Money under the mattress, jewelry inside the mattress, rubies under the tub, what if it all gets missing? With the rate of crime these days, many people are scared to keep their money and precious possessions at home. Coming home one day to find your mattress turned over, and your rubies gone is a nightmare, a constant worry for many individuals. It is a situation that no one would like to go through at all. This safety deposit box is a secure container that is held in a vault. Safety deposit boxes are found in post offices, banks, and several other financial institutions. It is used to keep personal possessions such as money, jewelry, important documents, precious gemstones, and some priceless possessions. We will be talking about safety deposit box cost and its features in this article.
How Much Does A Safety Deposit Box Cost?
Safety deposit boxes are rented out to individuals who want to keep their valuables. It is a secured metal box with a lock only you can open. The cost of a safety deposit box varies, and this is because it comes in different sizes. The size rented by individuals depends on the number of things you want to put in for safe keeping. The financial institutions that have safety deposit boxes have prices for the different sizes they offer. However, the average price for a small safety deposit box is $60 annually while the bigger ones go for about $87 to $173 annually.
What Kind of Items Can I Store in a Safety Deposit Box?
Individuals can keep so many valuables in a safety deposit box and they alone have the key to open this safe. People keep things such as:
- Personal Documents such as diaries, memoirs, special letters, and other cherished documents.
- Birth Certificates.
- Citizenship documents.
- Marriage certificates.
- Death Certificates.
- Adoption documents.
- Cherished Family Photographs.
- Piece of Jewelry such as pricy heirlooms.
- Property documents.
- Wills.
- School documents such as Transcripts and Diploma.
- House deeds.
- Vehicles or car titles.
- Records of Costs of Home Improvement.
- Social Security Card.
- Stock and Bond Certificates
- Collectibles such as rare coins, stamps, sports cards, and others.
- Insurance Inventory for homes.
These items mentioned should be safely stored and a safety deposit box does this. Many of these documents such as birth certificates, marriage certificates, death certificates, vehicle titles, and some other documents can be very difficult to replace and is a loss to the owner if these documents are needed urgently. Social Security Cards are also sensitive items and could cause a lot of problems to the owner if the card gets into the wrong hands. Irreplaceable personal items such as old photographs, diaries, collectibles, and others are the most painful to lose as they can never be gotten back.
What Items Are Not Safe in it?
Several items should not find their way into a safety deposit box and many financial institutions who offer this service make this clear to their customers. Such items include:
- Cash
- Original copy of a will/ Power of attorney.
- International Passports.
- Letters of intent/instruction.
- Uninsured jewelry items.
- Spare keys for houses, cars, or safes.
- Hazardous liquid items.
- Health care directives.
- Illegal and dangerous items such as drugs, ammunition, guns, explosives, and other dangerous items.
The Downsides of Storing Items in a Safety Deposit Box
- Limited Access
Individuals who rent safety deposit boxes at banks or other financial institutions face difficulties in accessing their boxes. At a bank, individuals can only access these boxes during business hours and the days that the bank works. Banks are closed in the evenings on working days and do not work on the weekends, so if individuals need the content in their deposit boxes they would have to wait until the official days and business hours of these banks. It is advised not to store items that could be needed urgently in these safety deposit boxes but items you would only need in the long term.
- Cost
There is a stipulated amount for deposit boxes, and this amount depends on the size of the box needed by an individual. This amount is paid annually by the individuals renting them. Banks and other financial institutions can increase the amount of the deposit box annually.
- Safety & Security
As much as banks and other financial institutions always assure their workers about the safety and security of the deposit box, stating the various advanced security methods, storing items and money in them is still not the safest choice. The vaults can be cracked and the boxes robbed. Over the years, there have been several stories of individuals complaining about finding the content of their safety boxes missing. The items in an individual’s safety deposit box are not insured by the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC), individuals are however advised to ensure their items with a private insurer.
Conclusion
Many people are scared to put their money away in deposit boxes and even many banks stopped offering the services believing it to have become an outdated service. This is because of the uncertainties and dangers attached to it. If an individual does not pay the rent when it is due the state has the right to seize your property and would become state property if the government is unable to reach you. The seized items can be sold at auction houses and your property is transferred to another. However safe deposit can be helpful to individuals who do not trust the digital systems of banks
Frequently Asked Questions
- Is There An Alternative To Safety Deposit Box?
- Private Vault Safe/Storage.
- Home Safe.
- Electronic Bank Account.
- What Happens If I Abandon My Safety Deposit Box?
The institution would give the individual a notice for 2 to 3 months after which the box would be forced open. The items would later be given to the state and named Unclaimed property.
