Residents can claim $56m in lost super

AUSTRALIANS have a whopping $18 billion retirement savings in lost or unclaimed superannuation that’s waiting to be clawed back by its rightful owners.

And Toowoomba region’s postcode of 4350 is the number four postcode across the nation with the highest amount of super sitting unclaimed at $56 million.

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 claim or transfer super online, otherwise ring the ATO hotline on 13 10 20.