Author Topic: Important Documents  (Read 5884 times)

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Important Documents
« on: October 29, 2015, 07:15:20 AM »
Thoughts on getting a home safe or safe deposit box for your documents?  Obviously a safe has a one time sunk cost, whereas a safe deposit box has a yearly fee. On the other hand, a safe deposit box is not in your house and may represent less risk for your life docs. 

Thoughts?

bigstack

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #1 on: October 29, 2015, 07:33:42 AM »
there was and still are governments(states/counties) that seize private property out of banks.
it is considered abandoned if you don't go to you safe deposit box multiple times a year or somesuch.

does not matter that you pay for the box on time. heck the bank will keep charging you even after they let the government drill your box and take your assets and shred your paperwork.

rockstache

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #2 on: October 29, 2015, 09:11:01 AM »
We have one and store passports and other important docs in it as well as some small jewelry items. It is fireproof and waterproof, although I doubt it would hold up under serious temperatures or complete submersion. It does buy me the peace of mind that if anyone breaks in, they at least won't get our most important/hard to replace stuff.

Sibley

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #3 on: October 29, 2015, 09:21:03 AM »
Since it requires a search warrant for the government to access your safety deposit box, and they can equally access your home with a similar warrant, you're probably ok if you're generally a law abiding citizen. If not, then I want them to access the evidence.

Regarded abandonment:
What is unclaimed property?
Unclaimed property (sometimes referred to as abandoned) refers to accounts in financial institutions and companies that have had no activity generated or contact with the owner for one year or a longer period. Common forms of unclaimed property include savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler's checks, trust distributions, unredeemed money orders or gift certificates (in some states), insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies, annuities, certificates of deposit, customer overpayments, utility security deposits, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes.

https://www.unclaimed.org/what/

If you're paying the bill, I suspect that counts as "activity generated or contact with the owner"

AZDude

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #4 on: October 29, 2015, 09:42:28 AM »
Fireproof lock box or safe. Store your SS, birth certs, passports, etc... in there. I once watched my neighbor's house burn down. Don't think it cannot happen to you.

bigstack

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #5 on: October 29, 2015, 09:43:59 AM »
people that believe that it can't happen need only google for a tenth of a second...
paying the bill means nothing.
http://abcnews.go.com/GMA/story?id=4832471

bigstack

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #6 on: October 29, 2015, 09:47:45 AM »
look up "sturdy safes"...you can get their fire liner...
they are the next best thing to a TL rated safe.

zephyr911

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #7 on: October 29, 2015, 09:48:25 AM »
I have a small fire safe for the important stuff - vital docs and home/car titles, etc.

Capsu78

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #8 on: October 29, 2015, 10:22:13 AM »
I utilize both a fire resistant file cabinet and a fire safe I picked up for nothing... however originals still go to the family (3 households) safety deposit box.  I like redundancy as a cornerstone to personal preparedness.

MrsPete

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #9 on: October 29, 2015, 10:25:22 AM »
I think my things are safer in my own house, in my own safe.  Everyone knows valuable stuff's locked up in the bank; no one knows my personal valuable stuff's in a safe in my office. 

Definitely consider fire safety, but also water safety.  Imagine your house burns, what're the firemen going to do?  Douse everything with water! Most safes are waterproof when you get them, but if you make holes in the bottom to bolt the safe to the floor, goodbye waterproofing!  Right now our safe just sits on the floor, but our plan is to "build it into" a closet when we build our new house.  Yes, someone with an axe could come in and bust it out, but first they'd have to know it was there ... then arrive with the appropriate materials ... and be willing to stay long enough to complete the destruction (most home robberies are FAST, like less than 10-15 minutes) ... and be willing to make a lot of noise.  Those are big deterrents.   

And don't neglect the benefit of convenience.  Having your own items in your own house is immensely more convenient than making a trip to the bank. 

As for documents (and photographs), you should have them scanned and located in multiple places for security.  If you don't trust the Cloud, flashdrives are super cheap. 

acroy

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #10 on: October 29, 2015, 10:45:29 AM »
I suggest spend no $$ on a special safe. It is far more likely to get stolen than burned. Scan everything and store a copy offsite. Keep the important stuff in a regular file. In the (unlikely) event it gets stolen or burned, official copies can be procured. Life will not end.

