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The LostMoney Show goes live on 106.7FM Radio

LostMoney Consumer Reports is pleased to announce the launch of The LostMoney Show. On July 10th, 2010 the company announced live on the air the show's upcoming weekly programming.  Each week The LostMoney Show will be announcing the names of lucky claimants for Unclaimed Property discovered through LostMoney's Consumer Reports.  The show's goal is to return over $10,000 each week to the rightful owners of the unclaimed property. 

The LostMoney Show will initially be a part of Michelle Corr's 6 Degree program which is aired each week on 106.7FM in Phoenix, Arizona as well as through Voice America which is the internet's leading radio show.

Australians still have little attention on Unclaimed Property.

It would be inconvenient, no doubt annoying and certainly noticed and, while not critical to your life, you would most probably go to considerable pains to try to recover it.

The irony is that on average every single Australian has that same $400 apparently lost and not cared for. It happens to be sitting in a superannuation account, officially declared to be lost.

Collected across the country, the pile suddenly rises to about $13.6 billion -- that's the amount that no one seems to care about or apparently know about, according to managers of our superannuation funds who have received it but have never been able to ascertain to whom it belongs. It is officially lost.

Similar sums can sit in bank accounts for years, untouched and pristine. The difference is that people know it is there, always available, and caring little that the bank is making money by lending it out in home loans.

The super funds too are making profits from the unclaimed or lost contributions and, while they profess to try hard to find the owners, their efforts are stymied by privacy laws and in some cases inertia.

Every six months, super funds must report their lost contributions to the Australian Taxation Office, which keeps a register or record of the funds. In June last year, the sum of money officially lost stood at $13.6bn, of which about half, or $6bn, was sitting in special funds called Eligible Rollover Funds, or ERFs, which can accept benefit rollovers from other funds where the original fund has lost contact with a member. By law, an ERF must protect all benefits it receives so that administrative charges do not exceed the investment earnings.

According to one such fund, AUSfund, the lost funds are in part a reflection of the vast numbers of superfluous super accounts -- on average, about three for every one of Australia's 12 million workers.

AUSfund manager Warren Fawcett expects the balance of lost funds to keep rising over time.

"Until the government and the industry can find a way to consolidate the accounts -- perhaps through the use of tax file numbers (TFNs) as is suggested by Cooper -- then it is likely to keep going up," Fawcett says.

Until the onset of the global financial crisis about two years, the sum was rising at the rate of about $1bn a year, according to Fawcett. It moved sideways for a time in dollar terms but is now beginning to rise again, despite a plethora of measures to try to address it -- from advertising campaigns to online websites that aim to let people search for possible lost funds.

Yet a comprehensive solution is still not available, despite words of concern from Jeremy Cooper, chair of the superannuation inquiry that has just reported to the federal government. Cooper has spoken of the virtues of allowing super funds to make use of TFNs to try to match contributions from employers to account holders, but so far the government has not responded.

Financial Services Minister Chris Bowen will have an opportunity to address the issue in his response to the Cooper report, which is expected in the coming weeks. The senator has already spoken of his willingness to introduce the use of TFNs as a way of combating lost super and improving efficiency.

One attempt to spur Australians into action on their own behalf has been to require funds to pay over any "unclaimed money" to the ATO, although this generally only applies to accounts that have been inactive for more than two years and for which the fund has been unable to contact the owner for five years or more and believes that the owner is aged 65 or older.

It is estimated that government coffers would swell by $10bn.

Using a TFN to reunite people with their lost super has its merits, but it seems far from perfect. Many would not have a number, such as the backpackers who arrive on our shores each year to pick the fruit crops, wait on the tables and clean our offices. And then there are those here on business-based temporary visas.

These days about 300,000 people arrive on temporary visas, and many go home leaving a small pile behind.

Say a fruit picker grosses $1000 a week for 10 or 12 weeks. Their employer has paid the 9 per cent compulsory superannuation guarantee payment, or about $1000.

Many wouldn't know how much they are leaving behind, but are prepared to do so rather than face the daunting complexity of claiming the funds.

One idea floated by the industry is a new system that automatically consolidates people's lost accounts, but with an individual opt-out for those who choose not to take part.

Another change would be to lift the earnings threshold where SG payments become compulsory for an employer -- the current figure of $450 a month has not changed since 1992.

A higher threshold would reduce compliance costs for bosses and funds.

Some help is at hand. AUSfund is one of a handful that has an online site aiming to raise awareness of the significant lost super problem (www.unclaimedsuper.com. au). The tax office super website (www.ato.gov.au/super) has the online SuperSeeker tool.

Search using your TFN to find any lost super, or ring the SuperSeeker self-help line: 13 28 65.

Customers of Washington Bank Have Unclaimed Money

About half a million dollars in unclaimed money from former Washington Mutual Bank customers in Wisconsin is waiting to be claimed.

The Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation closed the bank in September 2008. The FDIC then deposited about half a million dollars in Wisconsin's unclaimed property account. The money belongs to customers who had accounts at the bank.

TThere are about 8,300 accounts belong to Wisconsin customers. The state treasurer's office says one account has more than $58,000 in it.

FDIC Returns Wisconsin Assets to Find Rightful Owners
State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass today announced the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposited a little more than $500,000 into the State of Wisconsin’s Unclaimed Property account.

State Treasurer Dawn Marie Sass today announced the Federal Deposit Insurance Corporation (FDIC) deposited a little more than $500,000 into the State of Wisconsin’s Unclaimed Property account. This money belongs to Wisconsin residents who had accounts with Washington Mutual Bank. The FDIC closed the bank in September 2008.

Unlike normal unclaimed property the State holds, Wisconsin residents only have 10 years to claim this cash or it goes back to the federal government. There are 8,300 accounts belonging to Wisconsin residents. One person in the state has an account worth more than $58,000.

The FDIC spent 18 months searching for owners of the accounts. Because the state treasury has an unclaimed property division and specialists who can help find those owners and help them with the claims process, the FDIC turned the money over to the Treasurer’s Office.

“Our outreach efforts will help ensure these 8,000 people have a chance to claim their money,” Treasurer Sass said. “Our office has a proven track record of reuniting missing money with its owner.”

The Unclaimed Property Division of the State Treasurer’s Office handles more than $350 Million in abandoned funds. There are nearly 1 million accounts for unclaimed property belonging to Wisconsin residents or their heirs.

To search for unclaimed property you may have, visit www.statetreasury.wisconsin.gov and click on the “Badger Bucks” Logo.

LostMoney.com Teams Up with Local Churches
In an effort to assist local churches in the Valley of the Sun "Phoenix Arizona" LostMoney.com is working with church fund raisers to develop a 10% charitable giving program.  Contact Wayne Warrington at The Wayne Foundation for additional details.

 

more news coming.......