Hoarding cash at home is not illegal, but it does carry risks.
- Cash at home: Why it makes sense
- Important to know: Insurance only pays up to 2,000 euros in case of theft
- Bank safe deposit box could be an alternative
Mattresses, biscuit tins and books are popular places for cash. Many people think: Here is my hard-earned money safer than at the bank or savings bank. Hopefully, people are not mistaken. Professionals among burglars also know these hiding places. But what about the legal side of this “Replacement bench”: Am I allowed to hoard a lot of bills at home? We explain the legal situation.
Keeping cash at home: Why it can make sense
Cash is still a popular means of payment, even in times of paying by card. In fact, it even makes sense to have a certain amount of cash at home – for emergencies.
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“Remember to have cash available, as in the event of a power outage, ATMs will also no longer work,” writes the Federal Office of Civil Protection and Disaster Assistance.
In extreme cases, an emergency fund is definitely important. How much money you should have at home depends on several factors: your own income, your own standard of living, and the number of people in the household. A single-person household needs less cash than a family household.
There are no limits
In times of low interest rates, no one could be blamed for not taking their money to the bank in the first place. The Deutsche Bundesbank even conducted a study on this in 2020 and found that that Germans keep an average of 1364 euros at home or in a safe deposit boxBut is that actually allowed? Or is it only permitted up to a certain limit? For a long time now, we have been hearing that the permitted amount of money is 10,000 euros.
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The Money Laundering Act actually knows this upper limit, but only if you want to deposit this or a higher amount into the bank. In this case, you have to prove where the money came from. If you can’t do that, the public prosecutor will investigate. If you have kept large amounts of money at home, it is best not to deposit them all at once into your account.
You also often hear that someone was found with large amounts of money and now this person is in trouble with the police. But that is definitely not true. In the Federal Republic of Germany, not a single law prohibiting the storage of cash at home. Namely no matter what the height.
Theft: Insurance only pays up to 2,000 euros
Thus, storing cash at home is not punishablebut should still be carefully considered. Because what happens in the event of a Water damageone Brandes or at a Burglary with theft with it? Hide cash safely at home – here you will find clever options.
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In the first two cases, even the safest hiding place is of little use. If thieves are looking for it, the money has to be extremely well hidden to avoid falling into the hands of the professionals. Even those who think that their home contents insurance will cover the damage could be mistaken:
The insurance only replaces Damages up to 2,000 euros of cash. To insure larger amounts of money, insurance companies usually require safes that are built into the wall or extremely heavy safes that cannot simply be carried away. The costs of this are a not insignificant investment.
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Bank safe deposit box could be an alternative
But what can you do if you do not want to deposit large amounts of cash into your account and do not want to keep them at home for security reasons? Bank safe deposit box be an alternative. The money is stored there safely and is also insured.
Such lockers can be rented in various sizes from bank branches, so that even larger sums of money or other valuables can be stored there without any problem. The fees for this are usually between 60 and 80 euros per year, depending on the bank.
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Having a lot of money at home is an ambivalent idea
Every three minutes a home is broken into in Germany. Criminals are increasingly finding cash, sometimes a lot of it. Burglars will find any hiding place, warns the police, especially if they have time to search without being disturbed. A safe deposit box could be a solution, if it weren’t for the horrendous fees. It’s cheaper to put your money in a metal box and bury it in the garden. But that’s not very convincing either. If you have money at home, then keep it in a safe and secure it with an alarm.
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Revised by Klaus Heimann
Thumbnail: © Juliane Franke/AdobeStock
