Millions of Australians have more than one superannuation account. If you have ever changed jobs, changed employers or changed your surname, you may well be one of those people. The Australian Tax Office is currently holding around $18 billion of “lost” superannuation money. Some of that money will never be reunited with the correct owner.
The amount of lost superannuation being held by the ATO is set to rise significantly over the next few years, with the value threshold at which the government can transfer inactive accounts from the superannuation fund administrator to the ATO having recently risen from $200 to $2,000 also the period of account inactivity has reduced from five years to just twelve months. This change is expected to boost government revenue by around $815 million over four years, holding around $18 billion of “lost” superannuation money. Some of that money will never be reunited with the correct owner.
A question that these changes raise is, what happens to any life insurance cover attached to the account if that account is closed and transferred to the ATO? Hundreds of thousands of Australians risk losing significant superannuation-related insurance benefits.
It is just one of many good reasons to stay in touch with your superannuation savings. If you think you may have lost super “out there”, why not give us a call? And if you need assistance in researching your options we can also help!