AND NOW LET’S TALK ABOUT OUR ‘FIND YOURS’ TOPIC FOR TODAY: NAMELY, HOW TO MAKE SURE YOU’VE FOUND ALL OF YOUR UNCLAIMED MONEY BY CHECKING EVERY POSSIBLE VERSION OF YOUR NAME. WHAT AM I TALKING ABOUT? THE SIMPLEST EXAMPLE IS MARRIED WOMEN WHO HAVE TAKEN THEIR HUSBAND’S NAME. THEY SHOULD ALWAYS SEARCH FOR UNCLAIMED MONEY UNDER THEIR MAIDEN NAME AND THEIR MARRIED NAME.
BUT THERE ARE ALSO LESS OBVIOUS NAME VARIATIONS TO SEARCH AS WELL. HERE’S A LIST OF THINGS TO TRY WHEN USING THE WEBSITES MISSINGMONEY.COM AND UNCLAIMED.ORG (NOTE, THAT’S .ORG) TO SEARCH FOR UNCLAIMED MONEY:
NUMBER 1: SEARCH YOUR NAME BACKWARDS BECAUSE THE BUREAUCRATS WHO ENTERED IT COULD HAVE FLIPPED IT. SO, I WOULD SEARCH UNDER ELISABETH LEAMY, BUT ALSO UNDER LEAMY, ELISABETH.
NUMBER 2: SEARCH JUST YOUR LAST NAME AND DON’T PUT ANYTHING IN THE FIRST NAME FIELD. SOMETIMES FIRST NAMES GET LEFT OFF OF RECORDS. YOU’LL VERIFY IT’S YOU IF YOU’VE LIVED AT THE ADDRESS LISTED.
NUMBER 3: PUT JUST YOUR FIRST NAME IN THE LAST NAME FIELD AND SEE IF ANY OF THE LISTINGS MATCH AN ADDRESS WHERE YOU HAVE LIVED.
4, PUT YOUR FIRST AND LAST NAME IN THE LAST NAME FIELD. IT MAKES SENSE TO TRY THIS WHEN YOU THINK ABOUT THE GLITCHES THAT HAPPEN WHEN COMPUTERS MERGE SPREADSHEETS.
5TH, SEARCH COMMON MISSPELLINGS OF YOUR NAME. PEOPLE OFTEN THINK MY LAST NAME IS LEAHY INSTEAD OF LEAMY, FOR EXAMPLE.
6TH, SEARCH VARIATIONS ON YOUR NAME. LIKE IF YOUR NAME IS KATHERINE, YOU’LL WANT TO SEARCH KATHERINE WITH A K, CATHERINE WITH A C AND KATHRYN WITH A Y NEAR THE END. I’D THROW IN KATHLEEN TOO.
NUMBER 7: SEARCH FORMAL AND INFORMAL VERSIONS OF YOUR NAME, LIKE ELISABETH, LIZ, LIZZY AND BETH.
8. TRY DIFFERENT NAME PUNCTUATION: FOR EXAMPLE, IF YOUR NAME HAS AN APOSTROPHE IN IT, LIKE THE NAME O’NEILL, TRY ENTERING THE NAME WITH AND WITHOUT THE APOSTROPHE. AND IF YOUR NAME HAS A PREFIX LIKE MACARTHUR, TRY THAT ALL AS ONE WORD AND WITH A SPACE BETWEEN MAC AND ARTHUR.
9: PUT THE NAME OF BANKS AND BROKERAGE FIRMS WHERE YOU HAVE DONE BUSINESS IN THE LAST NAME SLOT BECAUSE SOMETIMES UNCLAIMED INVESTMENT OR RETIREMENT ACCOUNTS ARE LISTED UNDER THE BANK OR BROKERAGE INSTEAD OF UNDER YOUR NAME. YOUR NAME MAY HAVE GOTTEN BUMPED DOWN TO THE ADDRESS FIELD IN THIS CASE.
AND 10TH AND FINAL TIP: PUT THE NAME OF COMPANIES WHERE YOU HAVE WORKED IN THE LAST NAME FIELD AND, AGAIN, LOOK FOR YOUR NAME IN THE ADDRESS FIELD. THIS CAN HAPPEN WITH MISPLACED 401K AND HEALTH INSURANCE MONEY.
