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Do You Have Unclaimed Money?
Did you know that there are billions of dollars of unclaimed money in the United States? Could some of it be yours?
This money includes checking and savings accounts, apartment security deposits, uncashed overtime checks, lost insurance refunds, retirement funds and much more!
Most unclaimed money is held by the state. State law requires banks, brokerage firms and other companies that handle people’s money to turn unclaimed funds over to the state for safekeeping if they’re unable to find the rightful owners of these funds.
Most states participate in a program called MissingMoney (https://www.missingmoney.com/) and I suggest that you search there first.
Don’t worry this site is FREE and doesn’t require much personal information to find out whether you have any money.
You can do a nationwide search from the homepage with JUST your name.
Even if you’ve searched in the past you’ll want to search again as their database gets updated weekly.
I FOUND MONEY!
YUP! I just searched to prepare for this blog post and I actually have some missing money waiting for me to claim!
Google owes me some AdSense money from an old blog (yay me). I’ll be pursuing that shortly.
You may also check individual state databases by clicking on the states menu at the top of the page and then selecting your state or the state you want to search in.
This will bring you to your state’s database. That’s it! Just put in your info and results will pop up for anyone with a similar name.
Just look for any that could be yours (it may be listed under an old address or incorrect spelling) and follow the instructions to claim any that you find!
Go here to check to see if you have any unclaimed money.
You can also search for missing money by individual account websites for which you may have money.
For example, if you know you had a bank account but forget which bank or when it was you had it, you can always check the FDIC website.
See the list of individual sites below and make sure you are typing in the correct address (.gov not .com etc).
Retirement Funds
Have you worked several jobs? Maybe you have left some pension or 401K Money behind at your old job. Check sites like https://www.unclaimedretirementbenefits.com/
Savings Bonds
Did you ever get a Savings Bond when you were a kid? Check the Savings Bonds Government website to find out www.savingsbonds.gov/indiv/tools/tools_treasuryhunt.htm. (Note: This is a .gov not a .com)
Pensions
www.pbgc.gov to go directly to the search page go here http://search.pbgc.gov/mp/
Bank Accounts
Check the FDIC for old bank funds they may have of yours: www.FDIC.com
Tax Return Money
Missing Tax Returns can be found at www.IRS.gov
Social Security
Missing or unclaimed Social Security Checks can be found at www.ssa.gov
TIP: Beware of “Missing Money Finders”. There are hundreds of people called “finders” who have made a business of searching for unclaimed funds for other people and then contacting them to say they’ve found money and will only reveal where and how much if the recipient agrees to give them a cut. Don’t fall for it. Don’t pay for information you can look up for free in 10 minutes!
Other Types of Money You May be Missing and forgot about…….
Lottery Tickets: Do you have tickets around the house (I know I have some I never checked)? Make sure you check them!
Most states I believe you have a year to claim the money. Bring them all to a store with the lottery checker machine (my local slot parlor has one) and you can scan them all yourself to find out if you are a winner. Do not wait to find out you “could” have won.
Gift Certificates/Gift Cards: Each state is different but most of the time Gift Certificates/Gift Cards do not expire. Check your wallet!
Did you find this post helpful? Share it with your friends using the sharing buttons below or above this post. Also, share with me in the comments if you found yourself some missing money!
