THOUSANDS OF bank branches close each year in America. And with many of them go safe-deposit boxes. So now is the time to consider a home safe.

There are two main categories of home safes: portable lockboxes and safes that you bolt into a wall or floor. Chris McGoey, president of McGoey Security Consulting, prefers the type you mount, because there’s no need to hide it. “The idea of a safe is also to have it accessible. If you’re older, you’re not going to be climbing up on ladders necessarily or going up in the attic,” he says. “If it’s bolted down, room placement doesn’t matter. Burglars will see it, but they won’t be able to get it.”

One more tip: Tell a family member or friend what’s being kept in the safe and how to open it in an emergency. —Aaron Kassraie