Jonah Jacobs1. Unclaimed property exists for a reason.
You wouldn’t think that something like unclaimed property exists, but it’s real since the government, businesses, or other sources sometimes owe money that never gets collected. If you don’t claim what you’re owed, it’ll slip through the cracks.
2. You have good odds at finding unclaimed money.
Do you play the lottery with the hopes of striking it rich? If so, know that your odds of finding unclaimed property are much higher, which is why you should start searching. The odds of winning the Powerball are 1 in nearly 300 million. On the flip side, 1 in 10 Americans has unclaimed money waiting to be claimed.
In other words, you may want to dedicate more time to finding unclaimed property versus playing the lotto, as the search is free and it could be more lucrative.
3. You can earn a good chunk of change from finding unclaimed money.
Speaking of lucrative, here’s how much you could get from finding unclaimed life insurance benefits: A maximum of $300,000 or an average payout of $2,000. Even if it’s the latter, you could still enjoy a nice boost to your bank account.
4. Unclaimed property comes in many forms.
You have several chances at finding unclaimed property, as it exists via:
- Cash
- Checks
- Money orders
- Security deposits
- Contents of safe deposit boxes
- Unpaid wages
- Unclaimed pensions
- Life insurance funds
- FHA insurance refunds
- Tax refunds
- Bank or credit union failures
- Savings bonds
- SEC claims
- Bankruptcy funds
- Foreign claims
5. You don’t need to hire someone to find your unclaimed money.
As we’ll show in a minute, you can start searching on your own without paying a penny.
6. There are several places to search for unclaimed property.
If you want to make a day off profitable, dedicate it to finding unclaimed property through these resources. Don’t just search for unclaimed money in your name, either, as you can do it for family members as well:
- Your state’s unclaimed property office – Where you may find money from businesses that couldn’t locate you.
- A multi-state database – Useful if you’ve moved around a lot.
- Department of Labor database – An excellent resource for finding unpaid wages from employers.
- Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation – Use it to find unclaimed pensions.
- VA database – Look around to find unclaimed life insurance funds for former or current policyholders or their beneficiaries.
- Refunds from the HUD – Look here if you had an FHA-insured mortgage.
- IRS – You can find unclaimed or undelivered tax refunds here.
- Unclaimed money from failed financial institutions – If a bank failed and you were a member, look here.
- Failed credit unions – You could have an unclaimed deposit here.
- Treasury Hunt – Use this site to find unclaimed money from savings bonds.
- Bankruptcy funds – Someone who went bankrupt may owe you money via this resource.
- State tax refunds – Your state may owe you cash for a past tax refund.
