How to Find Free Money

Free money is out there and you just need to know where to look for it in order to claim your piece of the pie. Often the places you will find free money are where you have money waiting that you are either unaware of or forgot about somehow along the line. You may be surprised to learn that there is money sitting out there unclaimed with your name on it. In these trying economic times, every penny counts so it is time to claim what is yours. Here are a few places to begin your search.

Bonds
According to the US Treasury there are currently over fifteen billion dollars worth of matured bonds that have yet to be claimed by their owners, just sitting around. Chances are good that you have a matured bond that you have forgotten about. Maybe your grandparents bought you bonds for your birthday every year until you were ten. While you have been “growing up” those bonds have also been maturing and are ready to be claimed. If you are unsure about whether you have bonds to be claimed, you can visit the treasury’s website and use their “Treasury Hunt” search tool to see if there are any unclaimed bonds under your social security number. Claiming your matured bonds is a profitable path to free money. Looks like grandma knew what she was doing all along.

Unclaimed Assets
It is possible to have unclaimed assets collecting in your state treasury’s office, just waiting to be found. You may be surprised to learn that you have commission checks, unclaimed payroll and even forgotten bank accounts that have collected in your name. If assets go unclaimed after three or more years, they end up in the state’s unclaimed property division. You may have inherited or owned assets and been unaware of it. Sometimes property like gift certificates can even find their way to the state’s care. There is an easy and free way to find out if you have money lying around and that is at MissingMoney.com. This is a national database that is updated monthly. Right now it is supported by forty out of fifty states. If your state is one of the ten not on the list you can go to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA) website and do a state by state search to find out if there is any unclaimed property in your name.

Pensions
Many companies went bankrupt or were bought out by another company in recent times, resulting in a high number of pension plans being terminated. If this happened to you or a family member, you may be able to receive benefits from the Pension Benefits Guaranty Corporation (PBGC). There were over $130 billion of unclaimed benefits last year and you may have been one of the people with money coming your way. You can search the PBGC’s database to see if you have benefits headed your way.

These places to to search are just places to get the money that is owed to you, whether you are aware of it or not. Receiving what is due to you is like getting free money in this economy. Claim what is yours and be a little closer to achieving your financial goals.