3 ms·

I'd think the competition would be safety deposit boxes, not a mattress. So it depends on how much the smallest safety deposit box costs per year.

Ekaros 6y ago
Too bad 500€ notes have not been issued since 2 years ago... Makes it much harder to store money as cash...
vidarh 6y ago
A lot of banks explicitly prohibit storing currency that is still in circulation in their safety deposit boxes.
- eikenberry 6y ago
  In the US I'd just get a money order from the post office and put it in there. No currency, no expiration, backed by fedgov.
  - vidarh 6y ago
    Maximum per money order is $1000. Couple that with $1.75 per money order, the rental of the box, and needing extra insurance to get the same protection as in a bank account and it might very well be cheaper to accept negative interest in many cases.
  - gotts 6y ago
    For those who are outside of US, can you please explain what is "a money order from the post office"? * upd after some Googling, so it's like a cheque. Got it
    - vidarh 6y ago
      They exist many places outside the US too. It's closer to a bankers draft, which is pretty much like a cheque except you buy it and it's drawn on the issuing organisation rather than your account, which both makes it less risky for a recipient and is what would make it potentially work here (since with a cheque the money would still be in your account). The biggest issue with this is that it usually costs money, there are often limits ($1000 for US Postal Service money orders), you'll have to expect reporting requirements above certain limits, and you'll still need to buy extra insurance if above relatively low limits if you want your money to be remotely as secure as in a bank account. The upshot is that while this gets you around bank limitations on storing actual currency, it takes effort to store lots of money cheaply.
dusted 6y ago
Thing is that safety deposit boxes are rarely insured for as much money, and they do also cost something.. Another problem is that since our economy is almost entirely digital, you can't actually withdraw or deposit large amounts of cash without significant problems with paperwork and fees. You're going to have a bad time trying to buy a new car, house or even high-end TV with cash here :D

Ekaros 6y ago

Too bad 500€ notes have not been issued since 2 years ago... Makes it much harder to store money as cash...

vidarh 6y ago

A lot of banks explicitly prohibit storing currency that is still in circulation in their safety deposit boxes.

eikenberry 6y ago
In the US I'd just get a money order from the post office and put it in there. No currency, no expiration, backed by fedgov.
- vidarh 6y ago
  Maximum per money order is $1000. Couple that with $1.75 per money order, the rental of the box, and needing extra insurance to get the same protection as in a bank account and it might very well be cheaper to accept negative interest in many cases.
- gotts 6y ago
  For those who are outside of US, can you please explain what is "a money order from the post office"? * upd after some Googling, so it's like a cheque. Got it
  - vidarh 6y ago
    They exist many places outside the US too. It's closer to a bankers draft, which is pretty much like a cheque except you buy it and it's drawn on the issuing organisation rather than your account, which both makes it less risky for a recipient and is what would make it potentially work here (since with a cheque the money would still be in your account). The biggest issue with this is that it usually costs money, there are often limits ($1000 for US Postal Service money orders), you'll have to expect reporting requirements above certain limits, and you'll still need to buy extra insurance if above relatively low limits if you want your money to be remotely as secure as in a bank account. The upshot is that while this gets you around bank limitations on storing actual currency, it takes effort to store lots of money cheaply.

dusted 6y ago

Thing is that safety deposit boxes are rarely insured for as much money, and they do also cost something.. Another problem is that since our economy is almost entirely digital, you can't actually withdraw or deposit large amounts of cash without significant problems with paperwork and fees. You're going to have a bad time trying to buy a new car, house or even high-end TV with cash here :D