Agencies hold billions in unclaimed funds

If you have been checking coat pockets for spare change, you know that every cent counts these days.

Yet a big chunk of change is sitting at government agencies waiting to be claimed. That includes $16.5 billion in matured U.S. savings bonds as well as millions in forgotten bank accounts, insurance proceeds, and safe-deposit boxes.

Savings bonds.

About 41 million U.S. savings bonds have matured and no longer earn interest. Most of them are Series E and H bonds dating back as far as 1941.

Bonds mature in 30 or 40 years, depending on the series. So that bond your grandparent bought you at birth might have matured by now. A $25 bond sold in the 1940s could be worth 10 times its face value, said Stephen Meyerhardt, a public-affairs officer with the Bureau of Public Debt.

Some people do not redeem old bonds because they lose them or forget they ever owned one. Others hold onto bonds as a keepsake, Meyerhardt said. And beautifully engraved bonds of the 1940s, which the military gave out to reward performance, often are framed rather than redeemed, he said.

Often, people do not cash in bonds because they do not want to pay federal income tax on the interest earned. But by not redeeming a bond, you lose out on both the income and the original purchase price.

If you have a matured bond in your name, you can take it to your bank and cash it in.

To find out if you have a matured bond issued in 1974 or later, use the Treasury Hunt database at

» READ MORE: www.treasurydirect.gov

.

For older bonds that you do not have in hand, but have detailed information about, you can start the redemption process by filling out a Claim for Lost, Stolen or Destroyed U.S. Saving Bonds (Form 1048). It is available online at treasurydirect.gov or at local financial institutions.

Or, if your memory about a bond is vague, the Bureau of Public Debt will try to trace it for you. Write to the Bureau at Box 7012, Parkersburg, W.Va. 26106-7012. Include as much information as you have about the bond, such as the denomination, when it was issued, and the name and address of the owner.

Unclaimed property.

States maintain unclaimed-property funds. This can be money from inactive bank accounts, the contents of forgotten safe-deposit boxes, or the proceeds from insurance policies whose beneficiaries cannot be found.

Certain safe-deposit items, such as jewelry or other collectibles, are put up for auction after a year. The state will keep the proceeds, along with other unclaimed cash, until the owner steps up.

Federal funds.

The Treasury Department also keeps a list of unclaimed money held by federal agencies. The Department of Homeland Security, for example, has $1 million in small change left in bins at airport security checks.

The largest pot of money as of the end of September belonged to the judiciary branch, with $168 million in unclaimed cash. Much of that is restitution paid by offenders to victims who now cannot be located, said Dick Carelli, a federal courts spokesman. It also includes dividend income belonging to bankruptcy creditors that cannot be located.

Unclaimed tax refunds.

You have three years to claim your refund before the money goes back into the Treasury's coffers. So, if you never got your 2005 refund because you did not file a tax return for that year, you have until April 15, 2009, to do so.

The IRS does not have figures yet on the amount of unclaimed refunds for 2005. But if past years are any indication, about one million taxpayers have left $1 billion to $2 billion on the table.

Get back-tax forms and publications at

» READ MORE: www.irs.gov

, or by calling the IRS at 1-800-829-3676.