The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) is urging the community to check for any super they may have lost track of, with new data showing over $21 billion is waiting to be claimed.
ATO Deputy Commissioner Ben Kelly said checking for lost super could be the most rewarding five-minutes of your life.
‘You always want to know where your wallet is. Lost super is much the same. It’s your hard-earned money, and a quick search can reconnect you with that money to make sure you are maximising your retirement savings.’
Super can become lost for a variety of reasons, mostly when an account is inactive from no contributions, and your contact details are not up to date. When a super fund is unable to contact an individual to reunite them with their super, it may be transferred to the ATO to hold and attempt to reunite.
Last year, the ATO returned more than $1.1 billion in unclaimed super through consolidations to super accounts and direct payments to eligible individuals.
‘The average amount in lost super is around $41,000. Depending on your age, this could grow to hundreds of thousands of dollars if you put it to work for your retirement where you want it.’
Visit the ATO website for information on how to find lost and unclaimed super.
