Do You Have Missing Money? It’s Time To Check!
The financial statement is a great tool for listing all your property and accounts. As you’re looking down the list, ask yourself– is there anything missing? If you’ve had multiple jobs, moved residences or inherited property, it’s worth it to check if there’s some asset of yours you didn’t realize you had!
State Unclaimed Property Search:
Check out the official website of your state’s unclaimed property program. To find it, search on the internet by simply entering your state and “unclaimed property” or look at the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to direct you to your state’s site. Here you can search for unclaimed funds using your name or the names of deceased family members.
Missing Money Databases:
There are other online databases that consolidate information from multiple states and organizations. Check out the following sites to continue your search for missing funds.
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- MissingMoney.com
- Unclaimed.org
- Treasury Hunt on TreasuryDirect.com for missing savings bonds or interest
- The IRS’s Where’s My Refund for missing tax refunds
Pension and Retirement Plans:
If you’ve worked for multiple employers throughout your career, you may have retirement funds or pensions from previous jobs that either you didn’t know about or have forgotten about. Search the following sites:
- Department of Labor’s Abandoned Plan database
- US Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation
- National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits
There are some organizations who claim they can help you find unclaimed money for a fee, but don’t do it. These sites listed, mostly governmental sites, are free to use and just takes a little effort to submit the documents to prove the money is yours. It is such a joy to hear back from a client who found a pension from an old job or received a check from a forgotten store credit. It usually isn’t a significant amount, but whether it adds up to a cup of coffee or a dinner out, it’s time to check if there’s something out there for you.
