Finance Wanted.

By Russ D Johnson

Iowa is known to the rest of the nation as the place where presidential caucuses are held, but there's more to the Buckeye State than pandering politicians. There are millions of dollars in Iowa unclaimed money owed to regular citizens who only need to come forward and claim what is rightfully theirs. Iowa and states across the country continue to take in millions of dollars in unclaimed money each year, and the amount taken in far outpaces the amount returned to the rightful owners. This means that the abandoned money pile grows bigger every day giving better odds of finding a claim to all citizens.

A program called "The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt, which is managed by the office of State Treasurer Michael L. Fitzgerald, handles Iowa's unclaimed property. According to The Great Iowa Treasure Hunt's website, the most common types of missing money include (but are not limited to): dormant bank accounts, utility refunds, uncashed checks, unclaimed wages, safe-deposit boxes, insurance dividends, stock certificates and dividends. Iowans who have or have had one or more of these types of accounts have a great chance of discovering money owed to them, and are encouraged to search often.

Iowa is what is known as a "custodial state" when it comes to dealing with unclaimed funds. This means that the state never takes ownership of forgotten assets, they simply hold them indefinitely until the true owner, or a descendant (if the owner is deceased), finds and claims them. This is nice because many people aren't even aware of the lost money phenomenon yet and those that have generally still don't know the proper way to search. Not having time constraints on when a claim must be filed can put minds at ease for those just learning about these monies.

While most people have still not heard of unclaimed money, those that have often dismiss it immediately because they simply can't believe that there are literally tens of billions of dollars owed to citizens across the country. The sad reality is, these people are letting their own cynicism stand between them and their money! Death, divorce, moving without leaving a forwarding address, and clerical errors are some of the most common reasons that money is abandoned, and it's surprising how often little things can allow large amounts of cash to slip through the cracks.

While there are a handful of people who are aware of unclaimed money, the vast majority of them don't know where to begin their search. Some people will tell you that you can just put your name in to any old site boasting a found money database one time and get a thumbs up or down. Not true. First of all, you need to be sure the list of records comes from the state you intend to search. Next, you need to be aware that each type of unclaimed property has a unique "dormancy period", or time which must pass before it must be turned over to the state. Because of this, assets are turned over all the time, so it is necessary to search frequently, as we can never be sure when the state's official records will be updated.

The best way to be sure you're fully informed about how to perform a thorough unclaimed money search is to learn how the pros do it, and then put those tips to work for you in your own search.

Unclaimed money and property expert Russ Johnson has been assisting Americans in finding their unclaimed money online since 1997. His site, http://www.unclaimedmoney.net, is updated regularly and offers guaranteed official searches for Iowa unclaimed money and missing money across the country.