How to find lost super
Written and accurate as at: Jan 13, 2014Current Stats & Facts
As at 30 June 2016, there were roughly six million lost and ATO-held superannuation accounts with a total value of roughly $16 billion. That’s a lot of money sitting there waiting to be claimed. Perhaps some of it is yours?
Each year your superannuation fund sends an annual statement reporting your balance and performance of your super fund. If you’ve moved, you may have forgotten to update your details with your superannuation provider and these statements may be going to your old address. Similarly, if you've changed jobs or have had a number of causal or part-time positions, then it’s likely you have more than one superannuation account.
In fact, the average working Australian has three or more superannuation funds.
If you haven’t kept track of your superannuation savings over your working life, don’t worry, there are a number of tools and resources available that you can use to locate lost superannuation. You could:
- Check with your Financial Adviser or Accountant to see whether they provide a service which can help you search for any lost superannuation.
- Register for the Australian Taxation Office’s online services and use SuperSeeker to check your current superannuation accounts into which money has been paid in the last two financial years. The website also allows a search for lost superannuation and ATO-held superannuation and a service to assist you to transfer your superannuation into the superannuation account you want. You will need to disclose personal details such as your name, date of birth and Tax File Number.
- Visit the AUSfund (Australia’s Unclaimed Super Fund) website. AUSFund is a temporary superannuation fund for small, lost and inactive accounts transferred from other regulated superannuation funds. AUSfund manage approximately $500 million on behalf of 1.2 million account holders. You can search online using your full name and date of birth.
- Check with your current superannuation fund to see whether they offer a lost-super service. Many superannuation funds will assist you to find and transfer other superannuation funds to your current superannuation fund.
- Check with your previous employers for the names of the superannuation funds that received contributions on your behalf.
Even if your lost superannuation amounts to just a small value, remember that every dollar of your superannuation is your hard earned money and it all adds up to help you prepare for your retirement. If you do find superannuation that's yours, you could benefit from consolidating it into your current superannuation account. By putting all your superannuation money in one fund you could:
- Pay just one set of fees and charges, which could save you money.
- Make managing your super easier as you will receive only one set of paperwork to keep track of and manage.
- Reduce the likelihood of losing your super again.
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