This "lost" money comes in the form of bank and credit union accounts, government benefits, inheritances, life insurance proceeds, mutual funds, pension money, contents of safe deposit boxes, savings bonds, stocks and bonds, pay checks, tax refunds, utility deposits and the like.

There is no central repository for these monies. Nor is there one database listing all of them. So, if you come upon a commercial search company that says they have it all - everything - in their hot hands, don't believe it. Before hiring anyone to assist you, set aside some time to do your own research using these resources. Perhaps you'll come into a windfall!

o National Association of Unclaimed Property Administrators (NAUPA): http://www.unclaimed.org/. Start here and connect to the huge national database, http://www.missingmoney.com/. This enables you check almost every state's unclaimed funds records in one search. You can also link to the Web sites for the handful of states that don't participate in this particular database.

o  Federal Government: "The Government May Owe You Money," www.usa.gov/Citizen/Topics/Money_Owed.shtml, has links to U.S. government sites that provide search engines or information about how to track lost tax refunds, bank deposits and pension benefits. Among them:

Treasury Hunt (www.treasurydirect.gov/indiv/tools/tools_treasuryhunt.htm) where you can search for E bonds that are unclaimed or that have stopped earning interest.

FDIC Unclaimed Funds (www2.fdic.gov/funds/index.asp) will tell you if there are unclaimed funds in your name from a bank that the FDIC has liquidated.

More About Savings Bonds

It's easy to forget where you stashed those Series E or EE Savings Bonds that your grandparents gave you - when you were born, on your birthdays, when you graduated. Or you may have purchased them on your own, at a bank or through an automatic payroll savings plan at work.

According to the Bureau of Public Debt, 40+ million Series E Savings Bonds that have matured are lying around somewhere. These bonds were purchased between 1941 and 1978; their estimated value: $16 billion. Note: Again, that's billion not million!

The U.S. Treasury has two online tools that will help you. Both are at: http://www.treasurydirect.gov/. The "Savings Bond Calculator" will do the math and tell you how much your bonds are worth, provided you have them in hand. The other tool, which we mentioned above, the "Treasury Hunt" program, is useful if you don't have the bonds in your possession. It will track them down -- but only those issued from 1974 to date.

If you need to find bonds issued prior to 1974, you must contact the government the old-fashioned, almost obsolete way...by letter! Send your written request to:

Bureau of the Public Debt
PO Box 7012
Parkersburg, West Virginia 26106-7012

Tell the Bureau the name (or names) of the owner, the address of the owner and the date issued, or at least the approximate date.

Given that a real live person will be handling your written request, don't expect an instant response! But you will get one.

TIP: You can also search for unclaimed property in the name of a deceased family member, but you'll have to prove you're the rightful heir or executor of the person's estate to claim the funds.

Good luck!

- Nancy Dunnan