NorCal

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #11 on: October 29, 2015, 10:54:04 AM »
I have a general preference for a safe just for convenience.  Once you put stuff in a safe-deposit box, Murphy's Law kicks in.  You'll need to have your passport updated, or you'll start a new job and need birth certificates.  It's annoying to have to go to the bank every time this comes up.

Just be sure to get a super-heavy one, or one that can be bolted in place so someone doesn't walk off with it.

My wife also has a couple pieces of nice jewelry (gifts) and I have a few firearms, so those are important considerations as well. 

Matumba

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #12 on: October 29, 2015, 11:34:20 AM »
What would you advise for someone who travels overseas for several years? What's the best way to keep valuables? For example,  if you need to keep some documents in the US and take the passport and other important stuff with you? Let's say there is no permanent home in the US or relatives /friends where you can keep the stuff

eyePod

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #13 on: October 29, 2015, 01:44:27 PM »
My father in law was nice and got us a safe for christmas. It's not fireproof. Worst part was I accidentally changed the code and didn't know what it was. What do I do? I look it up online and find out that since it wasn't stuffed (like it is now), I'm able to pop it open with a coat hanger. I felt awesome until I realized the implication that if I could do it, a professional could do it.

Long story short, Harbor Freight is great for tools that you'll use once. We need to get a real fireproof one though. Adding it to the list....

JZinCO

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #14 on: October 29, 2015, 01:49:28 PM »
  Everyone knows valuable stuff's locked up in the bank; no one knows my personal valuable stuff's in a safe in my office. 
We do now ;)

MrsPete

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #15 on: October 29, 2015, 01:57:08 PM »
I suggest spend no $$ on a special safe. It is far more likely to get stolen than burned. Scan everything and store a copy offsite. Keep the important stuff in a regular file. In the (unlikely) event it gets stolen or burned, official copies can be procured. Life will not end.
Makes sense to me.  A basic safe can be had new for under $200 (much less used), and it's enough to deter the casual burglar, who is likely to be a teen or a person looking for some quick drug money. 
What would you advise for someone who travels overseas for several years? What's the best way to keep valuables? For example,  if you need to keep some documents in the US and take the passport and other important stuff with you? Let's say there is no permanent home in the US or relatives /friends where you can keep the stuff
No one likes you enough to store a few things?  In this unusual situation, a safety deposit box makes sense.
  Everyone knows valuable stuff's locked up in the bank; no one knows my personal valuable stuff's in a safe in my office. 
We do now ;)
I knew someone'd say that.  Just as soon as you figure out my address, you're set! 

JZinCO

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #16 on: October 29, 2015, 06:25:54 PM »
Thoughts on getting a home safe or safe deposit box for your documents?  Obviously a safe has a one time sunk cost, whereas a safe deposit box has a yearly fee. On the other hand, a safe deposit box is not in your house and may represent less risk for your life docs. 

Thoughts?

Thanks for bringining thi sup. It's about time I replace the ol' file box.

NonprofitER

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #17 on: October 30, 2015, 07:36:30 AM »
For what its worth, my parents home burned down a few years ago - total loss, nothing left - as part of a wildfire disaster. Their expensive "fireproof safe" was also ashes. The only thing left was some bricks, a porcelain tub (upside down, had fallen from the second floor) and part of the metal roof.

If you read the fine print on most fireproof safes, they indicate that the safe can only withstand temperatures for a short period of time. Once you have a whole house fire that is significant enough to not be able to to retrieve documents, its likely the safe will just burn up with the rest. We did find in their ashes a big hunk of melted together metal that was formerly some expensive coins that had been stored inside their safe...

We've since ditched our safe and started keeping our minimal paper documents in a locked file cabinet drawer. Everything in our house got scanned and is encrypted, then stored in a personal cloud on-site, and backed up to a separate cloud accessible at a relative's house.

rockstache

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Re: Important Documents
« Reply #18 on: October 31, 2015, 06:52:14 PM »
My childhood home burned down a few years back. My parents safe was ok. I suppose it depends on the brand and the heat of the fire. Not much else was left of the house.