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Lost treasure yours to be found

Staff WritersEastern Reporter

IF you knew there was $1000 buried in your backyard, chances are you would grab a spade and start digging.

Well, what if you knew there was a whopping $13.4 billion in lost super across 1.373 million accounts in Australia?

Chances are you would jump on the phone and find out if any of it is yours.

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It is a more common scenario than most would imagine.

People have busy lives. They change jobs, change addresses, change names, paperwork gets mislaid and super gets lost.

The good news is – as many have already discovered – it is easily found.

The process is simple and is worth the effort because the average amount sitting in a lost super account is $9762.

Your super account could be considered ‘lost’ if no money has been added for 12 months and your fund does not have your current address – or if no money has been added for five years.

If one of these scenarios sounds familiar then the process of searching for super is quick and simple – all you need is your tax file number, and you can either check online using the ATO Quick Search service or head into a Westpac branch where the staff will complete a ‘Super Search’, free of charge.

Then, once you have found your super, consider moving it all into one account to make it easier to manage and possibly reduce the total amount of account-keeping fees.

Before doing this, you should check with your other fund/s to see if there are any exit fees for moving your benefit, or other loss of benefits such as insurance cover.

The process is simple and simply makes sense. Log in now.

To find out if you have lost track of any super, complete a search online using the ATO my Gov or Quick Search services.

Alternatively, you can go to any Westpac branch and a team member can help you perform the search for free.

Visit Westpac’s lost super page for information.

Congratulations to our prizewinner who has won $25,000! Click here to find out if it was you!