invenio78 t1_iydo4xd wrote on November 30, 2022 at 5:04 PM

Well, his cash is already on fire and burning up at a rate of 8% a year.

If he is unwilling to let go of the cash, how about a safety deposit box? If you want it safe, you have to remove the cash from the home.

As your research has shown, fire proof bags will not protect the money if there is a fire and the house burns down.

Also, what amount are we talking about here? If it's $30k, I wouldn't even bother with any of this stuff and let him be. If it's $5 million, I would take this very seriously and push him non-stop for something safer than keeping it under the bed.

FightsWithFriends t1_iye2la8 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 6:36 PM

Do a graphic demonstration. Pile all the money on the kitchen table. Put a clean liner in their kitchen trash bin.
Count out 2%, dump it in the trash bin and say that was 2018.
Count out 2%, dump it in the trash bin and say that was 2019.
Count out 1.5%, dump it in the bin and say that was 2020.
Count out 7%, dump it and say that was 2021.
Count out 7.5%, dump it and say that is 2022.

Maybe seeing his pile get smaller and smaller like this might help him visualize that keeping wealth in cash and close is a losing strategy. You want some cash just in case, but not too much.

a_latex_mitten t1_iydt9o6 wrote on November 30, 2022 at 5:37 PM

I'm trying to be extra careful about the amount of money so as to not tempt any crazy redditors. He'd probably be quite upset with me if I told him I presented this issue to a random reddit audience lol. I don't think he cares about the cash itself, but I don't know for certain. This is to say, if he were to bite on the safety deposit box, he'd probably bite on just putting into a savings account - which he also has (to my knowledge).

invenio78 t1_iye1uev wrote on November 30, 2022 at 6:31 PM

Ok, so I will presume the amount is in the millions.

The risk of the money being lost in fire/flood/etc is a concern. Simple theft is also a concern as burglary is not that uncommon.

At the end of the day, it is his money. He can make a fire with it if he wants. I would just present your concerns and at the end of the day, he will have to make the final decision. What else can you really do? He can also consider buying something with value (like property, precious metals, etc...) Maybe he just wants it in something he can touch?