Fortune Hunting: Tips for Discovering Hidden Treasure

Inspiration for this week’s article came to me over the weekend as I enjoyed watching my son, and his gang of cousins, scavenge for hidden Easter Eggs during our get together at Grandma and Grandpa’s house. Hundreds of pastel plastic eggs are strategically hidden, some more in the open for the youngest – others a bit more concealed for the pre-teens and teenagers, and each are filled with a little Easter treasure of candy or the occasional dollar. This spring ritual holds fond memories for the adults as we catch up with friends and family after the winter months and are entertained by our youngest family members searching for treasure.

As I watched the family fun, I began thinking about an opportunity my readers have to search for their own hidden treasure. You may be entitled to a small fortune in lost, abandoned or unclaimed money that you were unaware even existed. State treasuries often hold unclaimed assets which can include bank accounts, pensions, savings bonds, CD’s, escrow accounts, insurance checks, and forgotten retirement funds. According to the Minnesota Department of Commerce website nearly $264 million worth of property has been returned to Minnesota residents since the Unclaimed Property Program began in 1969, and as of June 2009, more than $400 million worth of property still remains unclaimed.

My suggestion is that you take a few moments today to do your own search for hidden treasures. Even if you don’t find any of your own lost treasures, there’s a good chance that during your search you will uncover some forgotten fortunes for family members.

Where to start? Go to www.missingmoney.com. Don’t forget to use the same site to search under your name for each state that you have lived in. Hopefully, if you find some lost property, you’ll check back with us and post your results. I look forward to hearing about some of the success stories.

This is just one of many opportunities that are available to you when you partner with a knowledgeable professional like those at Secured Retirement Advisors. In order to help you, we have recently updated our website and now offer many FREE downloadable resources which can help answer many retirement questions. Feel free to visit us at www.securedretirements.com and help yourself to our educational materials.  If you would like a complementary “3 Step Review” of your own retirement plan, call Secured Retirement Advisors at 952-460-3260.