Finding ‘lost’ money
We all know that feeling of finding money that we had forgotten about:
- $2 floating in the bottom of your handbag or manbag
- $5 under the couch cushion
- $10 note at the bottom of the washing machine
- $20 in the jeans back pocket
Some see this as a little reward from the universe…others might see this as being too slack to empty your pockets before washing your clothes…which ever side of the couch you might sit on, the little excitement of finding cash is hard to beat.
But wait, there’s more
Imagine the feeling of finding 1,000’s of dollars that you had forgotten about.
The ATO states that there are billions of dollars worth of superannuation sitting in millions of ‘lost’ super accounts or held by the ATO. This is generally the result of account holders not keeping their contact details up to date with their super fund.
This could be you!!!
So how do you get hold of your hard earned superannuation?
Super Search
There are a couple of ways to search for your super.
You can have your current Superannuation Fund do the search for you. Ask your payroll administrator for your current super fund details, if you do not have them already. Most have online account access, so go ahead and set this up. With online access, you should be able to keep your super fund updated with your details, and request that they do a search for any super accounts held in your name for you. For a few minutes work to set up the online access to your super could be worth thousands to you.
The alternative is to log in or set up your own my.gov account, and link your account to the ATO. Follow the ATO links to Super and any accounts held in your name will be listed. From here, you can request to consolidate your super accounts into your current one. Or you can at the very least, contact the super funds to update your details.
In a Nutshell,
For just a few minutes of your time, you could find thousands of dollars that is all yours!
Do your own search today!
Helping a friend of mine do this recently, we found more than $25,000 of super from previous jobs that she had nearly 20 years ago. That is enough to send her around the world for a while in retirement!
And of course, with all things superannuation, if you have any doubts, speak with a trusted advisor before changing super accounts or consolidating your super to ensure you are in the best fund for your situation.
