How do you leave $38K+ sitting around?

"Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing." (granfury)
08/17/2015 at 16:07 • Filed to: None

Early last year I was poking around on a website run by the state of California that shows all of the unclaimed property that was turned over to the state. I didn’t find any money in my name, but I did find some for friends and relatives, including some from Verizon owed to my late grandfather. But there was one that really caught my attention.

There are five entries for a friend of mine, a friend that just celebrated his 60th birthday just a couple of weeks ago. One was an insurance refund for several hundred dollars and two were dividend checks for an investment that were worth approximately $2750. Those alone would be enough to get me off my butt and filing a claim to return the money, but there’s more. Two more entries are for some unclaimed shares of stock, 163 shares in total. Closing price early last week was $207/share ($215 today). That’s a bunch of money. I did ask for a 10% finders fee, but it was said purely in jest.

I mentioned it to him again last week, but he doesn’t seem to be in any great hurry to collect it and I don’t understand why. Apparently the purchase was part of a $5K investment his family made back in the ‘80s, and he had assumed that his late parents cashed it in ages ago. But there it sits, 30 years on. He lives a modest life; still in the same apartment he moved into back in 1993, and still driving the used Ford Ranger he bought 8 years ago.

If I were in his place, at the very least I think that I would grab that cash just so I could get the interest instead of letting the state have that privilege, even if I didn’t spend any of it. What would you do if you had all of this money sitting around?

DISCUSSION (13)

G_Body_Man: Sponsored by the number 3 > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 16:10

I'd invest in diversified mutual funds, with $8k going into bonds for emergencies.

Twingo Tamer - About to descend into project car hell. > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 16:11

I’d have rushed very quickly to obtain that cash. How can he be so chill about it?

AddictedToM3s - Drives a GC > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 16:15

My brain says to reinvest it. My heart says to get a fun car and drive the wheels off of it because race car.

Snuze: Needs another Swede > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 16:23

I would build the bitchin’est 91 IROC-Z ever seen.

Tohru > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 16:29

I would pay off my house.

Poundingsand > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 16:32

Link to the site? :)

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > Poundingsand
08/17/2015 at 16:49

https://ucpi.sco.ca.gov/UCP/Default.as…

Ross Kraz > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 17:10

Well, this was a productive way to spend my afternoon. I think I’ve searched every name I can think of.

Turns out Wisconsin owes Brett Favre some money.

GeorgeyBoy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 17:37

My late grandmother direct purchased some stock in my name shortly after I was born. I didn't find out until last year.

Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing. > GeorgeyBoy
08/17/2015 at 18:35

And how many years are we talking about?

GeorgeyBoy > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 19:13

20 or so. And it was a DRIP.

Poundingsand > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/17/2015 at 19:39

Thanks!

You can tell a Finn but you can't tell him much > Full of the sound of the Gran Fury, signifying nothing.
08/18/2015 at 11:07

With $38k I’d either build a pole barn or buy a new tractor.

Thanks to your post I checked out my states unclaimed property and it appears I have some. It doesn’t say how much I’ve got, but I filled the form out this morning.