Could you be one of the thousands of Australians who have lost touch with your superannuation?
Recent statistics from the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reveal more than $14 billion in lost super is waiting to be claimed.
Assistant Commissioner John Shepherd says that of particular concern are the billions of dollars sitting in super accounts where funds have lost contact with the owner.
“There’s over $6 billion of super sitting in accounts where funds have not been kept up-to-date with changes to personal details,” said Mr Shepherd.
“It’s easy for this to happen because when people get married or move house, the last thing on their mind is updating their name and address details with a super fund.”
“It is also important to make sure your super fund has your tax file number, this will allow us to display your super accounts online and help reunite you with your super,” he said.
An additional $8 billion in super is sitting in accounts that have not received a contribution in five years or more.
“More than 40 per cent of super account holders have more than one account. Many of these additional accounts have not received a contribution for quite some time, and those with small balances can be eroded by super fund fees and charges.” said Mr Shepherd.
“We see many people failing to take advantage of their ability to choose a fund when they start a new job. Instead, they end up opening up a new account with a different fund each time they change jobs.”
Now is an ideal time to check if you have any lost or ATO held super accounts by creating a myGov account and linking to the ATO. Since 1 July 2014, we have already helped Australians consolidate 49,000 super accounts online.
“After you’ve electronically lodged your tax return, it only takes a minute to use SuperSeeker and check out whether you have any accounts that can be rolled into your main one,” said Mr Shepherd.
“Using SuperSeeker’s simple online form you can also roll super accounts that you no longer need into one and in most cases it only takes three days for a fund-to-fund transfer.”
“It’s an easy way to reduce unnecessary fees and make the most of your retirement savings,” he said.
Find out how much lost and unclaimed is in your postcode atwww.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Super-statistics/Lost-and-ATO-held-super/Lost-and-ATO-held-super-by-postcode/
For more information and statistics about lost and unclaimed super atwww.ato.gov.au/About-ATO/Research-and-statistics/In-detail/Super-statistics/Lost-and-ATO-held-super/Lost-and-ATO-held-super-overview/
Visit www.ato.gov.au/superseeker for more advice on how to track down lost and unclaimed super.
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