There may not be a lot of publicity about them now, but savings bonds were once the premier way to save for the future.

Back in early 1986, bonds were increasingly popular due to ideal interest rates, according to an article reprinted by the Clarion Ledger in 2016.

Now, a number of bonds are maturing, or have matured, and many of them are going unclaimed.

That means the federal government has about $20 billion in unclaimed bonds, just sitting there waiting for someone to claim them. Of that money, $155 million is said to belong to Mississippi residents.

Mississippi State Treasurer Lynn Fitch and those with similar titles in other states would like to help citizens reclaim that lost money through a lawsuit filed against the federal government.

Before Mississippi gets its day in court, a Kansas case will need a decision. Arguments for that case were given in court last week, but a decision is still pending, according to a story by the Associated Press.

So what will the state do with this money if Fitch gets her way?

It seems that Fitch has no real plans for the funds other than to try to get them back to the proper owner, or that person’s family should the owner be deceased, through the unclaimed property program.

If you have the paper bond still, it should be pretty easy to reclaim that money.

But what if you don’t have the bond and don’t want to wait for Fitch’s plan to sue the federal government to be successful? You can try to find lost bonds yourself by contacting the Department of Treasury. That can be done by navigating the website, www.treasurydirect.gov., sending an email by first navigating to www.treasurydirect.gov/email.htm or doing it the old fashioned way and calling 1-844-284-2676.

You may be directed to filling out a form and submitting it with the proper information.