3379: Snatch Up Your Long Lost Money by J. Money of Budgets Are Sexy on Tracking Down Lost Assets

Summary

Podcast Summary: Optimal Finance Daily, Episode 3379

Title: Snatch Up Your Long Lost Money
Date: December 7, 2025
Host: Diania Merriam
Featured Content by: J. Money of BudgetsAreSexy.com

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Episode Overview

In this episode, Diania Merriam narrates and comments on a blog post by J. Money titled "Snatch Up Your Long Lost Money," which explores the surprisingly prevalent issue of unclaimed assets in the United States and how listeners can track down and recover lost or forgotten funds. The episode provides practical steps for searching for unclaimed money, shares personal anecdotes to illustrate the process, and highlights additional resources for finding lost assets—including retirement benefits.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

The Hidden Treasure Trove: Billions in Unclaimed Money

• Massive Scale of the Problem:
  • J. Money cites that "millions of people are missing out on billions of dollars they've forgotten about over the years. $58 billion to be exact." (01:24)
  • On average, individuals who claim lost funds find $892 per person.
• Personal Story:
  • J. Money shares a humorous anecdote about his wife's tendency to forget about money: "If I didn't know better, I'd think she's allergic to money." (02:03)
  • He recounts successfully reclaiming a decade-old paycheck worth $355.38 for her, demonstrating that these programs are legitimate.

What is Unclaimed Money?

• Definition:
  • "Unclaimed property, sometimes referred to as abandoned, refers to accounts in financial institutions and companies that have had no activity, generated or contact with the owner for one year or a longer period," as per Unclaimed.org. (03:00)
• Typical Examples:
  • Savings/checking accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler’s checks, unredeemed gift certificates, insurance payments, utility deposits, and safety deposit box contents.
• Universal Application:
  • Every U.S. state, plus D.C., Puerto Rico, U.S. Virgin Islands, and several Canadian provinces have programs to help reunite citizens with lost assets.
  • "Even celebrities are owed money." Notable examples include Lindsay Lohan, Cindy Crawford, Justin Timberlake, and Barack Obama – each missing hundreds to hundreds of thousands of dollars. (04:31)

How to Search for and Claim Your Lost Money

• Step-by-Step Process:
  1. "Go to missingmoney.com and type in your name and state." (04:55)
  2. Refine the search if your name is common, using middle initials, city, or state for accuracy.
  3. If you find a possible match, answer verification questions and follow the site’s instructions to file a claim.
  4. Alternate option: Visit Unclaimed.org to find your state’s specific site.
• Pro Tip: Check not just for yourself, but also on behalf of relatives, friends, or even deceased loved ones (inheritance cases).
  • "Hook up your brothers and sisters and your mamas and your papas to make up for all the dumb stuff you ever put them through..." (06:16)
• Motivational Nudge:
  • "Hit up missingmoney.com right now before you click on the next shiny item you see online and grab your money. … It'll be the easiest money you've ever made." (06:56)

Host Commentary: Diania Merriam’s Takeaways

• Discovery of New Resource:
  • "While I've heard of Unclaimed.org, MissingMoney.com is new to me, so I definitely had some fun on that site after reading this article." (09:15)
  • Diania didn't find money for herself but found about $100 for her partner, highlighting the usefulness of searching for loved ones, too.
• Prevalence of Unclaimed Money:
  • "Approximately 1 out of every 10 Americans has unclaimed money waiting out there somewhere." (09:33)
• Broader Scope – Unclaimed Retirement Benefits:
  • Recommends searching the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits for old 401(k)s and checking with tools like Beagle (for a fee).
  • "Even if you don’t find anything, a 401(k) could still be floating out there." (10:08)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• J. Money:
  • “If I didn’t know better, I’d think she’s allergic to money.” (02:03)
  • “More than likely there’ll be like 200 of you out there, so try to narrow the search...” (05:12)
  • “After you search for yourself, hook up your loved ones too...and even for money long lost and owed to your deceased loved ones…” (06:16)
  • “It’ll be the easiest money you’ve ever made. And in the future, never lose your money to begin with.” (06:56)
• Diania Merriam:
  • “[MissingMoney.com] is new to me, so I definitely had some fun on that site after reading this article.” (09:15)
  • “If you’ve ever banked anywhere, rented anything, put down a utility deposit, or given a gift card that the recipient didn’t use, you could have money waiting for you to claim.” (09:36)
  • “Approximately 1 out of every 10 Americans has unclaimed money waiting out there somewhere.” (09:33)
  • “You can search the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits, which helps employers connect with former employees who have left assets behind in a retirement plan.” (10:01)

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Timestamps for Important Segments

• 01:23 – J. Money introduces the concept of unclaimed money and shares a personal anecdote
• 03:00 – Definition and examples of unclaimed property
• 04:31 – Celebrities and surprising recipients of unclaimed assets
• 04:55–06:56 – Step-by-step guide for searching and claiming unclaimed money
• 09:15 – Diania’s reaction and new discovery (MissingMoney.com)
• 09:33 – Prevalence and ways unclaimed money accumulates
• 10:01 – Retirement benefits: searching for lost 401(k)s

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Practical Actions & Resources

• Primary Search Sites:
  • MissingMoney.com – National search engine for unclaimed property
  • Unclaimed.org – Directs users to state-specific programs
• Unclaimed Retirement Benefits:
  • National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits
  • Beagle – Paid service to find and rollover old 401(k) accounts
• Family & Friends:
  • Search for loved ones and help them with claims, including deceased relatives for inheritance cases

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Tone & Style

The episode is lighthearted, encouraging, and empowering. J. Money infuses humor into the topic, making it approachable and relatable, while Diania Merriam’s commentary is enthusiastic and practical, urging listeners to take immediate action.

