For most of us, lost money is what’s under the couch, in your coat pocket, on the street somewhere, but there are much larger unclaimed assets out there waiting to be recovered — money in bank accounts you’d forgotten about, paychecks that were never collected, utility and rent deposits, etc. But what if you could get your hands on hundreds, or even thousands, of pounds you never knew you had? It is possible.

Way back in 1999, the Montel Williams show aired a presentation about lost money. I originally thought that the subject of the show was money that someone previously had in had that was literally lost. The subject could have been funds squandered through gambling or bad investments. However, the show was about funds that many of us have. We just don’t know that we have it.

Well, Oprah Winfrey also had an interesting show on the topic of lost money. Oprah proved that people are not aware of the missing funds by uniting seventy-thousand dollars in lost money to audience members. These audience members were pleasantly surprised to have the funds that were rightfully theirs. She went on to explain that millions and millions of dollars go unclaimed year after year.

We all know that, many Americans have unclaimed property, or lost money, floating around in federal and state accounts. The unclaimed money or property has reached in excess of forty billion dollars in these institutions. And here's the interesting part. However, over five-hundred billion dollars are held up in corporations, both private and public. These staggering numbers are due to the simple fact that people don’t know about their lost money.

Moreover, seven out of ten people estimated has unclaimed property or funds locked away somewhere without even knowing about it. Odds are you are one of those people. The question is whether Montel Williams or Oprah Winfrey will have repeat shows on the topic of lost money but it doesn’t seem likely.

Unluckily, Oprah Winfrey and Montel Williams don’t have quite enough time to find lost money for people across the United States. Maybe, it should be in your interest to take matters into your own hands by doing a little research for your self. Yes, finding out about your heritage could be a great start. There are also a number of web sites that offer information on the subject of finding lost money as well.

Always remember that, it is best to be leery of scams when it comes to personal finances and personal information. Avoid divulging too much information to an unsecured party. Bear in mind that if someone asks for your date of birth, your social security number and your mother's maiden name, a red flag should go up.

And take note also, that you should never provide information about your personal bank account and you definitely don’t want to make an investment on your search. Well, if the money is yours, you should be able to find it without forking out a lot of cash in the process.