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8 Things To Keep In Your Safe

So you have decided to buy a safe. There’s much to consider when buying a safe. One thing to consider is from which threat do you want to protect your valuables, fire or burglary? Not every safe can do both and most safes only specialize in one. Generally safe deposit boxes are for burglaries while home safes mostly concern fire. Gun safes are made specifically for firearm safety. All safes, however, can harbor your most important items and vital records from natural disasters and human malfeasance.

But what are those items and documents? Metro Lock and Safe are here to list nine types of personal items that qualify for coffer-quality material. Let’s dive right in!

What To Keep In Your Safe

Life Documents

Original birth certificates, social security cards and even passports should be considered life documents, all of them prove citizenship and the rights therein. Original copies of a marriage certificate can help ensure a legal marriage. If you have a Visa or Green Card, storing them in your safe will protect your right to reside in the United States.

Estate Documents

Both living wills and last will and testaments are considered estate documents. But what should happen if you—knock on wood—are in a coma with no chance for recovery or otherwise on the cusp of dying? You will need both financial and medical directives to give powers of attorney to a relative, empowering them with the ability to decide as health care proxies and caretakers. If you are the designated executor for another person’s estate documents, it’s wise to have a copy in your safe. These legal documents are a last dictation in this life, so it’s best to keep them sheltered.

Tax Returns and Invoices

You will want to keep up to seven years of past tax returns saved in a safe in case of audit. Arizona law clarifies it as four years and most states generally do not pursue after three or four depending on the state law. It’s generally accepted that seven years provides a secure cutoff date for financial matters. For invoices, you will want to keep those for extra protection while making insurance claims.

Cash and Jewelry

In the case of fire or burglary, a flat stack of dollars can make for the perfect emergency cash fund and help you stand back up on your own two feet. When it comes to jewelry, it’s a case of valuable item triage. Don’t fret about hoarding all your store-bought stones and baubles in one strongbox. Use the safe for the truly irreplaceable treasures and family heirlooms.

Stock and Bond Certificates

These are essentially investment invoices and receipts. Most stock and bond certificates are now online, but keeping hard copies has never hurt anyone to keep hard copies of these certificates to prove legal ownership of a financial asset. In the case of emergency, these might help you come up with money in a pinch.

Insurance and Medical Information

Be sure to preserve your car, home, health and life insurance policies secure in your safe. A list of medical information including a family doctor’s contact information, a list of medications, and even a backup supply should all be considered for safekeeping.

Backup Hard Drives

With the advent of the information age and the rise of the personal computer, most people today store their most important files on digital mediums. Because digital files take a while to degrade and backup hard drives are small digital copies of documents, family photos, videos and music can all be stored in a relatively little amount of space. With a secured backup hard drive, your next computer can largely pick up where the last one left off in the event of a catastrophe.

Spare Keys

Sometimes it takes less time to grab the spare than find the original. And there’s no better place to keep spare keys secure than in a safe. Car keys, house keys, gun safe keys, if it’s important to life then it’s worth keeping spare keys inside the safe. Consider keeping spare keys to the safe inside the proper safe as well as hiding the originals somewhere in the bedroom.

Can I Keep Firearms In My Safe?

While generally accepted that, yes, small sidearms can be stored in a fire or burglary safe, it is not recommended. The required humidity in a fire safe that protects your valuables can rust the metal components and prevent the firearm from properly working. Moreover, most home safes might house a handgun with some space, but they have no where near the room for a hunting rifle. For hunters and outdoorsmen, it’s better to have a dedicated gun safe because of the storage racks, lack of humidity and mandatory door seal.

Lock and Safe Experts

Home security is one of the most important things you have to ensure as a homeowner. What’s the point of having a nice house if your not things are locked tight while you are away? At Metro Lock and Safe, our professional locksmiths and licensed technicians can help you choose and install a safe that will keep your life’s most important documents and items shielded from disaster. We also specialize in door lock and smart home security system installation. Call Metro Lock and Safe today see how you can transform your home into a castle.

Posted on by Metro-admin
8 Things To Keep In Your Safe

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