What happens to unclaimed assets?
The $20 bill you found in your winter coat after switching out your wardrobes may be just the tip of the iceberg.
Meb Faber, one of my favorite authors, regularly tweets out a link to www.unclaimed.org and has saved his followers over a million dollars in unclaimed property. We’ve seen people report back findings in the $10,000+ range!
This organization was set up to protect consumers and make sure that any money owed to them is returned instead of sitting on the balance sheet of a financial institution or government agency.
Check your name or the name of your friends/relatives and let us know what you find out.
A crucial step to any financial planning is to organize your accounts. It’s very common to see clients with duplicate accounts or even accounts they may have forgotten about. One of the tangible value adds that we provide is reducing the number of accounts, tracking down those old retirement plans, and consolidating where appropriate.
Everyone likes to be organized but the benefits can be compounding. Did you read the Back-Door Roth IRA strategy we previously wrote about? It may not be available to you if you have old retirement accounts lingering out there. You will have to consolidate them correctly to make sure this is still available.
What else is out there?
We see a lot about how debt is bad, specifically credit cards, and that is true for most people. This is not Financial Planning 101; our average client is saving 29% of their income and it is our job to maximize those savings at every turn.
Use the credit card that gives you points (Capital One and Amex)
Use the chrome extensions that save you money on things you are already going to purchase (Honey and Lolli)
Use the travel apps (Google Flights and Skiplagged)
Use the link feature on Travel Apps (Delta and Lyft)
So, what should you do?
These are just a few cost-saving tips that I use regularly. We’d like to hear from you and see what savings tricks you use.