We all wish unexpected money would just show up at our door someday; in fact, you probably already know what you’d do with it – I know I have some ideas!
Good news: You don’t have to wait around for a sweepstakes. You might even have money waiting for you right now.
The Illinois Treasurer is currently safeguarding more than 2 billion dollars in cash and 20 million shares of stock and mutual funds and through the I-Cash program they’re looking to reunite Illinois residents with their old bank accounts, uncashed paychecks, unclaimed insurance benefits, and other recovered property.
There are over 13 million (yes, million) names on the Illinois Treasurer’s I-Cash database, which means that one in four Illinois adults discovers property to claim when they search at IllinoisTreasurer.gov. Most people with money to claim will receive a check within three weeks of submitting proof of ownership, and the average claim paid is $1,000!
I checked the I-Cash site and didn’t find any unclaimed assets in my name, but I did find some for my husband! He has two paychecks from old jobs that the site told us are each worth between $10 and $100. We clicked a few boxes and filled out some information on the website and received a claim form a few days later. The claim form tells us that John has $27.35 from one previous employer and $25.00 from another. He needs to submit a few pieces of documentation and we’ll be getting a check in the mail.
Fifty dollars might not be a huge windfall, but it’s nice to have some extra money we weren’t expecting!
We could use the money to take the kids out to dinner, or maybe on some new movies and snacks for family movie night. I wouldn’t mind a cute new pair of shoes… But we’ll probably use the money toward art classes for Cooper, our 7-year-old artist. It feels great to know that some extra cash is heading our way and knowing it’ll help to give Cooper some amazing experiences at an art studio.
Want to know if assets are waiting for you? Here are the easy steps you take:
- Visit IllinoisTreasurer.gov and click on the I-Cash link.
- Enter your name in the search fields and click.
- If you find your name and address (or previous address) fill out and submit the form along with proof of ownership to claim your assets.
- Wait for your check!
Nothing there or just hoping for more? Check back every six months. Hundreds of thousands of new properties are added to the State Treasurer’s I-Cash program throughout the year.
Here are a couple more fun facts about the I-Cash program:
- There are at least 400,000 recover properties valued at more than $1,000
- The largest claim in recent history was more than $8 million in 2012
- Since 2012, the Illinois Treasurer’s I-Cash program has reunited rightful owners with $366 million in cash, 4.7 million stock shares, and thousands of personal items
As the I-Cash website says, “Discover what’s yours today!”
If you discover unexpected assets through I-Cash, what would you do with them? Vacation? Dinner out? New shoes?
Thank you