Mel at Broke Girl Rich wrote a few weeks ago about how Old Mel had set up New Mel pretty well, by putting money aside for future spending. The special part is that she had forgotten she had set this up until she recently needed the money.
I thought that I had a pretty good grip on all of my financials, and commented that really, I knew where all my money was, except for maybe a few bills stuck here and there.
It turned out the laugh’s on me. In the past month I ended up finding a lot of extra money.
On the whole, it’s nice to have some extra money show up (it’s certainly much better than getting surprise bills!), but a little embarrassing when you thought you had your life more organized.
Where was the money?
Random cash
Well, the smallest surprise was checking my fall fleece and finding legal tender in the right pocket. Pretty sweet! I’m keeping it there for now, since I can never find cash when I go out. I might as well keep some in my coat pocket for in-case.
Unclaimed Assets
I found a bigger amount when I read about unclaimed assets on Go Curry Cracker. He had a link to the National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators, which sends you to a map of the US.
I was able to click on all 6 states I have lived in as an adult. For the most part, I have been pretty good about keeping track of my finances, but I did find $270 in unclaimed assets from when I was a graduate student (and not nearly so organized). I realize that if I had invested $270 in 1995 it could now be worth $2329 (see this calculator), so I’ve missed out on a lot of potential growth. On the other hand, that check came recently and I was able to put it to good use promptly.
The last bit of forgotten money is a real doozy, though.
A Real Pension
When I left my last job over 10 years ago, I thought my only retirement money from them were my old 403(b) and 401(a), the accounts I wrote about in Fees Always Matter.
It turns out that for my first few years there, I was also enrolled in a pension: one of those old-fashioned defined benefit programs that are nearly mythical these days.
These programs are (were) a huge liability for companies, and, in fact, my former employer stopped contributing on our behalf a year or two before I left. I had pretty much forgotten about it: written it off, or assumed it had been rolled into my 401(a).
Imagine my surprise when I received a large, official-looking letter in the mail, telling me that the pension plan was closing out.
What does that mean?
It means that I had a whole other pot of money (OK, not a super huge pot, but still…) that I didn’t previously know about.
I will soon have to decide if I want a lump sum payout, or if I want to hold out for a monthly payment that won’t start until I am 65, but which will be guaranteed for the rest of my life. Using the 4% rule (or guideline), the funds would be about equivalent if I can triple my lump sum in the next 14 years. By investing in the stock market, this is possible, but not guaranteed.
That prior job wasn’t all that good–that’s why I left–but apparently slogging it out long enough to be vested in the pension had some benefits.
A little more work than I was planning on this fall, but a good problem to have.
Have you had any good financial news recently?