I've reached the point where stacking important papers in the back of the closet is no longer cutting it. My credit union does not offer safe deposit boxes. They seem to have gone out of favor, compared to fire-resistant and water-resistant strong boxes you keep at home.

What do you folks use and recommend for storing valuable documents? What important papers do you safeguard and where do you keep them?

We use a key-locked 1 hour rated "safe" inside an antique fire-and-burglary rated large safe. The large safe is old enough that the original fire rating is questionable but it will pretty much eliminate the possibility of water damage to the modern papers "safe". But we really need to add a couple of fire-rated "safes" as the volume of items archived has grown exponentially over the kid years. Plenty of room for them in the big antique safe - it's just a piece of furniture not used for valuables storage, although no ordinary burglar would be able to crack it without a lot of time and neighbor-alerting noise and it's hardly portable at over half a ton weight. A safe-cracker would have it open in 10-20 minutes, but we're hardly a target for that sort.

But we also archive some important information electronically and copies of those are off-site.

There is no perfect answer.

Thank you. And I'm not looking for perfection. I'm looking for something that will get the job done.

Besides, perfection is overrated. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" />

It is feasible to DiY build a *very* effective fire rated enclosure of whatever volume you are willing to sacrifice space for. Details vary with house construction and your comfort level with various building materials. Burglar-proof is another, more inscrutiable, topic that I demur on due to lack of certain knowledge.

I have an enormous safe about the size of a refrigerator and twice as heavy. It keeps guns, jewelry, papers and a lot more. <img src="/images/graemlins/smile.gif" alt="" /> And yes it is of course very fireproof.

I'd definitely go for the safe deposit box. I never heard of them falling out of favor. If there's a fire, a home safe will protect your papers for a few hours tops, and that's for an enormous safe. Bank safe deposit vaults have several feet thick walls, sprinkler systems, etc., plus they are not around so much flammable stuff, so the protection is much better. The box rental is fairly cheap compared to a serious home safe, and it's much easier to let someone else deal with the maintenance hassles.

I have scanned all of the papers I consider important(licences, certificates, passports) and have burned CD's I have in several places. They get updated about once a year after I have paid taxes. The home CD is in with the actual papers in the FP safe. One is in a safe deposit box and one is in the safe at the office.

Sorry to be such a geek...
Rena

Dumb question time, I guess...

Let's say something happens to the originals. How do you use the scans? Are they just to record the data (policy numbers, addresses, telephone numbers, account numbers, etc), or can you print them out and use 'em as if they are the originals?

I use it just to maintain a record of what I've got. It's easier than making a list of all the relevant information, including the customer service numbers on the back. Just scan it, and forget it. Hopefully, you'll never need it, and you re-scan if you update anything in your wallet.

I reckon that printing them won't really replace original documents, as they won't have any legal value.

But just having the data may be the first step to reconstruct evidence, reclaim or search for "new" originals. Or simply prove your good faith.

Having a 'paperless' trail with scanned evidence is what I meant to do. Most of what I have I know I can get duplicates for, like marrage or death certificates. The things that I consider important, like the geneology made by my grandmother, got scanned along side the other things. I always scan copies of my tax returns. Something I caught from my Father, in reverse... (too long, just let's say he should have)

What papers cannot be redone? I know I can get new birth/marrage/death certificates. I know I can get new SS and ID's. My taxes are handled by an accountant and he has copies. I don't have a mortgage and for the rental I have for my business, they have copies of all the lease agreements. I have a broker for the few stocks and bonds I have, so those aren't even in the house. I think the only things I cannot reproduce easily are the family oriented things.

What papers do other people deem important enough to keep in a box? (fireproof and metal though it may be, it is still a box!)

Rena

I keep some stuff like my birth certificate in a safe deposit box, not so much because it's irreplaceable, but so that I know where it is instead of letting it get lost shuffling around the house somewhere.

I also keep some of my computer backups there, so if the house gets swept off in a hurricane or whatever, I still have the data.