That aside, our best advice: Use a safe deposit box and a home safe. Safe deposit boxes aren’t fireproof or hurricane-proof.
If they’re in the way of Hurricane Katrina or one the wildfires regularly seen in California and other parts of the west, they could fall victim like the other buildings washed away or burned to the ground. Moves like that complicate your ability to retrieve important documents or items when you need them.Īlso note that banks, and the safe deposit boxes within, aren't natural-disaster-proof. For example, the coronavirus pandemic reduced operating hours for some bank branches, and limited access or required appointments for in-branch services, such as access to safe deposit boxes. On the other hand, access to your safe deposit box can be limited, more so during emergencies.
Home safes are more susceptible to fire and water damage, not to mention theft, than bank safe deposit boxes, Reynolds says. There can still be times when you’ll need to be able to produce certain original documents (including ones that have a raised seal) rather than digital scans or photocopies, and some valuables simply can’t be digitized.Ī safe installed in your home is one alternative, but these devices aren't foolproof, says Luke Reynolds, chief of the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation’s Outreach & Program Development Section. With digital records and cloud storage becoming the norm, the bricks-and-mortar safe deposit box might seem outmoded.īut don’t rush to declare the safe deposit box a relic of the past just yet, though many banks are eliminating them (in some communities, private enterprise is stepping in).