How to find lost super
Boost your superannuation fast by tracking down lost funds. Here’s a few simple steps to help make it easy.
If you’ve had a few jobs over the years or changed your name or address, you may have money floating out there in long forgotten super accounts. According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), there are a total of just over six million lost and ATO-held accounts totalling over $18.2 billion. That’s a lot of unclaimed money.
Start the search
Finding lost and unclaimed super is simple. The ATO’s SuperSeeker is a free site dedicated to helping you find lost super. You can search for super online, by phone or by sending the ATO a paper form with personal details, such as name, date of birth and tax file number.
You will need to register to use the ATO’s online services, including the SuperSeeker website, which is also a security measure to protect the personal information displayed and to make sure the person enquiring about lost super funds in your name is actually you.
The tax office will then provide you with the name and contact details of any super fund, retirement savings account or eligible rollover fund that has super it believes is linked to you.
The online super search tool will not only locate lost super, but will find any ATO-held super in your name. This is funds the government, your super fund or your employer have provided to the tax office on your behalf because they couldn’t find a super account to transfer the money to.
You’ve been reunited with your super, now what?
If you find yourself the fortunate recipient of lost super funds, you can use SuperSeeker to initiate an online transfer of your money to another fund. This usually occurs within three working days. You can also contact the super fund and give them your new details, but this may take slightly longer.
Put it all in the one account
Once you’ve found lost funds, take the opportunity to combine all of your money into the one account. This will not only save on administration fees, but you’ll be able to focus all of your energy on growing the one super balance if you’re still contributing to it. Be aware of outgoing fund exit fees and of any insurance you may have in one of the super accounts you want to close.
While you may think you don’t have any lost super out there, it’s worth a search, especially when it involves billions in lost funds.