Lost Super – Start Looking For Yours Today!
What is ‘lost super’? The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) considers a super account to be lost when your account (if it was established by an employer) hasn’t received a contribution or rollover for five years or mail sent by your superannuation fund has been returned twice. How could someone’s super become missing when it’s precious money for retirement? There are several ways this could happen.
Many Australians had a job as a teenager and while they were at university. These jobs are often casual or part-time jobs that did not pay high wages, and so some people write off or even forget the super they earned while they were at these jobs. They failed to transfer that super to the super fund they started with their next job; the super fund they were given or chose at their next job was likely different from their old one. Or perhaps, some Australians think that the super from that old job automatically transferred to their new super fund and followed them from job to job: this is not so.
The fact is that every time you change names, jobs, and addresses, you need to double-check that your super changes with you so that you are in control of all the super money you have earned since you began working. If you fail to do this, your super fund might lose contact with you and your super will eventually be considered lost.
If you want to find out if there is lost super out there with your name on it, first go through any old pay slips from every job you’ve ever held, and see if you can find out which super funds your employer contributed to. Chase down the names of any eligible Australian superannuation company, whether it was a super fund, deposit fund, rollover fund, or retirement savings account. Some Australian super funds also perform lost super searches for their members, so it’s worthwhile giving them a call. Failing this, the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) has a database of lost funds. To find your lost super with the ATO’s Superseeker tool, all you need is your:
• Tax file number
• Full name(s)
• Date of birth
Remember that if you find any lost super and you are able to withdraw those funds, there may be tax consequences.