How to Find Your Lost Super

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Locate Your Lost Super Today

Recent data from the Financial Services and Superannuation reveal that the total amount of ‘lost super’ across the country rose to $18.1 billion this year from $17.4 billion last year. The so-called ‘lost super’ is an amount of money that is now included in public funds from unaccounted and unclaimed superannuation of some individuals. Super can be lost if an owner has changed their name, their job or their address and therefore their fund can no longer locate them.

Part of lost superannuation is ‘unclaimed super,’ which in turn is incurred when a member fails to meet eligibility requirements to withdraw the money. Unfortunately, in many cases, super funds lose contact of individuals because of this problem. It is interesting how many Australians overlook such money, which can now be considered as a pot of gold considering the accumulated amount of lost super.

According to findings of a report on lost super released by Westpac, 38% (or two out of five Australians) are unaware that they have lost super. In the same research, it was found that up to 62% of young families across the country are more likely to incur lost super. About 47% or one in two Australians are likely to lose super.

Tom Garcia, chief executive of the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees has stated that the growing amount of total lost super nationwide should be taken very seriously. He stressed that it does not make sense that many individuals do not spend the time to locate their super. The amount may not be huge for some individuals, but it can be considered as significant.

Logically, we should reclaim what is rightfully ours. Take note that super funds have already transferred lost and inactive super accounts to the Australian Tax Office. Those funds have somehow given up on contacting and finding members who have super balances of around $2,000 or less.

 

Contact Your Super Fund

To make sure you don’t have lost super, you should contact your super fund. It is possible to review your account, allowing you to determine if you still have a superannuation amount that is not yet claimed. Do so especially if you have changed address or job in the past several years. If you have had any changes to your name, you should also check for any possible lost superannuation. If you have not updated your super fund about such personal data changes, try to contact them now. Your super fund may have been trying to locate and contact you for many years now.

 

ATO SuperSeeker

Since many of the lost supers have already been forwarded to the Australian Tax Office (ATO), you may contact the Australian government agency to check for any lost super. Visit the designated website for such a search at www.ato.gov.au/superseeker. The information may contain accounts that have been inactive for the last two years but you can still try using it if your super account has not been active in the past several years.

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