Why do I want you to find your super?
I know where my super is, Janis why are you telling me to find my super?
You need to check how many superannuation accounts you have. The ATO says that in 2018 there was over $17 billion in lost or unclaimed superannuation. Knowing this could help you during your life and it could help your Estate.
People think this issue, multiple superannuation accounts, is something that young people do. Statistically, the older people get the more accounts they have. Don’t assume that you know how many superannuation accounts you have, particularly when you can check for free.
Help your Executor, and help your retirement
You should go to ‘Find my super’ and look for all of your superannuation accounts. This is a government site, Google ‘find my super ato’ and it will be the first link that comes up that isn’t a Google add. If you already have a My Gov account then you can just go to the ATO part of that site. If you don’t have a My Gov account I would encourage you to create one because you will probably not get through life without needing one, and typically when you discover that you need a My Gov account you tend to need it quickly.
Small superannuation accounts with next to no balance can actually cause a problem for Estates. Apart from wasting the Executors time beneficiaries get upset when the superannuation company informs them that there is no balance left. I have had matters where the super account had such a low balance that it isn’t worth the time and paperwork to have it released, this can upset the beneficiaries who then offer to do it themselves and create friction between beneficiaries and executor.
What if I don’t find any new accounts?
If you discover that you only have the accounts that you knew about then that is great, make sure the Executor knows that by keeping a record of your search. Once you have set up your filing system you could take a screenshot of this search and save it with your other life admin documents. The reason that you would take a screenshot is so that your Executor can see that you did not have any other superannuation accounts at that time. Sometimes beneficiaries are convinced that you had other accounts, this simple thing might save a lot of time or arguments about whether all of your superannuation has been accounted for.
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