Unclaimed Property Wins
Two weeks ago, I included a link for you to find “unclaimed property” from your state and a bunch of you wrote in that morning saying you found money that is now on its way back to you:
- “Got almost $100 of unclaimed property in VA and WI for me and my wife! Thanks FI Weekly” – Scott
- Thank you so much for the tip and link on "claiming unclaimed property." I feel that I am on top of my finances (as most people in this community are) and couldn't think of anything that could be unclaimed so I wasn't going to look into this. My curiosity got the better of me and 2 minutes later I was $495 richer thanks to an insurance rebate from a house move 10 years ago! I always look forward to your email arriving in my inbox and am particularly grateful this week. Thank you! – Kate
- “Just put in a claim for $80, thanks Brad! I checked a couple of years ago, so didn’t think there’d be anything new, but there was!” – Hayley
- “Brad, I literally just searched and found $111 due to me from the Florida Department of Revenue after reading this. What's your cut?” – Allen
- “Uh woah Brad. Turns out I had $100-$200 dollars in the State of Maryland. I checked all the states I lived in a couple of years ago but didn't find anything. But your e-mail said to check every few years so I just did it - not expecting to find anything. And sure enough - there I was, with my MD address, and money from my credit card company. That took all of 3 minutes of my time. WOOHOO!” – Jessica
Being a member of the ChooseFI Community is about taking action, so here’s your 2nd reminder on this:
Take 2 minutes and click through to your state on the map near the top of this article and see if you have unclaimed money.
Freezing Your Credit
I’m writing this newsletter at 11am on Monday because I spent the morning dealing with some identity theft issues.
I received a credit card in the mail that I did not apply for and immediately went to AnnualCreditReport and pulled a free copy of my credit reports to see if this was the real deal.
It was listed as a hard inquiry from 10 days ago and I logged into my online account for that bank and saw the card listed there. Not good.
This morning, I called in to report the fraud and they closed the account and then suggested that I freeze my credit.
I admit, I’ve never frozen my credit before because I feared the hassle of it, but I was pleasantly surprised that the entire thing took me under 20 minutes combined at all 3 credit bureaus.
And it would have been much quicker if I had accounts already set up at each of them.
Here are the links to freeze (and then unfreeze) your credit at each of the bureaus:
ChooseFI T-Shirts for the Holidays
We're bringing back ChooseFI t-shirts for a limited time (available only twice per year). The store is open through Saturday, November 8th, and shirts will be printed and shipped after it closes.
(I opened the store too late last year to make these holiday gifts, so that’s why we’re doing it early this year.)
I've partnered with a great company that handles everything for me — they open a temporary store, collect all orders during that time, and only start printing and shipping once a minimum number of shirts have been sold.
This round includes fun new light blue options along with both our original and current logos. I’ve chosen high-quality shirts and lowered the price to keep it near break-even as this is about community, not profit.
Shop the ChooseFI T-Shirt Store (via Forever Fierce)
A few notes:
- Shipping and processing is going to be roughly ~$9 — I lowered the price of the actual shirt as much as possible, which is the part within my control. Think of this as an all-in price instead of being frustrated at the “shipping” cost.
- Orders will only process and ship after November 8th due to the batching process, so expect them to take a few weeks from the time you order.
- Thanks for being part of the ChooseFI community, and I hope you love the shirts!
ChooseFI Community Taking Action This Week
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Today, after listening to your podcast with Jackie Cummings Koski, I took a look at the expense ratios for some funds in my IRA that my "former financial advisor" put me in. Holy crap! I moved them to VTI today! ( I broke up with her last year after reading/learning more from your newsletter and podcast). Tomorrow, I will check expense ratios in my 401k. — Jennifer |
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Your episode on zero based thinking got me wondering. If you are FI and still working it's as if you're working for free. Of all the billions of things I could be doing, is that what I want to be doing right now? You're not really working for free, of course, money is still coming in, but you could be not working and still have the money to live your life, so you don't need that paycheck and therefore you're doing your job without any need for the money - i.e you're working for free. That's part of the thinking that led me to put my notice in for next June 30th. I've been FI for several years but got stuck in one more year syndrome and now I'm ready to be done. — Jack |
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I did a net worth calculation for the second time ever, and compared the total number with the previous calculation. I was pleasantly surprised that across my investments the money grew by a sum larger than my income during the same time period! This is super exciting to see the numbers working. I am 28 and have been investing since 2019, just over 600 dollars a month on average, and also have an employer's pension and other benefits. — Lily |
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I just retired, and I wanted to let you know since it was your podcast that gave me my first glimpse that such a thing was even possible in your 40's. My coworkers were supportive - I think they saw it coming, because I have been running a financial wellness club at work to try and help spread the word about how to gain financial independence (among other topics). For my next steps, I am taking over the head chef position in the household and starting to volunteer at my kid's school, as well as creating a more intensive exercise routine so that I can hopefully enjoy retirement for many years to come. — Alex |
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My 1% win was signing up for Monarch Money to track our finances. Ever since Mint shut down, I’ve been manually tracking expenses on a spreadsheet at the end of the month, which was clunky, time consuming, and not actually helping my husband and me improve our spending. It’s already given me a much clearer picture of our monthly cash flow and given me renewed vigor in saving for a down payment for our first home! — Rachel |
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Over the past 4-5 years of embracing the ChooseFI mindset, I've gained the confidence to make some major changes in my life. My wife and I have been savers and investors since we were married 18 years ago. In the first years we only had $50 of fun money each month, as the rest was all dedicated to expenses and investing. Over time our income grew, kids came, we built a bigger house, etc, but kept saving and investing. Finding ChooseFI about 5 years ago gave me hope that maybe I didn't need to keep grinding out at my job for 25 more years. Maybe there was a way to get my money to work for me and find more meaning and purpose other than grinding out my time at work? During COVID my wife started a YouTube channel and started posting when she was not able to do her old job. For several years it grew slowly, but in time it has had a compounding effect, and now is a significant amount of income. Between tracking our net worth over the years, trusting in the 4% rule, increasing our income from our side hustle, and embracing Coast FI, it gave me the confidence to give notice at my current job of 14 years (CPA and C-suite level employee). Without all the confidence I'd gained from ChooseFI and similar platforms, I don't think I'd have the confidence to decide for myself how to design the life I want and chase after a better future. We put all the kids in homeschool this fall and will be starting a 4 month road trip once I finish out my commitment to work in a few months. — Mark |