4 ms·

> why keep such valuable items at home in the first place? if they are replaceable, you can just insure them. If they are not, they are better stored somewhere

> why keep such valuable items at home in the first place? if they are replaceable, you can just insure them. If they are not, they are better stored somewhere else, no? You would think, unfortunately banks have done a great sleight of hand in the US limiting their liability related to safe deposit boxes /and/ safe deposit boxes available to rent are nearly impossible to find. Nearly every bank branch in any major metro will have a waiting list that is years out to get a box. What's so valuable? Well, basically the same stuff most people keep in a random desk/dresser drawer, but ought to have in a safe: Paperwork mostly, guns, jewelry. It's not like I'm storing anything worth tons and tons of money, but the insurance break on getting everything fully covered when you have that sort of safe is significant, and it's one-time up front expense to ensure you can properly store things like paperwork, guns, and jewelry which is easily worth tens of thousands of dollars anyway. The only difference between me and every other random joe that buys a gun safe at bass pro/cabela's, is that I know what an /actual/ safe is, and I went about acquiring one rather than the cheap RSC you can bypass with a pry bar and a hammer or a sawzall. > By having such high valuables at home, aren't you putting your family at risk? Many people have things at home equally valuable, they just don't bother actually doing anything to protect them. I don't think doing the work to protect them adds any additional risk. > Also, why talk about these things on the internet? Isn't that painting a target on your back too? Sure, I suppose so. That's true of so many things. I think it's important to be transparent with information though and then mitigate or hedge any risks that come with it. For instance, in my case, I'm nearly always home, I'm always armed, and my valuables are well protected. If someone were to find out and decide they wanted to rob me, the most likely outcome is they'd be leaving in a body bag, so they're unlikely to think that is a wise idea.

balderdash 3y ago
NYT article describing your exact point on the perils of bank safe deposit boxes https://web.archive.org/web/20230108123245/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/safe-deposit-box-theft.html https://web.archive.org/web/20230108123245/https://www.nytim... Edit: HN discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20545276 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20545276
- tristor 3y ago
  To expand on this, generally if you have an itemized insurance rider for personal property on your homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance, everything is covered, but anything stored offsite such as a storage unit or safe deposit box is only insured to a small percentage (10% or less usually) of the total general unscheduled property coverage and cannot be covered with a scheduled/itemized rider. This combined with the shady way banks treat safe deposit boxes means that ironically in the case of /anything/ short of a flood or fire, you are better off having a safe at home vs a safe deposit box, even for insurables like guns/jewelry/collectibles. A safe deposit box /might/ be marginally better for backup drives and paperwork simply because it's offsite, but a 3-2-1 (one is none, 2 is one) policy/process is better. This really sucks for paperwork because the government is stupid and usually only the actual original matters (e.g. signed marriage license or birth certificate) and certified copies aren't sufficient. I HIGHLY recommend anyone who wants to be an actual responsible adult to buy a /real/ safe for their home and stick the things that will utterly destroy their life if they're lost/stolen/destroyed into that safe, and keep a spare key/combo to it with whoever is the executor of their will/estate. Nearly every person in America over the age of 30 has tens of thousands of dollars in valuables worth protecting, they just may not think of it as that. It's something like the deed to your house & the associated title and mortgage paperwork, your car titles, insurance policy information for valuables, your marriage license, your passport & birth certificate or other identifying documents, etc. This stuff is absolutely worth protecting, and the dinky "document safe" for $30 at Walmart isn't going to do jack shit. EDIT: Edit to add that a real safe doesn't have to be $35k. I bought a huge safe when I did it. If you want a small fire-rated Class B TL-30 safe that weighs in the neighborhood of 500-800 pounds, can hold most things other than rifles/shotguns/long-guns, you can find something decent for less than $5k without much trouble, which is around what it costs for a "nicer" "gun safe" at bass pro anyway.
  - nicenewtemp84 3y ago
    When you include car titles, something people lose constantly and costs $15 to replace at the DMV... It makes me wonder about all the other things you listed being easy to replace also and you're just trying to explain why you got a safe for paperwork. My mother guards her social security card and passport like they are the keys to life. She was absolutely shocked that I let a scooter rental shop in Vietnam hold my passport as collateral. People lose or get robbed of everything important all the time. There's a process for everything. I rather not worry and just live my life and deal with things as they come, not worrying so much.
flavius29663 3y ago
Speaking of bank safe boxes, when the IMF and the EU forced Greece into capital controls, meaning people could only get $400 a week out of their own accounts, plus money for rent...the safe boxes were also controlled. So you were no longer allowed to be alone with your safe box, an employee had to be present to make sure you're not getting money out of there. https://www.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-cash/greeks-cannot-tap-cash-in-safe-deposit-boxes-under-capital-controls-idUSA8N0XO00920150705 https://www.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-cash/greeks-...

