I guess "денежные средства" means "cash resources" (or something like that) in this case, if we are talking about a private individual. It's an official way to say "money in the pocket".
On the other hand, if we consider the situation as lawyers, the answer your teacher is completely correct, because we need to pay attention to all kinds of money: cash, stocks, obligations etc. All that can look like "papers" and be placed in a safe or pocket.