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If you need cash to pay bills or just live a little better, you may be able to find hidden money that you might not know about. Many people have assets they over look or have just forgotten about. You can think of it as a treasure hunt that may pay off. Each person should do a quick check of the following list to see if they may have hidden cash. When you are searching, check for yourself and family members, living and deceased, you never know what could have been forgotten. 1. Unclaimed cash from states where you or family members have lived in the past. Check out National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators to search states for unclaimed money. Or check out Missing Money, this is a free service. 2. If you have moved from different states, go back through your records for old bank accounts, brokerage accounts or old employers that may not have been closed or have balances. Contact these institutions directly to check about unclaimed balances. 3. If you had money in a failed bank, check out the FDIC website for unclaimed money. 4. Did you or you children have savings bonds that may have been forgotten. Check out this US Treasury website to look for forgotten bonds. 5. Did you ever work for a company that had a pension plan that you might have forgotten about? Check out the Pension Benefit Guaranty Corporation 6. Do you have a life insurance policy that you no longer need? Check into surrendering the policy or selling it to get a life settlement. 7. If you have a structured settlement or lottery winnings that you are receiving periodic payments, you can sell these future payments for a lump sum. Many times you can sell all or just part of the future payments. 8. Did you own a home? Check into a reverse mortgage. Generally these are only available to seniors who have paid off their homes and have substantial equity to tap. 9. Do you own an annuity that pays you out over time? Check into surrendering the annuity if you have this option but watch out for surrenders charges. If you can not surrender the policy, check into selling the annuity. 10. Did you own a business? Check into getting cash for you receivables, otherwise know as factoring. 11. Did you sell real estate or a business and take back a note that the buyer still owes you money? Check into selling that note. While there are asset locator services who can assist in finding unclaimed moeny, you can do most of the research yourself and save their fee of 10 to 20%. As always, be very careful to protect your personal information and only use trusted firms or websites. * Please consult a lawyer, licensed insurance agent, securities broker, or other financial professional for advice regarding your personal situation. |
Personal Finance
