Items, such as these items you may need immediately, should be kept safe and sound in your home’s safe.
Spring has come and gone and you still haven’t done a deep clean of your home! Take the time now to wipe away the cobwebs, organize your closets, and clean out the pantry. While you’re at it, pay some attention to the important documents and other items you have in your home safe and bank safe deposit box. If you don’t have a safe, now is a great time to invest; here’s what you’d want to keep inside.
What is a home safe for?
Often, a home safe is perfect for keeping important documents and valuables you wouldn’t need on a regular basis. Important family heirlooms, jewelry, or watches are all items you’d want to keep away for safe storage, as well. Residential safes do a good job of protecting against fire and theft, but they’re not as robust as commercial models. The general rule of thumb is to keep a safe that’s heavy enough that a burglar couldn’t make off with it; bolting it to the floor has its advantages.
Here are some items you’d want to keep inside:
- Insurance policies and your agent’s contact information.
- Passports, original birth certificates, and Social Security cards.
- Photocopies of passports, credit cards, and driver’s licenses, in case they are ever lost or stolen from your purse or wallet.
- Tax documents and tax returns from the past six to seven years.
- A list of your family’s medical information and contacts, including doctors, pharmacies and medications.
- Investment and banking documents, including billing contact information, as well as emergency cash.
- Heirloom and other valuable jewelry and watches.
- Wills and other important legal documents, including wills that list you as the executor.
- Computer backup disks or drives, or other small electronics you don’t use regularly.
- Safe-deposit box keys.
Keep in mind that putting something in your safe is better than just hiding something in your sock drawer, but you’re still susceptible to risks. Think about having document backups as well as insurance for your valuable items. For further insurance information, please contact The Schwab Agency to see what you can have insured at an appropriate rate!