How to Find Lost Money
March 16, 2015A few weeks ago, a truck and the trailer attached to it were stolen from a hotel parking lot in the suburbs of Atlanta. Unfortunately, it seems like crimes like this happen on a daily basis. In the case of this particular theft, it is likely the nighttime bandits had no idea what they were actually stealing.
Imagine the look on the thieves’ faces when they broke open the latch on the trailer and opened it up to see a shiny red NASCAR Sprint Cup car that was race-ready staring back at them. As of result of this brazen act, the car’s driver Travis Kvapil and his team were unable to qualify for the NASCAR Sprint Cup race that weekend. Not only were they out of the race, they were missing a $250,000 car that just doesn’t quite blend in with normal traffic. The car was found 24 hours later but the trailer, backup engine, and other parts were still unaccounted for, setting the team back financially and competitively.
If you’ve ever had anything of value lost or stolen you most likely never forgot that feeling of loss. As a child, I remember our house getting robbed in broad daylight. Miraculously, the thieves were caught and the majority of our items, including my mom’s jewelry box, were recovered.
Some other encounters with people who didn’t get the memo that stealing is wrong didn’t turn out in my favor. During my middle school years, my beloved baseball card collection was jacked from my locker. In high school, it was the theft of my classic leather jacket that was devastating because it appeared like a major setback to my chances of ever getting a date at the time.
Whether we are talking about race cars, jewelry, baseball cards, or faded leather jackets, it is important to remember that these are items that were missed by their owners. However, some of the time, losses occur in our financial lives that we may not be aware of. It has been estimated that over $60 billion is sitting around unclaimed in this country. The sources of unclaimed money include life insurance policies, bank accounts, safe deposit boxes, stocks, bonds, mutual funds, and retirement accounts to name just a few.
Where can you go to find any unclaimed money in your name?
The USA.gov website provides links to finding unclaimed money from the government. The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) is a leading authority on finding unclaimed property and you can use their sponsored search engine MissingMoney.com to conduct a free multi-state search for any lost property that you or a family member may have the rights to claim. You never know what you may find.
Recently, I entered the names of family members into the NAUPA database and was redirected to the Palmetto Payback program (SC’s unclaimed property program). My sister-in-law hit the “jackpot” with $125 owed to her by the telephone company after she closed her account after leaving the state in search for more adventurous winter weather in Boston a few years back. She had absolutely no clue this resource was out there and may have even wondered why her brother-in-law actually spent his free time cyber-stalking lost money on the Internet.
Full disclosure: Yes, I do have a pretty balanced life and don’t always spend my free time searching random financial websites. In this case, I was doing research for this blog and it ended up a success. I’m also thinking that somebody owes me a cup of joe and a high five next time I’m in the Bay State!
The bottom line is that it doesn’t hurt to look for unclaimed money. Yes, it may be a long shot but you can be the hero if you find some money out there that was lost.
There is often an easier (and more effective) way to find lost money.
If the unclaimed property search comes up empty, there is one last place to look for a few extra dollars. Actually, this should be the first place that we all look for some “lost money.” That magical place that holds the keys to found money is often called the “B” word (budget) or more appropriately, a “personal spending plan.”
Whatever you decide to call this resource for extra dollars, take a look and see if you can find some extra money. You can use this (Mostly) Painless Ways to Save Money guide to get started. Another alternative is to use automatic spending plan systems like Mint, Yodlee, and Personal Capital to identify areas where potential financial leakage is occurring.
In our household, the main budget busters remain going out to eat and entertainment. Just a few small lifestyle changes to the tune of $10 in extra savings per day can grow to over $285,000 in 25 years. This Daily Savings Calculator can be used to estimate the potential impact of finding extra money in your financial life.
Hopefully, you will not have any valuable property stolen during your lifetime. Perhaps a bigger threat than potential thieves to our prospects of financial independence is the money we are stealing from ourselves by not having a general spending plan in place to monitor our progress. It doesn’t hurt to take some time to search for unclaimed property but if you are looking to make a higher probability change, take a look at the money that you are potentially hiding from yourself.