balderdash 3y ago

NYT article describing your exact point on the perils of bank safe deposit boxes https://web.archive.org/web/20230108123245/https://www.nytimes.com/2019/07/19/business/safe-deposit-box-theft.html https://web.archive.org/web/20230108123245/https://www.nytim... Edit: HN discussion https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20545276 https://news.ycombinator.com/item?id=20545276

tristor 3y ago
To expand on this, generally if you have an itemized insurance rider for personal property on your homeowner's insurance or renter's insurance, everything is covered, but anything stored offsite such as a storage unit or safe deposit box is only insured to a small percentage (10% or less usually) of the total general unscheduled property coverage and cannot be covered with a scheduled/itemized rider. This combined with the shady way banks treat safe deposit boxes means that ironically in the case of /anything/ short of a flood or fire, you are better off having a safe at home vs a safe deposit box, even for insurables like guns/jewelry/collectibles. A safe deposit box /might/ be marginally better for backup drives and paperwork simply because it's offsite, but a 3-2-1 (one is none, 2 is one) policy/process is better. This really sucks for paperwork because the government is stupid and usually only the actual original matters (e.g. signed marriage license or birth certificate) and certified copies aren't sufficient. I HIGHLY recommend anyone who wants to be an actual responsible adult to buy a /real/ safe for their home and stick the things that will utterly destroy their life if they're lost/stolen/destroyed into that safe, and keep a spare key/combo to it with whoever is the executor of their will/estate. Nearly every person in America over the age of 30 has tens of thousands of dollars in valuables worth protecting, they just may not think of it as that. It's something like the deed to your house & the associated title and mortgage paperwork, your car titles, insurance policy information for valuables, your marriage license, your passport & birth certificate or other identifying documents, etc. This stuff is absolutely worth protecting, and the dinky "document safe" for $30 at Walmart isn't going to do jack shit. EDIT: Edit to add that a real safe doesn't have to be $35k. I bought a huge safe when I did it. If you want a small fire-rated Class B TL-30 safe that weighs in the neighborhood of 500-800 pounds, can hold most things other than rifles/shotguns/long-guns, you can find something decent for less than $5k without much trouble, which is around what it costs for a "nicer" "gun safe" at bass pro anyway.
- nicenewtemp84 3y ago
  When you include car titles, something people lose constantly and costs $15 to replace at the DMV... It makes me wonder about all the other things you listed being easy to replace also and you're just trying to explain why you got a safe for paperwork. My mother guards her social security card and passport like they are the keys to life. She was absolutely shocked that I let a scooter rental shop in Vietnam hold my passport as collateral. People lose or get robbed of everything important all the time. There's a process for everything. I rather not worry and just live my life and deal with things as they come, not worrying so much.

flavius29663 3y ago

Speaking of bank safe boxes, when the IMF and the EU forced Greece into capital controls, meaning people could only get $400 a week out of their own accounts, plus money for rent...the safe boxes were also controlled. So you were no longer allowed to be alone with your safe box, an employee had to be present to make sure you're not getting money out of there. https://www.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-cash/greeks-cannot-tap-cash-in-safe-deposit-boxes-under-capital-controls-idUSA8N0XO00920150705 https://www.reuters.com/article/eurozone-greece-cash/greeks-...