YOU MAY HAVE A RIGHT TO THOUSANDS OF DOLLARS AND NOT KNOW IT!

Federal and state governments are holding BILLIONS of dollars worth of unclaimed assets. It is estimated that the federal government is holding $75 billion in assets from 1999 alone. Most of these assets have simply been forgotten. For example, it is common to move and forget about your small bank accounts or a stray final paycheck. After about 7 years, the state or federal government collects these assets and begins searching for the owners. Check with your state's unclaimed property office for the procedure in your state. Sometimes, these funds accrue interest. Best of all, this is a free governmental service.

WHAT TO DO:

Try and think of anything you OR YOUR ANCESTORS might have forgotten or never received. Get papers together that prove who you are (such as drivers license, passport, birth certificate, etc.), check out your state’s unclaimed property website and/or contact the following agencies:

• The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) at http://www.unclaimed.org/ has a listing of state unclaimed property offices and directions for filing claims.
• MissingMoney.com is the official, national source for unclaimed property searches sponsored by the states and NAUPA.
• Send inquiries about savings bonds to the Bureau of Public Debt. You will find the contact information here.
• Ask about T-bills and treasury bonds in person at a Federal Reserve Bank.
• Contact the Social Security Administration for unclaimed Social Security checks.
• The Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation has a large directory of people owed $19 million from terminated pension plans. Over 1,745 pensioners have so far claimed over $5 million in benefits. The average is about $4,000 per person.
• The U.S. Department of Veteran Affairs stores disability accounts and benefit packages for returning military personnel who never collected. This fund goes back to the Civil War.
• The Federal Housing Authority owes refunds to homeowners and their heirs, who prepaid their mortgage insurance and later sold their homes. Send an FHA case number and daytime telephone number to the Department of Housing and Urban Development, Disbursement Branch, P.O. Box 44372, Washington, D.C. 20026-4372, or call 800-697-6967.
• Found Money offers a free search through their database and a follow-up search for $10.