I just had to reblog this :) It's awesome that he found a friend who wanted to help :)
And yes, it seems pretty important to have those keys. I have mine and recently tested it out via the show keys option. Had to try something that only the master key could do!
Yep - that is a good test. I have changed my keys a few times and it is always a stressful event :)
There would be another way to protect your funds, but it would be harmful to your account at least temporarily. You can always power down, move it all to another account, change the keys, then restore the funds! How risky is changing keys?