Canadian Personal Finance Blog

There are very few things in a bank I view as necessary, but one thing I do view as really important is my Safety Deposit Box.

In my Safety Deposit box I keep bonds, an old stock certificate, and my wills. Why couldn’t I just keep those things at home? I don’t want to do that thanks. The advantages of a Safety Deposit box are many to me (my opinions follow):

• I can write off the cost of my box rental as a carrying charge (in Canada you can do this), that’s good. I pay about $30 for the box, before my tax kickback on the write off.
• This is OFF-SITE storage from my house. I should really put copies of my insurance policies in there as well, that way if someone breaks into my house or my house burns down (God forbid), I have a copy SAFE somewhere else. Might be good to put a home inventory in there too
• I love writing in this blog, because a lot of times I think of things while writing, I wouldn’t have!
• The bank is more secure than my house ever will be. Safety of this information is really important, and someone else worrying about it, is one less thing for me to worry about.
• Who is going to break into a bank and then find my safety deposit box, and then steal what is in it? Maybe someone reading my blog? Hope not :-).

These reasons are why I have a safety deposit box, and not a home strong box, or wall-safe to protect my important papers.

No matter HOW you decide to protect your important papers and information, DO IT! Use a Safety deposit box, a strong box, a wall-safe, but keep those papers safe! It’s important. It’s all part of the Financial Plan.

–C8j