Mum-of-two discovers $45,000 in forgotten account – and a lot of Aussies have made the same mistake
A mother of two has discovered nearly $50,000 in unclaimed retirement benefits after putting off consolidating her accounts for years.
Fiona, a 59-year-old woman from Perth, was prompted to check her super after learning that Australian women over 55 are increasingly becoming homeless.
Although she wasn’t expecting much from the myGov search, Fiona ‘nearly fell off her chair’ in surprise after finding $45,000 in a forgotten account from a previous job.
She had lost track of the account after forgetting to update her address while moving around the country and taking a number of different jobs.
When letters arrived from pension providers, she often threw them away, mistakenly thinking they were advertising.
But the shocking discovery has led her to urge other Aussies 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 file number, it takes five minutes,” she said 7News.
“You really need to take care of yourself, spend a few minutes making sure everything you’ve worked for is properly attributed to you.”
An Australian mother of two is shocked after finding $45,000 in long-forgotten super bills from previous jobs over the years (stock image)
Australian Taxation Office Deputy Commissioner Emma Rosenzweig said Fiona is one of many residents who have helped the organization reclaim their forgotten super.
Since 2021, approximately $6.4 billion in unclaimed super has been recovered.
“But there is still more than $17.8 billion waiting to be found,” Rosenzweig said in September.
‘If you’ve changed jobs, moved or simply forgotten to update your details, you may have lost super or missed the claim.
“We are urging Australians to check whether some of the $17.8 billion in lost and unclaimed super belongs to them.
‘Even if you’re retired, you could have lost super or not claimed it. The ATO holds $471 million on behalf of people aged 65 and over.”
Aussies keen to check if they have lost super have been urged to spend a few minutes completing 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 super, locate multiple accounts and consider consolidating (and) confirming nominated beneficiaries,” an ATO statement reads.