17.5bn in lost super – is it yours
More than a third of all Australians have more than one superannuation account. Moving house, changing jobs or just forgetting to update your details can easily separate you from your superannuation fund.
Currently, more than $17.5bn in lost super across 6.2 million accounts is waiting to be claimed. And, the ATO says that it is not all small amounts with one account in NSW holding more than $2.2 million.
While over 500,000 super accounts were consolidated last year, there is still a lot of superannuation lying around being unproductive.
The top 10 postcodes for lost superannuation are:
| Ranking | Postcode | State | Total number of accounts | Total value |
| 1 | 4740– Mackay and surrounds | QLD | 12,140 | $60,172,250 |
| 2 | 2170 – Liverpool and surrounds | NSW | 13,236 | $59,192,322 |
| 3 | 4870 – Cairns and surrounds | QLD | 15,450 | $57,463,430 |
| 4 | 3030 – Werribee and surrounds | VIC | 10,457 | $56,665,113 |
| 5 | 4350 – Toowoomba and Surrounds | QLD | 13,425 | $53,259,353 |
| 6 | 2560 – Campbelltown and surrounds | NSW | 11,310 | $50,193,212 |
| 7 | 2010 – Surry Hills and Darlinghurst | NSW | 7,646 | $45,659,021 |
| 8 | 2000 – Sydney CBD | NSW | 6,520 | $44,048,306 |
| 9 | 6210 – Mandurah and surrounds | WA | 10,983 | $43,997,603 |
| 10 | 3029 – Hoppers Crossing and Surrounds | VIC | 9,296 | $43,761,841 |
So, what can you do? If you have not already, sign up for a MyGov account. MyGov is an online portal for a range of Government services. If you link your MyGov account to ATO online services, you can see the superannuation accounts registered to you. MyGov is also a way of ensuring that you are not caught out by formal looking scam emails as the communication sent to you by Government is available on the portal.
