It is said that money doesn’t grow on trees, and there’s no such thing as free lunch. But the truth is you might actually have money you don’t know about.
In the United States, there is approximately $58 billion in unclaimed dollars. And according to The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, 1 in 10 people has unclaimed property.
Most of this unclaimed money comes from federal and state tax returns, but it also includes sources like back wages, uncashed checks, forgotten security deposits, money orders and the contents of safe deposit boxes.
So how do you find out if some of that money belongs to you?
The federal government doesn’t have a central website for finding all sources of unclaimed money, so it takes a bit of detective work. But you don’t need to hire someone to help.
Here are three ways to search for unclaimed money.
- Start at unclaimed.org, where you can search for unclaimed money by state. The search is free, and make sure you search in every state you’ve lived.
- Check with the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) for any refunds that might have gone unclaimed or undelivered.
- Search the Department of Labor (DOL) website for unclaimed back wages, which may be paid to you if your employer broke labor laws. The DOL holds unpaid wages for up to three years.
- Check to see if you have pensions from former employers. You can search for unclaimed pensions from companies that either went out of business or ended a defined pension plan.
Good luck with your search!
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Episode 100 – Bautis Financial Book Club: Animal Spirits by George Akerlof and Robert Shiller