When I was six my grandma gave me $50, but she wouldn’t let me spend it.  Nope, she drove me to the bank and we opened a joint savings account.  She showed me how to fill out a deposit slip and update my account register.  She watched as I waited for a teller and handed over my money. I suppose it was some kind of personal finance lesson.  It turned out to be a $50 gift to the bank, because neither she nor I ever touched that savings account again.  For their part, the bank paid 34¢ interest before declaring the account abandoned and turning the funds over to the state. Last summer one of the local news stations did a piece on the absurd amount of unclaimed cash and property the state manages.  I Googled a bit and found the appropriate state-run unclaimed property site (turns out unclaimed.org is handy for this) and in short order found my $50 savings deposit.  I filled out the paperwork and found a stamp, mailed everything off and proceeded to forget all about it. Friday, this check was waiting for me in the mailbox.  Yay, free money. I guess the moral of the story here is that giving 6-year-olds lessons in personal finance is bullshit because once they finally get that money they’re just gonna blow it on lattes at Starbucks or something.

When I was six my grandma gave me $50, but she wouldn’t let me spend it.  Nope, she drove me to the bank and we opened a joint savings account.  She showed me how to fill out a deposit slip and update my account register.  She watched as I waited for a teller and handed over my money.

I suppose it was some kind of personal finance lesson.  It turned out to be a $50 gift to the bank, because neither she nor I ever touched that savings account again.  For their part, the bank paid 34¢ interest before declaring the account abandoned and turning the funds over to the state.

Last summer one of the local news stations did a piece on the absurd amount of unclaimed cash and property the state manages.  I Googled a bit and found the appropriate state-run unclaimed property site (turns out unclaimed.org is handy for this) and in short order found my $50 savings deposit.  I filled out the paperwork and found a stamp, mailed everything off and proceeded to forget all about it.

Friday, this check was waiting for me in the mailbox.  Yay, free money.

I guess the moral of the story here is that giving 6-year-olds lessons in personal finance is bullshit because once they finally get that money they’re just gonna blow it on lattes at Starbucks or something.

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  1. polar-bear said: 34 cents! WOOOHOOOOOO! Now you have your original $50 - plus a gumball!
  2. badgopher posted this