!7: Promo Office Safes: 2011

!±8± Where are the Safest Places to Live?

A recent front page article in The New York Times noted that "the devastation from Gulf Coast hurricanes is serving as a strong reminder that possible disasters could lay waste to cities and states across the country." Fortunately, environmental hazards are not uniformly distributed across America; many attractive locales are relatively safe.

Warren R. Bland, professor of geography at California State University, Northridge and author of Retire in Style: 60 Outstanding Places Across the USA and Canada, has prepared a list of ten U.S. places that are unusually safe in terms of potential exposure to five major environmental hazards. He considered degree of potential exposure to flooding due to hurricanes and tsunamis, as well as threats to life and property from earthquakes, tornadoes, radon gas, and air pollution. All ten places have a zero chance
of catastrophic flooding from hurricanes and tsunamis, and in all ten the dangers from earthquakes, tornadoes and air pollution are in the zero to low threat range. Only radon gas, an often overlooked threat to health, is so widespread across America that it poses a significant risk, if unabated, in five of the ten environmentally safest cities and towns.

Dr. Bland's top ten environmentally safe places are: Austin, Texas; Fredericksburg-Kerrville, Texas; Pinehurst-Southern Pines, North Carolina; Prescott, Arizona; Colorado Springs, Colorado; Eugene, Oregon; Ithaca, New York; Portland, Oregon; San Antonio, Texas; and Tucson, Arizona.

Where are the Safest Places to Live?

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!±8± Security Safe For the Home VS Bank Deposit Box

Most middle-class home owners probably don't consider themselves to be rich. However, a quick inventory of the family home or apartment usually produces easily stolen valuables such as:

Jewellery - including heirloom pieces. Collectibles - stamps, coins etc. Silverware - especially small items like cutlery and serviette rings. Medals, possibly from past generations. Gemstones - for a special gift occasion Securities, title deeds, wills etc. Family records - birth, marriage and death certificates (targets for identity fraud)

While these items are usually insured in case of loss, most people want to avoid the loss altogether, as the real value to the owners are the memories attached to them.

Home Safe

A home owner looking to protect valuables would enquire about home safes - their cost, security level, methods of installation and placement. Of course, the more valuables to be stored, the bigger the safe required, which increases the cost and difficulty of suitably locating it.

Safe Deposit Box

This is a rental service provided by most banks and financial institutions. It protects privacy as no-one, not even bank officials, knows the contents except the person who signs the rental contract. The deposit box is stored in a concrete or steel safe or vault protected by sophisticated alarm systems and security procedures.

Things to Consider When Making a Choice

Some questions to ask when deciding between a security safe for the home and a safe deposit box:

What is the most secure in case of fire or natural disaster? If I need to get my valuables quickly, what is the most convenient? What happens to my deposit box if the bank goes bust? Is my deposit box automatically insured by the bank? Does having a home safe make my house a target for thieves? What would my insurance company prefer me to do? If I pay my rental fees on a deposit box, does this guarantee I won't get robbed? What if I can't access my deposit box through e.g. illness or incapacity? How can my family get access?

The prudent home owner considers all scenarios before making any decision, but there are several issues that could be considered drawbacks to having a safe deposit box:

Inconvenience - unable to access the contents quickly, especially over a weekend. Not insured - the box is a storage space provided as a service, and not insured by the bank. Not guaranteed - robbery or damage in a natural disaster, while unlikely, is still possible. Paying twice - keeping things that don't need quick access in a deposit box, and other valuables in a home safe, increases the cost.

Home security safes meet stringent quality standards, are relatively inexpensive depending on size, and installation can be arranged by reputable and experienced people. It is hard to beat the convenience of having your valuables close at hand in a secure environment for a "once-only" cost, and all of it properly insured through your broker.