Ask LH: My Friend Has A Lot Of Unclaimed Money, Should I Tell Them?

13 responses to “Ask LH: My Friend Has A Lot Of Unclaimed Money, Should I Tell Them?”

1. 

   joven

   March 22, 2013

   Make a subtle suggestion – “Hey I just checked out that I have $200,000 in unclaimed Super! How much do you have?”

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2. 

   stevothedevo

   March 22, 2013

   Forward the article on to him with some (realistic) comment along @joven’s line

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3. 

   Stueyh

   March 22, 2013

   Just leave an anonymous note on their desk…

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   1. 

      grod

      March 22, 2013

      “I know you have $2,000 hidden in your underwear drawer. Signed – An Admirer”

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4. 

   angela

   March 22, 2013

   Some people wouldn’t think twice about your inquisitive nature and be extremely thankful for the info.
   Really?!

   I find it hard to imagine anyone finding it acceptable for a friend/acquaintance/colleague or even family member to go investigating into their financial affairs. That’s simply intrusive.

   Certainly the only person I would be willing to have to do this would be a financial professional, i.e. someone I’ve authorised to look into such matters on my behalf.

   Fortunately, as previous commenters have pointed out, Sticky Beak has a convenient “out” in that s/he can simply draw the person’s attention to the article and leave it to them to investigate.

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   1. 

      simo

      March 22, 2013

      Really?!

      I find it hard to imagine anyone finding it acceptable for a friend/acquaintance/colleague or even family member to go investigating into their financial affairs. That’s simply intrusive.

      Well that puts you in the second category.

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      1. 

         angela

         March 28, 2013

         No, my next paragraph puts me in the second category. The par you quote reflects the fact that none of my acquaintances would be likely to take kindly to having someone nose about their financials and so I find it hard to imagine anyone finding it acceptable.

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   2. 

      anthonyqld

      March 22, 2013

      Why? I wouldn’t care. It’s not like they’re looking at your private credit card statements or payslips.

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5. 

   craggs

   March 22, 2013

   It’s public information if they were able to look it up.

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   1. 

      angela

      March 28, 2013

      Have you followed the various links and tried this? Some of the recommended searches involve a bit more than typing a name into a search field. In some cases you would need to know/find out a little about the person you were searching for.

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      1. 

         craggs

         March 29, 2013

         Yes, I tried, hence my comment. The government site required minimal information so I presume that this information is public knowledge as there are no security checks. You are correct that some require more information beyond public knowledge – I over stated the ‘public information’. Some of sites required very little details.

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6. 

   pottski

   March 24, 2013

   Depends if the friend likes money more than perceived privacy. Evaluate these two against each other and make a judgement call.

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7. 

   angela

   March 28, 2013

   Really, this is a no-brainer. There’s no need to reveal you did a search on someone else’s financial affairs. (Yes, theoretically public but still involves some digging, so not your business.) Just tell the person that these options exist, that a search benefitted you personally, and leave them to take action.

   But in any case, I’m guessing that this post was a complete fabrication to get a bit more traffic to the original post. Sticky Beak’s “dilemma” just doesn’t seem very plausible.

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