Don’t miss out on money you’re entitled to – track down lost super and boost your prospects of a comfortable retirement.
To really place yourself in the best possible position for the future it’s important to have all of your financials on track.
Superannuation is a fantastic way to save money for your retirement but according to statistics from the federal treasury department, roughly one in two Australians have some lost super money – with $12.9 billion in forgotten super sitting idle.
If you’ve shifted jobs a few times in recent years, changed your name or even your address, chances are you may have super you’ve forgotten about.
The obvious downside of lost super is that you may have a substantial amount of money you don’t even know about. Secondly, leaving your super in multiple accounts can result in excessive fees and charges.
So how can you find your lost super? There are a number of consolidation services available that can find your super for you.
The Australian Taxation Office also offers a service for finding lost super called SuperSeeker; it is free to use and available online 24 hours a day, seven days a week.
If you know where your super is, you can simply request your existing or preferred fund to roll those accounts into one.
If you happen to have less than $200 in any one super account you may be able to withdraw it as cash.
While it’s never too late to track down lost super the sooner you get onto it the better. But be prepared to hit a few roadblocks along the way.
Do expect to fill in a bit of fiddly paperwork and spend some time chasing groups, lost documents and sitting on hold. But at the end of the day it’s easy money that you are entitled to, so don’t let it get away!
