Ever moved house, changed jobs, or closed a bank account?

There’s a 1-in-7 chance a US state is holding money with your name on it — and nobody is going to call and tell you.

$70 billion. 33 million Americans. Here are the 11 official places to look, and the 5 things to write down before you start.

Free. Every source inside is an official government program.

Nobody is going to ask for you.

A final paycheck goes to an address you left in 2019. A refund lands on a policy you cancelled. A 401(k) sits at a company that’s been acquired twice.

After one to five years, the law forces whoever holds your money to hand it to the state. And there it sits. Indefinitely. No letter, no phone call.

States returned $4.49 billion last year to people who thought to look. Seventy billion is still sitting there.

Here’s the part that should annoy you.

An entire industry is built on this. “Finders” run the same free search you could run, locate your money, then offer to recover it for a cut — legally, capped around 10 to 15 percent.

Someone gets paid a slice of your own money for typing your name into a free government website.

And some of it has a clock on it.

→ Unpaid wages the Labor Department recovered for you: held three years, then the Treasury keeps it.
→ An unclaimed tax refund: three years from the due date, then it’s gone permanently.
→ The federal savings bond tool shut down on 30 September 2025 — most advice online now points at a dead page.

The Claim List

18 pages. 11 official sources. No filler.

→ The national database that searches 49 states at once. Free. (p5)
→ The 5 things to write down first. Skip this and you’ll find nothing and assume there’s nothing there. (p3)
→ The Labor Department tool showing whether an old employer was caught underpaying you. (p6)
→ Why $500 per illegal robocall is federal statute — and the one thing you must start doing today. (p15)
→ The one-sentence question that separates a real claim service from a scam. (p2)

Plus lost pensions, life insurance, failed banks, savings bonds, FHA refunds, and settlements you already qualify for.

Why is it free?

Because everything in it is free.

Charging you for a list of free things would make me the exact thing this guide warns you about.

What I’m not going to tell you

That there’s money waiting for you. I don’t know.

Most people find nothing. About one in seven find something. Twenty minutes is how you learn which one you are.

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PS. - Most people find nothing because they search their current name once, and stop. Page 3 fixes that.

@money.fixes