(Part 1 of 2)

The smallest state capital in the United States, Montpelier, is located in Vermont. It's also the country's biggest maker of maple syrup and the state is also home to Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream company. Jerry Greenfield and Ben Cohen first got started in Burlington, Vermont on May 5, 1978 and the company's headquarters are currently set up in Waterbury. According to a recent press release from the Treasury Department, it seems that the New England state has even more sweet stuff to offer besides maple syrup and ice cream and it's in Treasurer Jeb Spaulding's office – Vermont unclaimed money.

The state currently has about $42 million in Vermont unclaimed funds that is owed to around 200,000 Vermonters. Forgotten financial assets being held by banks and other financial establishments are turned over to the State Treasury Department after a certain period of 'dormancy'.

The state then holds on to the lost funds and abandoned assets for safekeeping until the true owners come to claim them. By law, the government is required to exert efforts in locating residents who are owed cash and Treasurer Spaulding has actually been able to reunite some of the unclaimed funds in Vermont with their jubilant owners.

In Vermont, the average unclaimed funds amounts to about $750. A lot of individual claims amount to less than $50, but there have been windfalls for some residents. A retired teacher was shocked with $150,000 from forgotten stocks her husband bought back in the 1960's. Even state agencies are on the Vermont unclaimed funds list. The state Transportation Agency has $60.87 from three different accounts and Vermont Senate President Peter Shumlin is owed money by the state. Even members of the rock group Phish have unclaimed funds coming to them. The highest unclaimed account yet is for the massive amount of $980 thousand waiting for the lucky Vermonter to step forward and claim. "In this case, it must be a fairly extraordinary person," Spaulding comments "There appears to be unclaimed property in the same name in other states. We seem to have determined she's very likely deceased with no will and no identified heirs."

(to be continued)

–

$32 billion in unclaimed money is floating around America
A Kansas City woman received an unclaimed $6.1 million check from Missouri on Wednesday. The money is from an unclaimed property fund consisting of a single security. There is over $32 billion in unclaimed money in the United States.   read more

Ohio Division of
If you have the luxury of being able to plan a mid-week getaway about a month from now, Southwest has an attractive one-day fare sale today. They're advertising 50% off their lowest "wanna get away" fares on most routes on Jan. 24-25 and Jan. 31 …

Powerball jackpot goes
Players have 180 days to claim their prize. The