Unclaimed money is money that you are owed from another person, organization, or government entity. There are a variety of reasons why your money can go unclaimed. In this post, you will learn about the most popular types of unclaimed money.
If you forget to file your taxes, or if you have forgotten to file them in years past, you could have an unclaimed tax refund from the Internal Revenue Service (IRS). This is why it is so important to file your taxes every year. Even if you don't think you owe any money in taxes, you could still get a refund, depending on your income and family size.
Visit the IRS website to search for unclaimed funds.
Note: This process can be a little tricky, so you might want to contact the IRS directly if you get stuck.
Banks sometimes shut down. If you have money in a bank account that closes, you are still wed that money, no matter how large or small the amount. That's because, by law, all bank deposits must be FDIC-insured.
Search for unclaimed bank funds on the official FDIC website.
Credit unions sometimes go out of business, too. When that happens, all of the remaining deposits, if they were federally insured, are transferred over to the National Credit Union Administration (NCUA).
Specifically, NCUA's Asset Management and Assistance Center oversees the deposits and reimbursing account holders for their unclaimed funds.
Search for unclaimed credit union deposits in NCUA's Unclaimed Deposits Listings.
In 2019, the United States Government handed out a historic amount of financial benefits to United States citizens as a part of the CARES Act. Surprisingly, millions of Americans have still not claimed their checks, which are handed out by the IRS.
Visit this IRS website to see if you are eligible for a stimulus check, or to check on the status of your payment if you qualify.
As you can see, there are a number of ways that money can become unclaimed. It's also free and easy to investigate whether you are owed any money by researching the above resources.
Here's to making sure that you don't leave any unclaimed money hanging in limbo!