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Final Motivational Word from the Episode:
"Even if you have to break it into two steps—searching, then filling stuff out—it’ll be the easiest money you’ve ever made." – J. Money (06:56)

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For anyone interested in snagging forgotten cash, this episode provides not only motivation but a step-by-step roadmap to go hunting for your own lost or forgotten money. Check sites like MissingMoney.com, and don’t forget to share the love with friends and family!

Transcript

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This is Optimal Finance Daily. Snatch up your long lost money By j. Money of budgetsaresexy.com.

This is going to sound scammy, I know, but millions of people are missing out on billions of dollars they've forgotten about over the years. $58 billion to be exact. And today I'm happy to report that number just dropped by $355.38. You may recall from last year that my wife is an accidental hoarder of money she forgets cash in birthday cards, jacket pockets, graduation cards from 11 years ago. True story. And apparently also paychecks worth hundreds of dollars she never cashed. The check pictured in this article was long earned and forgotten over a decade ago from temp work she picked up after graduating college. I finally convinced her a year ago to do her own research for unclaimed money. And by convince her I mean I did it for her and she finally got around to submitting the claim. If I didn't know better, I'd think she's allergic to money. Still, this is solid proof that this stuff's legit. And I'm willing to bet a good portion of you are probably owed money you've long lost too. If you can believe it, the average amount people fine is $892. How insane but also awesome is that? If you're wondering why or how or even what unclaimed money's about, listen on what is unclaimed Money according to Unclaimed.org, run by the national association of Unclaimed Property Administrators. Unclaimed property, sometimes referred to as abandoned, refers to accounts in financial institutions and companies that have had no activity, generated or contact with the owner for one year or a longer period. Common forms of unclaimed property include savings or checking accounts, stocks, uncashed dividends or payroll checks, refunds, traveler's checks, trust distributions, unredeemed money orders or gift certificates in some states, insurance payments or refunds and life insurance policies, annuities, certificates of deposit, customer overpayments, utility security deposits, mineral royalty payments, and contents of safe deposit boxes. End quote Here are some other interesting facts. Every U.S. state, District of Columbia, Puerto Rico and U.S. virgin Islands and Quebec, British Columbia and Alberta in Canada have unclaimed property programs that actively and continuously find owners of lost and forgotten assets. Claims can be made into perpetuity, in most cases even by heirs. Unclaimed property laws have been around since the 1930s, but have become much broader and more enforced in the last 25 years. An unclaimed property is one of the original consumer protection programs. Even celebrities are owed money. In 2013, Lindsay Lohan was owed $1,560, Cindy Crawford $101,900, Justin Timberlake was out $3,579, and even Barack Obama is owed money to the tune of $700. How busy can they be to ignore such fortunes? How to claim your abandoned property if you finally believe me that this is real and you're now excited to go see just how much you're owed too. FYI, I'm not getting paid a penny to pfft these sites. I'm trying to get you the pennies. Here are the steps to get going. Number one go to missingmoney.com and type in your name and state. 2. See if anything shows up. More than likely there'll be like 200.

[A]

Of you out there, so try to.

[B]

Narrow the search by using a middle initial and city and state to speed things up. If you've lived in over 20 places in your life like I have, it may take you longer, but hey, it's free money. And number three, if you find something that could be yours and you answer yes to all the questions that pop up, it'll then direct you over to the place to file your missing money report. Not to be confused with Missing Persons Report. More than likely, this will be your own state site, and it's set up for this in Virginia, where we now live. It's vamoneysearch.org if that's too overwhelming, you can also just go to unclaimed.org and and click on the pretty map to go directly to your state site. But I Recommend [e-mail] in case you have cash waiting for you in states you've long forgotten about. After you search for yourself, hook up your loved ones too. You can do a search for your significant others like I did, Then also hook up your brothers and sisters and your mamas and your papas to make up for all the dumb stuff you ever put them through, as well as your best friends, any companies you own or a part of. And then even for money long lost and owed to your deceased loved ones, it generally takes a handful of seconds to get started. And there's no excuse for not giving it a shot unless you've already done it this week and in which case tell us how much you found so you're ready to go searching. Hit up missingmoney.com right now before you click on the next shiny item you see online and grab your money. Even if you have to break it into two steps. Searching, then filling stuff out. The annoying part? It'll be the easiest money you've ever made. And in the future, never lose your money to begin with.

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While I've heard of Unclaimed.org MissingMoney.com is new to me, so I definitely had some fun on that site after reading this article. While I didn't find any money for myself, I did get some hits for my Midwestern gentleman who and he was delighted to see that there's about $100 waiting for him to claim. In reading more about this, I learned that approximately 1 out of every 10Americans has unclaimed money waiting out there somewhere. Good Morning America even had a long running segment called Show Me the Money where they reunited people with their long lost money. If you've ever banked anywhere, rented anything, put down a utility deposit, or given a gift card that the recipient didn't use, you could have money waiting for you to claim. Another thing you might want to look into is if you have any 401k accounts from old jobs that you forgot about. You can search the National Registry of Unclaimed Retirement Benefits, which helps employers connect with former employees who have left assets behind in a retirement plan. Your employer would have needed to add your records to the database, so even if you don't find anything, a 401k could still be floating out there. You could also try a service called Beagle. They advertise that they can help you find old plans, review your plan's fees, and even help you roll over Those left behind 401ks into an IRA. This service comes with a fee, but if you know you have an account out there that you can't find, it could be worth it. And that will do it for another edition of Optimal Finance Daily. Have a great day. Thank you for listening and be sure to come back tomorrow for more where your optimal life awaits.