7 Things People Often Forget to Secure (Are You One of Them?)

• Documentation.

If you have any documentation lying around that contains personal information, it needs to be kept in a secure place. It’s the documents that you don’t use on a daily basis that often drift to the back of your mind. This includes everything from passports and birth certificates to vehicle titles and social security cards. If you want to avoid identity theft, take an inventory of your most important documents and place them in a secure spot or better yet, a safe.

• Firearms.

If you are a gun owner, keeping any firearms and ammunition in a secure place is not negotiable. Guns can be efficient weapons, but they are also a liability, particularly if you have children in your home. Securing any weapons also ensures criminals cannot gain access to them. Along with storing your weapons in a secure place, it’s also important to secure them again after cleaning or general use.

• Hard Drives.

Do you keep important files and photos on backup hard drives? Where do you store these hard drives? Keeping backups is a must but not if they can be stolen or damaged by water or fire. If you don’t have a safe or lockbox at home that you can use to store backup hard drives, the next best thing is to store them off-site.

• Jewelry and Collectables.

You love looking at your grandmother’s necklace or your rare coin collection, but when last did you consider these items might be at risk of theft or damage? It’s these smaller items that are easy to grab if an intruder had to make their way through your home. And unlike your day-to-day jewelry, you can’t simply replace these items. Safes, chests, and lockboxes are all great storage options for these valuable items.

• Cash.

We all carry some cash on us, so it doesn’t make sense to store this in a safe every day. However, if you happen to keep larger sums of cash at home, it’s essential to store this in a secure place. If you handle cash daily, it’s easy to become complacent. Or perhaps you received a cash gift. You may not realize it was a good idea to place the gift in a safe until it’s been stolen.

• Power Tools.

Power tools are not only a danger if you have children in the house but criminals love stealing power tools for break-ins and quick cash. They could even use these tools to get into your own home. Power tools aren’t cheap, so where are yours currently stored? If anything, your tools should be stored securely in a garage. They should also be in a place that your children can’t easily reach.

• Passwords and Codes.

How do you remember your online passwords and banking codes? Do you know them by heart or are they conveniently written down somewhere? You might not think anyone could possibly get hold of your password until your savings account has been cleared out. If you have trouble remembering your passwords, sign up for password management software. This way, you only require one password or code to access all the rest.