Staggering $5,000,000,000 in Cash and Assets Waiting To Be Claimed by Residents in One US State: Report

A staggering $5 billion in lost and forgotten cash and assets are waiting to be claimed in one US state, according to a new report.

The Illinois Treasury Department says residents are sitting on a serious pile of unclaimed assets, reports the Chicago Sun-Times.

The assets are typically located in neglected bank accounts and safe deposit boxes and come from a variety of sources such as overpayments, inheritance and uncashed checks.

After a three year period, the assets are typically transferred to the state for safekeeping, although items in safe deposit boxes may be sold.

State residents can visit icash.illinoistreasurer.gov to file a claim.

About 10% of Americans likely have unclaimed assets in their name, according to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators.

Most of the assets in questions are held by individual states, and in North Carolina the state treasurer is in control.

The National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators has a website dedicated to unclaimed property, and the organization says it’s helped 10’s of millions of people track down more than $4 trillion in assets.

A significant amount of money is also in forgotten 401(k) accounts, and the financial resource platform Bankrate has outlined a number ofways that people can track them down.

One is to search the Department of Labor’s website, which maintains records of public and private sector businesses that provide employee benefit plans.

Bankrate also recommends people contact their former employer directly and ask human resources to look up whether you took part in a 401(k) plan.

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