There are 7,484,000 'lost' superannuation accounts being held by super funds or the Australian Taxation Office (ATO) today.
Lost super can take a few different forms.
The most common is forgotten super accounts that are inactive, or in other words, are not receiving employer or personal contributions.
They can also be super accounts with old contact details, making it impossible for the super funds to contact their owners.
Super funds will often hand these accounts over to the ATO, and the ATO will go about trying to reunite people with their money.
Altogether, these 7.484 million accounts are worth a staggering $21.2 billion.
How people lose track of their superannuation
Aussies can lose track of their superannuation if they have had to set up a new super account each time they've changed jobs.
This was commonplace prior to 1 July 2005, when the norm was for employers to select a single superannuation provider
Then the law changed to allow employees to nominate their preferred fund. This enabled their super to move with them.
Forgetting to update your contact details with your superannuation fund is another way super gets lost.
It's less common these days given people tend to keep their mobile numbers, and to a lesser extent their email addresses, for life.
But before mobile phones and email existed, it was easy for workers to move house, which meant changing both their address and landline phone number, and forget to let their superannuation fund know.
It's therefore more likely that most lost super accounts belong to older Australians nearing or already in retirement.
Couple reunited with $1M they didn't know they had
Last year, the ATO returned more than $1.1 billion in unclaimed super through consolidations and direct payments to individuals.
Consolidations involve transferring money from several superannuation funds into one.
It's surprisingly easy to do online at ATO online services, which you can also access through your myGov account.
ATO Deputy Commissioner Ben Kelly said many Australians did not realise they had lost superannuation.
He recounted a story whereby the ATO reunited a married couple approaching retirement with more than $1 million in lost super.
That lost super changed their lives.
It's not just about reclaiming a lump sum of money that is yours.
It's also about ending the opportunity cost of money not being invested appropriately for your stage of life.
Many workers take the default 'balanced' option with their superannuation because it sounds sensible.
However, 'growth' or 'high growth' strategies may be more appropriate, especially if they are young.
Kelly said:
The average amount in lost super is around $41,000.
Depending on your age, this could grow to hundreds of thousands of dollars if you put it to work for your retirement where you want it.
Think of lost super as lost opportunities – finding it now could help maximise your savings in retirement.
There's another cost to not keeping track of your superannuation.
If you have multiple lost super accounts, you are also paying multiple account fees and possibly multiple insurance premiums, which are eating away at your retirement savings.
The ATO says about 4 million Australians have more than two superannuation accounts. The norm is to only have one.
Find your lost superannuation
Follow the ATO's super health check to find out if you have lost super.
If you have multiple accounts, the instructions will help you choose a fund to become your sole fund moving forward.
They also explain how to arrange the transfer of all superannuation monies held in multiple accounts into your new fund.
Follow the instructions in the link above to update your contact details and your nominated beneficiary, too.
