Canadian Personal Finance Blog

Archive for the ‘Safety Deposit Box’ Category

I made this posting a while back, but I think it’s worth remembering:

The Safety Deposit Box, Our Friend

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.

Carnivals this Week

So far:

• Money, Matter and More Musings is hosting the Carnival of Personal Finance (Fun Money Facts Edition) has my posting about How Do You Retire with Kids at Home?

… and make a Stash! These are lyrics from Money by Pink Floyd (Dark Side of the Moon).

What does this have to do with this Blog? What are you part of the Topic Police? Lighten up, I can take poetic license when I feel like it!

Now what was I ranting about, a yes, a Stash (no not that kind of stash either, you can go look at the NORML web site for that). I mean an Emergency Money stash, and not just a “rainy day” or a “if I get laid off” stash, this is a real EMERGENCY do not use until glass is broken type fund.

Now why would you need that?

• If you are married and your spouse suddenly dies, ALL your joint accounts are then frozen and you have NO money access. Whoops, didn’t think of that did you? Well, neither did I, but a loved one pointed it out to me (I never said I was smart, but I do know a good point when I hear it).
• Someone steals your spouses identity or worse still YOUR identity and wipes you out? If you can get your money back, it isn’t going to come back quickly, you are going to need an emergency fund somewhere!
• You are in a part of your life where you think you might need to ESCAPE (e.g. abusive relationship).

There are numerous other reasons, but these are the ones that I could think of.

OK, I have convinced you to create the stash? Good! Where do you put it? A bank? Well it isn’t going to really get a lot of interest there, and in there it is EXPOSED. I am thinking of putting some cash away somewhere safe, like say, your SAFETY DEPOSIT BOX (I love it when I can get my stories to intermingle like this).

Remember this money is not a “I want to buy a nice fur coat” fund, it is a “HOLY COW, my life just took a real BAD turn!” fund, so guard it and only use it as a last resort.

Hope for the best, plan for the worst! –C8j