AUSTRALIANS have a whopping $18 billion retirement savings in lost or unclaimed superannuation that’s waiting to be clawed back by its rightful owners.
The Toowoomba region’s postcode of 4350 is among one of the worst offenders when it comes to lost super across the nation, with $56 million in super sitting unclaimed.
Ipswich wasn’t far behind, with 11,266 accounts totaling $41,112,902 sitting unclaimed. The average amount owed per account in the Ipswich region is $3649
New figures released yesterday by the Australian Taxation Office have revealed as of June 30 this year, super funds held a massive $14.12 billion in lost super money and the ATO held another $3.75 billion of unclaimed super.
Lost super is accounts held by funds where they have lost contact with the member.
Unclaimed super is when lost money is transferred from funds to the ATO after the fund has been unsuccessful in contacting the member and has not received contributions from them for five years.
The ATO and funds have been working hard to reunite members with their funds, uniting 1.68 million accounts with balances totalling $8.12 billion in the past four financial years.
But the ATO’s assistant commissioner, Debbie Rawlings, said more people needed to take action to claim back their own money.
“These figures show there are many people who still may not realise how quickly and easily they can check their super accounts,” she said.
“You might choose to keep multiple accounts but if you consolidate your multiple super accounts into the one you prefer you’ll avoid paying multiple sets of fees and charges.”
NSW is the worst-offending state with the biggest pool of lost and unclaimed money, totalling than $5 billion, ahead of Victoria with $3.6 billion.
And of the lingering money more than half the amount of lost super held by funds belongs to members who are aged 40 to 55.
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees chief executive officer Eva Scheerlinck urged people to hunt their missing super because “every dollar counts in superannuation”.
“Setting up a profile on the myGov online portal is the best way to find out if you have multiple accounts and search for any lost super,” she said.
“You can then look to consolidate these accounts which will save you money in fees and make it easier to keep track of your balance.”
Claim or transfer super online or phone the ATO hotline on 13 10 20.
TOP POSTCODES FOR LOST AND UNCLAIMED SUPERANNUATION
- Postcode / Suburb / Accounts / Value
- 4740 Mackay & surrounds 13,338 $62 million
- 4870 Cairns & surrounds 18,488 $61 million
- 2170 Liverpool & surrounds 13,994 $59 million
- 4350 Toowoomba & surrounds 15,049 $56 million
- 4305 Ipswich and surrounds 11,266 $41 million
