Unclaimed Property: Do You Have Lost Money?
This is one of the most enjoyable segments I include every October in the newsletter, as I always get email responses back that people found hundreds or thousands of dollars of their own money from 2 minutes of work:
There are tens of billions of dollars of unclaimed money sitting with state treasury departments that actually belongs to us, but we haven’t yet claimed it.
I found this great article from Forbes with a state-by-state listing of “Unclaimed Property Websites by State” so just click on your state on the map near the top of the article and check if there’s money that’s rightfully yours that you just haven’t claimed!
If you’ve never done this (or if it has been a few years), take 2 minutes and check your current state and anywhere else you may have lived previously and see if you have unclaimed money.
Equation for Happiness
Morgan Housel is back with a new book called ‘The Art of Spending Money: Simple Choices for a Richer Life’ and I heard him on a recent podcast where this quote jumped out to me:
"The equation for happiness with wealth is what you HAVE minus what you WANT…If your goal is to be happy with your money, that equation is going to dictate your life."
I agree with Morgan that this is the path to happiness.
If you have a constant, insatiable need for more, then no amount of wealth, success, or ‘stuff’ will ever quench that desire.
Charlie Munger, perhaps the most profoundly intelligent modern-day philosopher, was asked:
“You seem extremely happy and content. What’s your secret to living a happy life?”
Charlie replied:
“The first rule of a happy life is low expectations. If you have unrealistic expectations you’re going to be miserable your whole life. You want to have reasonable expectations and take life’s results good and bad as they happen with a certain amount of stoicism.”
A lot of people equate lower expectations with potentially lower happiness levels, but the opposite is true in my experience.
I want for absolutely nothing in life and I don’t expect everything to be ideal all the time. This allows me to be pleasantly surprised when something little in life turns out way better than expected.
That brings a bit of joy that’s hard to describe.
I’m not a decamillionaire or a billionaire but the key is I don’t crave more and I don’t want for more.
Reminder: Coast FI Summit
Here’s a quick reminder that the first-ever Coast FI Summit, hosted by The Fioneers, starts tonight (Tuesday).
Diania Merriam will be the guest tonight and I’ll be live Thursday evening.
This free, two-evening virtual event will feature stories, strategies, and inspiration from people across the FI community who are choosing freedom, flexibility, and purpose today — not decades from now.
When: Oct 14 & Oct 16, 7 pm ET Where & Cost: Free & Virtual
ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week
FI Calculator
Travel Tools
Podcast
Local Groups
Forums
Book Club
Value Matrix
Debt Payoff
Workout Logger
Events
FI Calculator
Travel Tools
Podcast
Local Groups
Forums
Book Club
Value Matrix
Debt Payoff
Workout Logger
Events
FI Calculator
Travel Tools
Podcast
Local Groups
Forums
Book Club
Value Matrix
Debt Payoff
Workout Logger
Events
FI Calculator
Travel Tools
Podcast
Local Groups
Forums
Book Club
Value Matrix
Debt Payoff
Workout Logger
Events
Free FI Planning Tools + Community
FI calculator, expense audit, Coast FI tracker, local groups, and 750+ podcast episodes.
No password needed. Free forever.
|
My recent win - my induction oven was on the decline at 13 years old. I was able to fix the broken controller board by myself which extended the life 2 years but one of the burners wasn’t working anymore. We usually like to use things till they completely fail but given the tariffs we decided we should go ahead and replace it. We saw a sale going on at Costco and after doing price comparisons on a model we liked, Costco was the best price for all that they include so we went ahead and purchased it. A week after it was delivered I noticed the price had dropped so I called Costco and asked for a refund of the difference which ended up dropping the cost another 10%. (Overall the stove was about $1000 less than other stores.) It’s reignited my love for cooking meals at home! — Crystal |
|
Recently had a baby boy 🥳. My 1% better was diligently planning throughout the pregnancy. Here are just some things I set in motion ahead of time! I worked extra hours in the months preceding the birth to allow for me to take a full unpaid month off to spend with my wife and baby, and then another 2 months back with very reduced time at work. We enrolled my wife in Short Term Disability a year+ ahead of time (since her employer does not pay for maternity leave) I have been muddling through their claims process and was finally approved, the $1800 check is in the mail already! We also signed up for a work sponsored hospital indemnity plan that does not exclude pregnancy which will pay out $3100 in the coming weeks for the hospitalization. One of my biggest motivators for FI is that my parents were hard blue collar workers while I was growing up, and didn't get to spend too much time together as a family, I'm motivated to make that change for my son this generation, to spend the best years together with my wife and son! Cheers to FI. — Tyler |
|
I’ve been listening to your show for YEARS! I found Mr. Money Mustache back in college, and while I wish I had applied the principles then, I think I’ve done an ok job so for. I did a mid-year check in and my husband and I have $461k saved so far for retirement. I just turned 37, and am hoping to retire late 40s - early 50s. We are completely debt free including our mortgage and it feels great! — Keli |
|
My family's 1% better this week is being able to pay for a new whole home generator. During our yearly maintenance, one of the major parts of the generator was found to be broken. The generator people we use quoted us the price to fix the part, but also to get a new generator with a 10 years parts and labor warranty included. Previously we would struggle when things like this came up and would have taken cash back from our credit card points. Having controlled our spending, now gives us the ability to afford the new generator which will ultimately save us more in the long run. FI isn't just about saving money just to save it, but it is about giving us the freedom to do what is best for us in the long term and having some fun while doing it. — Bradley |
|
Our 1% better may not seem like it to many on the path to FI. My husband and I just STOPPED investing in anything over and above the match on our 401(K)s. We had been investing up to the federal maximums. We realized early this year that we are now Coast FI, and investing in retirement accounts does not change our FI date. So we decided to take the cash and invest in life. We will be able to gift our daughter and son-in-law a lovely wedding present, as well as pay for some convenience construction projects around our house we've been planning for years. It feels lovely to have this freedom! — Jenn |
|
Huge win and feel so blessed to share this victory. My wife and I purchased our house in the Fall of 2014. It has been a great home for us and as of last week we no longer have a mortgage! We sent in a final payment last week and now will see a nice monthly increase in our cashflow. One thing we will do to make sure we actually enjoy this FI journey and not rush into the next "goal" we plan to have a nice dinner at a well known place here in Austin. — Christopher |