Free Money From the Government
In this article today I’d like to talk about several tips, tricks, and techniques that almost everybody can use to help get free money from the government.
Times are tough across the board. The recession that began towards the end of 2008 that has continued on into 2010 has made life difficult for millions of Americans. Anything we can do to save money or find a little extra money can be a massive benefit and that’s what I want to talk about in this article today.
Most people don’t realize that the government many owe you money that you don’t even know about. It is estimated that both the state and the federal government is holding over $400 billion in unclaimed assets which means basically that one out of every four Americans is owed money by the government.
There are many different ways and many different reasons why the government owes people money; from unknown inheritance to un-refunded utility deposits to uncashed Social Security checks or forgotten insurance policies and dozens and dozens of other things. The government is supposed to make a sort of goodwill or good faith effort to return this money but the fact of the matter is that they hardly ever do so the money just sits there waiting for you to claim it.
So how exactly can you find out if the government owes you money and how can you claim that if they do? It’s a lot easier than you may think.
First contact your state’s office of unclaimed property. Every state has one of these including the District of Columbia. You should check every state where you have ever lived or where a member of your family has ever lived or were you worked or did business of any kind. Most states will probably have a website set up for the office of unclaimed property and a quick search at Google should set you on your way.
Unfortunately the federal government doesn’t have any sort of central office for unclaimed funds like states do. To find out if the federal government owes you money you have to contact specific agencies directly which can be a bit of a hassle.
Certain agencies that you can contact are the Social Security administration, the IRS, the pension benefit guarantee Corporation, the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation or FDIC.
The FDIC may deal with any unclaimed bank accounts you may have forgotten about and the department of housing and urban development may be holding unclaimed mortgage insurance premiums that you may have made on FHA insured loans.
So there you have several very simple tips, tricks, and tactics that almost anybody can use to help find and claim money that the government may owe you. You really will be surprised how easy it can be and you’ll also be surprised how much money they may actually owe you!
