Every year, millions of people forget about savings accounts with slight balances, move and miss an insurance refund check, or otherwise leave some of their money behind. These funds find their way to the unclaimed fund office of each state government, waiting for the owners (could it be you?) to claim them.

The National Associaion of Unclaimed Property Adminstrators (NAUPA) has created a web site with links to each state's office. They also endorse missingmoney.com, a site that allows you to search 40 state sites with one query.

Unfortunately, the federal government doesn't have one internet search site; each department manages its own. Some places you might look for some of your hard-won but long-lost money:

Treasury Dept. By the way, if you bought U.S. Savings Bonds after 1974 but have lost them, you still may be able to collect on them by checking here.

HUD/FHA Mortgage Insurance refunds

Credit Union unclaimed funds

If you may have lost funds due to the actions of a foreign government (taking over a property you owned, for example), check with the Foreign Claims Settlement Commission.

Other departments without internet-searchable databases have a total of over $600,000,000 in unclaimed funds. The largest sums are found in the Judiciary Dept. and Veterans Affairs. If you think you are due money from one of these offices you should contact them directly.