The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) reports that there are around 400,000 unclaimed super accounts across the country worth $13.8 billion. Almost half of all Australians with superannuation have more than one super account!
Your super fund will report you as a lost member if you have been uncontactable for 12 months – for example, if you haven’t updated your details with them after changing your job, address or name.
After logging in head to ‘My Transactions’ and select ‘Find your lost super’.
Enter a few details, including your Tax File Number (TFN), and the online search will tell you in seconds if there’s other super outside your First Super account that belongs to you.
Call our Member Services Team on 1300 360 988 with your member number and TFN, and we’ll do the rest.
If you find extra super in other funds, lucky you!
You could be even better off by combining your other balances into your First Super account – known as ‘consolidation’ or ‘rolling in’.
In most cases, with your consent, any super that we find with the ATO will automatically be added to your First Super account. For extra super in other funds, you have options about what to do next.
Having more than one super account means you’re paying for multiple fees and other charges, including insurance premiums on every account. So over your working life, this can add up to tens of thousands of dollars, wasted. That’s just crazy! All that extra money could dramatically boost your hard-earned
retirement savings!
We use an ATO tool called SuperMatch. This tool has been built into our own system and our member portal, Firstonline, to give members a smooth, easy way to search for other super and then roll-in of these funds to your First Super account.
The ATO tool uses your TFN to search for other unclaimed super in your name.
So we need your consent to use your TFN to:
It’s your choice, but it’s worth knowing that although you don’t pay any fees on ATO-held amounts, you don’t have and can’t get insurance with that option.
Also, you can’t plan an investment strategy or manage asset allocations based on your particular circumstances. And, importantly, the only investment return you receive is interest paid at a level based on CPI.
In most cases, any lost super held by the ATO will automatically be added to your First Super account. Whereas with extra super in other funds, you have options about what happens to those amounts.
No. You can transfer your super to any super fund that will accept you as a member and accept your contributions.
However, because you are already a member of First Super, you can start the process for a transfer immediately.
If you want to transfer to another fund you will need to get in touch with that fund and follow their process.
It could be a good sign that we haven’t found any extra super. It suggests your super is already consolidated at First Super and that you’re not paying unnecessary fees etc.
Of course, it’s possible that there are additional super savings, but that the details we’ve provided doesn’t match any ATO records.
For this reason, we’ll undertake searches on your behalf from time to time. Whenever we do this, we’ll let you know the results. You can also search directly by selecting the ‘Find your lost super’ search option when you log into our website.
If the search finds extra super elsewhere, it’s possible that you’re not making the most of your super, or it might not be growing as much due to, for example, paying more than one set of fees.
Although you don’t need to do anything, we recommend that you at least think about the benefits of consolidating (bringing together all) your super into one fund. This is done by what’s known as a ‘roll-in’, which is transferring the monies from other accounts into one account.
If the extra super found includes a defined benefit amount and/or has attached insurance, we strongly advise you to seek professional financial advice to help you weigh up the benefits of consolidation and to help you decide what to do with this account.
Defined benefit accounts are older style accounts and moving such amounts to your First Super account may not be in your best interests. Obtaining financial advice is particularly important in such instances. We wouldn’t roll-in a defined benefit account unless you have specific advice from an adviser confirming that it’s suitable for you.
With regard to accounts with insurance, it’s worth knowing what insurance you have with your First Super account. This may help you to make a decision regarding rolling in the identified super.
Again, while the decision is yours, we’d encourage you to get professional advice. You can book an appointment with a First Super Financial Planner if you’d like to discuss the issues and don’t have easy access to another adviser.
As an industry fund, First Super’s profits go straight back to members. That’s because our goal is growing your super for retirement – and every cent counts.
The advantage of combining in to your First Super account is that because you are already a member, we can start the transfer process straightaway, so you start seeing the benefits more quickly.
Our process is electronic, which means the additional super should be in your account within three full business days. If you decide to transfer into a different fund, then you’ll have to contact them and go through their consolidation process.
Whichever fund you choose to consolidate in to, the potential benefits include:
There are some important things to think about before you consolidate your super. You should compare things like:
If you need advice on whether transferring other funds into a single fund is the best thing for you, then you should speak to a financial adviser. As a First Super member, you can choose to speak to one of our Financial Planners.
The process for transferring your funds out of the other fund(s) and rolling into First Super is straightforward, but they may need to check some details with you.
Usually, First Super will get the funds into your account within 4 days, and we send you confirmation when this has occurred.
If you have not heard anything in the next 10 days or so, please call us. It may be the case that you need to contact the other fund to see why your request has not been completed.
If you have any questions, simply call our Member Services Team on
1300 360 988.
