clovaSuper
Find Lost Super and Combine Your Accounts
Sign in to myGov, open the ATO service and go to Super, then Fund details: it lists super accounts reported in your name, including any the ATO holds. From there you can move old balances into the account you're keeping, once you've checked insurance and any transaction costs.
By MarnixPublished Sources
If you've had a few jobs, there's a fair chance one of them left some super behind. A weekend job at 16, a uni job that paid into a different fund, an address that changed and never got updated: each can leave a small account you've forgotten about, still yours, and in some cases still being charged fees.
Finding it takes a few minutes in myGov, and nobody needs to be paid to do it for you. What takes a little more care is deciding which accounts to combine.
Find every account in your name
The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) online services, reached through myGov, show every super account reported in your name in one list. Each one is shown with its fund, its latest reported balance and whether it's active, lost or already held by the ATO.
Sign in to myGov and link the ATO
Sign in at my.gov.au, or create an account, and link it to the ATO if you haven't yet. Linking asks you to confirm who you are. If you need your tax file number for that, our guide to finding your tax file number shows where it's printed.
Open Super, then Fund details
In the ATO service, select Super, then Fund details. The ATO app has the same screen. An account with Contact fund beside it is one the fund has lost touch with, and ATO-held super is money already sent to the ATO.
Check each balance's date
The balances shown are the ones funds report each 30 June, so they can be months old. A fund's own member statement or online account has the current figure.
Here's a made-up example of what that screen can show. Mia, 24, worked at a café during school and a supermarket during uni, and now has an office job. Her list looks something like this.
Made-up example, simplified from ATO online services. Balances as at 30 June.
Small inactive accounts often go to the ATO. Others can stay with the old fund, where fees continue.
After 16 months without contributions, subject to exceptions
Exceptions apply, including recent changes you made to the account. Source: ATO.
If an account you're sure exists isn't listed, your details with that fund may not match the ATO's, for example an old surname or address. The ATO's lost super page explains how to search by phone or post instead.
Check what each account would lose before you combine
Combining accounts means you pay one set of fees instead of several, and there's only one balance to keep an eye on. Moving the money closes the old account, though, and anything attached to it ends with it. Check these with each fund before you move anything:
- Insurance. Many accounts include life, disability or income protection cover, paid from your balance. If you need the cover, have replacement insurance confirmed before closing this account.
- Other costs. Ask about transaction costs, such as the difference between buying and selling investment units.
- Employer extras. Some employers pay more into a particular fund, so check before moving away from the one your job pays into.
- Defined benefit accounts. These work out your benefit by a formula rather than a balance, and some can't be rejoined once you leave. They're uncommon, but if one of yours is labelled defined benefit, get advice before moving it.
The account to keep isn't automatically the biggest one. Fees and long-term performance matter more, and the ATO's YourSuper comparison tool puts basic default accounts side by side. Moneysmart also warns about cold calls and pressure to move super quickly, so take your time with any offer you didn't ask for.
Move the money into one account
ATO-held super is the easy part. In the same ATO service, choose Super, then Manage, then Transfer super, and pick the fund you're keeping. There's no fee for moving ATO-held super into a fund. The ATO also moves amounts of $200 or more into an active account on its own where it can, so you may find some has already been moved.
For an old fund you've decided to leave, the same Transfer super option moves its whole balance and closes the account. It only appears once you have more than one account. If you'd rather not use myGov, the fund you're keeping can roll the money in for you, or you can use the ATO's paper rollover form.
In Mia's case, the café's $500 is showing as ATO-held super, so she moves it herself rather than waiting. Her supermarket job fund still holds $3,400 and includes insurance. She checks the cover, decides she doesn't need it, and transfers that balance too, leaving one account with $10,100 and one set of fees.
Last, check where your employer pays. Moving money between funds doesn't change it, so if the account they use is one you closed, give payroll the details of the account you're keeping. Your next payslip shows the fund it's going to.
Keep it in one place from here
Your existing super account generally follows you to a new job unless you choose another. When you start somewhere new, give payroll your fund's details on the choice form, and update your address with the fund when you move.
A yearly look at myGov can help you spot extra accounts. Super is a long-term pot, and one account means any fees you save stay invested and keep compounding for decades. Once it's all in one place, the guide to super by age shows what balances usually look like at different ages.
Everyday money can get scattered the same way, across a transaction account, a savings account and a card. Clova, our budgeting app, connects your bank accounts so your spending, bills and goals sit in one view.
Checking takes less time than most money jobs, and it can turn up money you'd forgotten was yours. Even if you stop after the first two steps, you'll know which accounts the ATO has found.
A note from us
Super is easy to forget because you never see it arrive. We are building Clova to bring your everyday accounts into view.