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The snow powder has settled in northern Italy and American athletes are coming home from the Winter Olympics with 33 medals, 12 of them gold. And where will those precious metals end up? In many cases, a sock drawer.
Of 15 athletes interviewed by The New York Times, seven admitted to storing their Olympic medals in sock drawers and socks, while four keep them in nightstands. Figure skating legend Michelle Kwan shared on social media that she keeps her various medals in a walk-in closet alongside shoes and handbags.
On the one hand, storing valuables in a nondescript space has some merit. On the other hand, there are wiser steps to take to secure your valuables, especially ones you can’t easily replace.
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When home storage makes sense for valuables
Your first question might be why these athletes aren’t all storing their Olympic medals in safe deposit boxes at a bank. While it’s likely some are doing just that, there are pros and cons to this method.
Pros: You don’t have to worry about your valuables getting stolen from your house.
Cons: You have to pay for the storage annually, and if something happens to the safe deposit box, like a natural disaster or theft, you’re not necessarily protected. The contents of safe deposit boxes are not FDIC-insured (including cash you keep there). So even if you have your medal in a safe deposit box, you still need to get insurance for it.
Additionally, you can’t access items in a safe deposit box anytime you want. For example, Kiplinger has previously suggested you not store jewelry you wear often in a safety deposit box, since it’s inaccessible. This is also the case for Olympians, who say they frequently have to take their medal to public appearances.
For these reasons, it may actually be safer and more practical to keep your valuables at home, especially if it’s something you can’t replace.
Then there’s the emotional reasons: If you worked hard to win an award or earn enough money to buy a piece of art or memorabilia, you don’t necessarily want to hide it away in a bank. “Some people have their medals in a safety deposit box and haven’t seen them in 20 years — that’s sad,” speed skater Rusty Smith told Today in 2014.
So, let’s say you’ve decided to keep your valuables at home. Now, where do you store it?
The risks of storing valuables at home
Keeping cash and valuables at home obviously comes with risks, primarily in the form of theft and natural disasters.
Burglary risk: Your home can be burglarized randomly or in a targeted manner. To protect yourself from random theft, you should consider investing in home alarm systems, including ones with cameras. But you also have to remember to use that alarm system.
Additionally, if you’re leaving your home for more than a week, you should consider informing your local police department, and they can check in on your home while you’re away.
Then there’s the question of targeted theft. If you don’t want people to be able to Google where you live, you should consider purchasing your home through an LLC or land trust. Talk to an adviser and lawyer to do this properly.
One way to avoid becoming a target is to not let people know you keep valuables in the house. As online commenters pointed out, Kwan telling the world exactly where in the house she keeps her medals may not be a wise safety decision. (Of course, we don’t know what other precautions she has.)
But you don’t have to be a public figure for this to apply: Unfortunately, you can be targeted by people you know and trust. I have friends who have had jewelry and handbags stolen when a pet-sitter brought a thieving friend inside and when someone left a door unlocked during a party. Be aware of what you tell people and who you let have access to your home, even friends. In these cases, too, having cameras can help at least after the fact of a theft.
Where to safely store valuables at home
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In the cases of both burglary and natural disaster, there are some ways to mitigate your risk when keeping valuables at home.
One obvious solution is to store your valuables in a home safe. But: 1. Not all safes are created equal; look for fire-resistant and waterproof safes to protect from disasters.
And, 2. You need to decide if you want a mobile or permanent safe. A mobile safe that you can move around can be the right decision if you’re more concerned about natural disasters destroying your home — you can simply take the safe with you when you evacuate. But portable safes are also strong targets for burglars. If you’re more concerned about theft, use a permanently installed safe.
Common places for thieves to look in a home include anything near entryways, kitchen freezers, mattresses, and dresser, office and nightstand drawers, according to AAA. While a sock drawer might attract thieves, AAA suggests you could stash valuables alongside non-valuable household items, like in storage bins for holiday decor.
You could also invest in clever hiding spots, like fake wall outlets or fake wall vents. It might sound a little Pink Panther-esque to hide a safe in a wall behind a painting, but if you’re concerned about theft, it’s not a bad option.
What if you still want to display your valuable?
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Displaying your valuable could open yourself up to theft, as anyone in the house (or scouring your photos on social media) would know you have it and where it is.
But there’s always the option to get a replica. Many Olympians get replica medals to display, while storing the real ones securely. You could get prints of art or replicas of artifacts and memorabilia to display, while keeping the real version safe and hidden. That’s smart especially if you have an investment piece you hope to one day sell.
One more safe storage option outside the home
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Some athletes have said they let their parents store their Olympic medals for them. If you’re worried about being targeted — or if, like many of these athletes, you travel a lot — passing a specific valuable along to a trusted family member could be an option.
But some athletes have done something perhaps wiser: Donated their medals for others to secure and display. Kristi Yamaguchi and Tara Lipinski both had their medals displayed at the World Figure Skating Museum and Hall of Fame. Yamaguchi told Today in 2014 she was “always been nervous of it getting lost, stolen or even damaged,” while Lipinski expressed the medals are “very safe in the museum” since they have their own security measures.
Donating valuables may also come with tax benefits. Talk to an adviser before proceeding.
And in any case, whether your valuable is in a safe deposit box, your sister’s garage or on display at your local skating club, while it’s your property, you should get it properly insured. You may never be able to get a lost valuable back, but insurance coverage can take away some of the sting.
