Who doesn’t love free money? We certainly do! So what would you say if we told you that you could potentially land yourself a nice big (free) Paycheck? Yeah, we thought you’d pay attention. 😁
Here are Five Fast Facts on unclaimed property:
- 🤔 What Is It? - Unclaimed funds or property is money or assets whose rightful owner can’t be tracked down. Assets are usually turned over to the state government after a period of time has passed without the owner being found. If it sits there long enough (five years in most states), it can then be claimed by anyone who can show a reasonable right to being the owner. Ooh, ooh, pick me, pick me, pick me!✋
- 🔍 Where Does It Come From? - Lots of places. It could be uncashed payroll checks, accounts left when someone passes away with no known beneficiaries, things left behind when someone moves and doesn’t leave a forwarding address, and so on. While it may seem strange to leave these things behind, it happens all the time, both at the federal level and at every state level. Think of it as a financial Lost and Found.
- 📈 Just How Much Is There? - There’s almost $50 billion sitting in unclaimed property across the nation. New York is the state with by far the highest amount ($13 billion), followed by Massachusetts ($2 billion) and Nevada ($800 million). Georgia is the lowest, with $153 million. But that’s still a LOT of available cheddar!
- 🇺🇸 Where To Go For Federal - To check the various federal sources to see if you can claim anything, go here. There are a bunch of databases and sources to look through, but spending a bit of time looking can net you some nice payouts. And you probably don’t even need to be as lucky as winning the lottery!
- ✔️ Where To Go For States - For a list of all state resources, go here. Each state has its own site and process, but feel free to check every state where you’ve ever lived or worked. Paychecks incoming!
🔥Bottom line: Let’s be honest, most unclaimed property checks aren’t going to change your life, but they can be pretty nice. The average amount of returned checks in 2022 was just over $2k. Not too shabby! Estimates are that 1 in 10 Americans have unclaimed property somewhere just sitting there waiting for them, so...what are you waiting for? Go get that free Paycheck!
Have you ever claimed unclaimed property before?
Let us know by connecting with us on Facebook and Instagram! Also, remember to share this newsletter with your friends & coworkers!
BTW, If you’ve read this far and haven’t yet signed up for the weekly Paycheckology newsletter, CLICK HERE!
