Tax office urges more than four million Australians to track down $16b in lost, unclaimed superannuation

Marc Brian Ypinazar says he should have double the super balance he has, but has lost money in multiple account fees. (Supplied)

Without realising it, Marc Brian Ypinazar opened 19 super accounts and took out multiple life insurance policies over 20 years as he worked his way through a mining career.

"I was just young and silly and didn't take responsibility for looking after it," the 52-year-old said.

It wasn't until the miner fell in love with his now wife Elle Roberts, and the couple began combining their finances, that he realised what had happened.

In Australia, it is compulsory for employers to pay superannuation for employees.

Mr Ypinazar said he consolidated his accounts, but it affected his retirement savings because he was paying a lot of fees.

"A few people [at work] have told me how much they have," he said.

"It is probably double what I have."

Ms Roberts said he should have at least $300,000 in super based on what he has earned over his working life, but he has about half of that.

According to the Australian Taxation Office (ATO), as of June 2023, four million people, or 23 per cent of Australians with a superannuation account, hold more than one account.

That figure is up by about 100,000 people from the previous year.

Glen James, a financial advisor and podcast host, said those with multiple super accounts were at risk of being charged multiple administration fees or have more than one set of insurances.

"Superannuation is your money, and you need to pay attention, and you need to know where it is," Mr James said.

Mr Ypinazar hoped his story prompted people to check their super accounts.

"No-one is going to look after you when you retire; you have to look after yourself," he said.

Super stapling

Mr James said the next generation of workers will be less susceptible to having multiple super accounts since the federal government introduced super stapling in 2021.

"What would happen nowadays, if you went for a job, your super fund is stapled to your tax file number so we're not going to get into this state where we're collecting super funds," he said.

Luke Ellrott, 24, lives in Rockhampton, central Queensland, and has been working odd jobs since he was a teenager.

When he started his first professional job in the energy sector a year ago, his new employer offered to sign him up for a new industry super fund.

"I just looked through the paperwork and decided which one was best, so I went with that," he said.

He said consolidating his superannuation accounts was easy and took only a few minutes.

A spokesperson for the ATO said Australians could find out if they had lost or unclaimed super, or consolidate their super funds, through their MyGov account or by completing a super health check.

Mr Ypinazar said it was important for young people to be aware of their financial situation.

"You have to be more aware of it and get your financial situation in order," he said.

Mr Ellrott said financial education needed to improve in Australia because parents did not always teach their children about financial literacy.

"If you have parents who aren't very financially literate, [information] won't go to their kids," he said.

"If we introduce it into the curriculum, such as [financial] strategies that work and how to do your research properly, everyone can figure out their own financial journey after that."

Lost and unclaimed super

Mr James said those who have multiple super accounts could be at risk of having lost or unclaimed super.

A spokesperson for the ATO said if someone had changed their name, job, or address, or forgotten to tell their super fund about changed details, they could have lost or unclaimed super.

They said there was $16 billion in lost and unclaimed super — up by $2.1 billion from the previous financial year.

The ATO spokesperson said lost super was money held by super funds where the member was either uncontactable for 12 months or a contribution or rollover had not been received in five years.

As of June 2023, there were 320,000 lost super accounts.

Mr James said unclaimed super was risky because it was held by the ATO and therefore not invested in markets and earning money.