There is over $17 billion dollars in lost and unclaimed super money in Australia. Some of this money could be yours.
Losing unclaimed super is like throwing money away. If you’ve changed jobs a few times you have probably ended up with more than one super account. This is because every time you start a new job your employer is required to pay the superannuation guarantee (currently 9.5% of your gross wage) into an eligible superannuation fund on your behalf. And unless you notify your new employer about your existing super fund, a new super account will be established for you.
As time goes on, it’s easy to forget about your unclaimed super accounts. These accounts become inactive when two years pass without any member activity. When this happens, the accounts are considered to be ‘lost’ or ‘unclaimed’ and may end up on the ATO’s Lost Member Register.
Having multiple super accounts generally isn’t a good idea because you:
The end result is that your money is not being invested as efficiently as possible.
From 2014, the government introduced a new process for automatically locating and consolidating multiple member accounts. Under this process, lost and inactive accounts with balances of $1,000K or less are consolidated into the member’s current active account unless the member opts out.
While this process helps reduce the number of lost super accounts, it may derail your existing financial arrangements.
By actively taking charge of your super accounts you will be able to make decisions that work for you. What’s more, consolidating your super into a single account will make a big difference to your super savings.
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