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.