoes and floods. Setting up a safety deposit box is easy, but there are important things to consider.
Opening a Safety Deposit Box:
1. Choose a bank that offers safety deposit box services. If your current bank does, you might even get a discount by sticking with them.
2. Sign the rental agreement for the safety deposit box. If you want someone else to access it for reasons like illness, make sure they are with you when signing the lease so they can sign too.
3. Store your keys safely. The keys are unique, so make sure they’re kept securely. If you lose them, you might need a locksmith to make new ones.
Important Things to Consider:
1. Set up automatic annual payments. If you miss a payment or don’t use the box for three years, the bank might consider it abandoned and auction off the contents.
2. Keep a record of what’s in the box. Take photos and list everything, keeping a copy in the box and another at home.
3. Give your executor the keys and power of attorney to ensure they can access the box after you pass away.
4. Inform your insurance provider about the safety deposit box, as it might lower your home insurance costs.
5. Don’t store items you might need quickly when the bank is closed, like passports, if you have to travel suddenly.
For important documents such as social security cards, birth certificates, marriage licenses, and passports, consider using a fire-resistant, waterproof safe at home. While it may be stolen during a break-in, it safeguards your documents from other risks while providing easy access when needed.
Safety deposit boxes have a small annual fee between $25 to $100, depending on the size, and they securely store your important items. Setting one up is simple and might save you on home insurance costs.
Have you set up a safety deposit box before? What do you keep in it?
