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Your superannuation is one of the most important assets you own, providing the funds you need to enjoy a financially secure retirement. But if you’ve changed jobs or even moved house, you could have lost or unclaimed super out there somewhere just waiting to be found.
Keeping track of your super isn’t always an easy task. If you’ve changed jobs, changed your name or address, or even done some casual or part-time work, there’s a chance you may have lost track of some of your super.
Lost super occurs when your super fund is unable to contact you about your account. This means that your account remains idle but annual fees will still be deducted from your balance.
Your super fund will also report you as a lost member if it has not received any contributions or rollover amounts from you in the last five years, or if your account was transferred over from another fund as a lost member account and your address still hasn’t been found.
If you don’t have a myGov account, a paper ‘Searching for lost super’ form is available for download from the ATO website.
The ATO may also be holding some unclaimed super for you. Unclaimed super is created when super funds transfer the balance of small, inactive accounts to the ATO, which then holds it on your behalf. To be considered inactive, an account must not have received a contribution for at least 12 months.
Twice a year, super funds must report and pay the following unclaimed super money to the ATO:
How much lost and unclaimed super is out there? According to the ATO, at 30 June 2017 there were over 6.3 million lost and ATO-held super accounts with a combined total value of just under $18 billion. That’s an astonishing amount of money that could be used to help many Australians enjoy a more comfortable retirement.
What’s the point of tracking down lost and unclaimed super? The most important thing to remember is that it’s your money, not the ATO’s, and it’s money you worked hard to accumulate. That money can help you pay for your retirement and see out your golden years in comfort, so why not claim what’s rightfully yours?
According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) Retirement Standard, if you’re a single person aged around 65, to enjoy a modest lifestyle in retirement you’ll need an annual income of $27,368. (If you want a comfortable lifestyle, that figure rises to $42,764 per year. You can find out more about the recommended savings for different life stages in our guide to retirement savings here). By tracking down and claiming lost super, you could be one step closer to building the retirement savings balance you need.
Finally, we should also stress the importance of searching for your lost super now rather than waiting a few months or even years to get onto it. Why? Fees. If you hold multiple super accounts you’ll also be paying fees on multiple super accounts. And when you consider that your fund could charge anywhere between 0.5 and 1% (or even higher) of your balance each year in fees, it quickly becomes clear that it’s best to sort the problem out sooner rather than later.
Okay, you’ve used the ATO’s online tools to track down a couple of lost super accounts in your name, so what’s next? The best thing you can do is to consolidate all your super accounts into one account. Not only will this help you save on fees – you’ll only have to pay fees on one account instead of several – but it will also make it a lot easier to keep track of your super moving forward.
To consolidate your super, follow these simple steps:
Now that you know how to consolidate your super, compare the different super funds below to find the one that is right for you.
*Past performance data is for the period ending December 2020.
There’s also plenty you can do to ensure that you don’t end up with lost or unclaimed super in the first place:
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Have worked in Australia around two years.Didnt claim my super many years.Receintly contacted to Tax Office ,they hold only small amount of my super contributions.How to find other funds of my super?
Hi Ivan,
Thanks for your question.
I would highly recommend you read more about how to find unclaimed or lost super money. Read through that page and discover how to locate your lost super money.
I hope this helps.
Cheers,
Anndy