A mother of two discovered nearly $50,000 in unclaimed retirement funds after years of putting off consolidating her accounts.
Fiona, 59, a Perth woman, was prompted to consult her superintendent after learning that Australian women over 55 are increasingly becoming homeless.
Although she wasn’t expecting much from searching through myGov, Fiona “almost fell off” her chair in surprise after finding $45,000 in a forgotten account from a previous job.
He had lost track of the account after forgetting to update his address while moving around the country and working several different jobs.
When letters arrived from retirement providers, I often dismissed them, mistakenly believing they were advertising.
But the shocking discovery has prompted her to urge other Australians to check their super accounts as they too could be in for a surprise.
‘I feel stupid for not doing it sooner. “If you have a tax return number, it will take five minutes,” he said. 7News.
“You really need to take care of yourself, take a few minutes to make sure everything you’ve worked for is attributed to you correctly.”
Australian mother-of-two shocked after finding $45,000 in forgotten super accounts from previous jobs in previous years (file image)
Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner Emma Rosenzweig said Fiona is one of many residents the organization has helped recover their forgotten super.
Some $6.4 billion in unclaimed super has been recovered since 2021.
“But there are still more than $17.8 billion waiting to be found,” Ms. Rosenzweig said in September.
‘If you changed jobs, moved house or simply forgot to update your details, you may have lost or not claimed super.
‘We are urging Australians to check if any of the $17.8 billion in lost and unclaimed super belongs to them.
‘Even if you have retired, you could have lost the super or not claimed it. The ATO has $471 million on behalf of people aged 65 and over.
Australians eager to check if they have lost super have been urged to take a few minutes to complete the ATO’s ‘Five-Step Super Health Check’.
“All you need is to confirm your contact details, check super balances and employer contributions, search for lost and unclaimed supers, find multiple accounts and consider consolidating (and) confirming nominated beneficiaries,” reads a statement from the ATO.