Super funds and the ATO are sitting on a mountain of unclaimed super money.

Most of us would like to think we keep a close track of our retirement savings.

So it’s hard to believe there’s approximately $16 billion in unclaimed retirement savings contained within almost 7 million dormant accounts that’s either being held by superannuation funds or the Australian Tax Office (ATO).

The Australian Tax Office (ATO) reported earlier this year that as at 30 June 2022 the total amount included around $10.4 billion in “lost super” being held by super funds within approximately 349,000 individual accounts.

Separately, the ATO reported that it was holding around $5.6 billion in unclaimed super money contained within approximately 6.5 million individual accounts. This included over $3.1 billion in accounts with what the regulator describes as “general, small and insoluble” amounts and around $1.5 billion in inactive low balance accounts.

The ATO was also holding close to $1 billion in super money earned by former temporary residents.

Main reasons super becomes lost

People often lose contact with their super funds when they change jobs, move house, live overseas, or forget to update their details.

Lost super is money held by super funds where a member is either uncontactable and their account hasn’t received a contribution or rollover for 12 months, or the member is inactive and their account hasn’t received a contribution or rollover in five years.

Super providers are required to report and pay super to the ATO once it reaches certain requirements. Any super balances below $6,000 are transferred to the ATO if an account has been inactive for 12 months.

Other reasons super funds must report and pay lost or unclaimed super benefits are detailed on the ATO’s website.

Prevention is better than cure to avoid funds being transferred to the lost super basket. Consolidating your super savings into one account is one way of keeping track.

It’s also important to check that your current contact information and bank account details are correct

How to track down lost super

You can search for lost super in your ATO online account by logging into the myGov website.

If you think you have lost super and it’s not showing in your ATO online account, contact your previous super funds. If they transferred your money to the ATO, check that the Tax Office has your correct contact detail so they can match it to you.

You can also check the ATO’s website for other ways to search for lost super.