THERE is more than $21 million of superannuation sitting unclaimed in south-west Victoria.
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Data released by Westpac showed in Warrnambool there was $11 million of unclaimed super, $768,000 in Port Fairy and $1.2 million of unclaimed superannuation in Camperdown.
Westpac superannuation spokeswoman Hannah Oakhill said a lot of people were unaware if their superannuation details were out of date then the money was held by the Australian Tax Office until it was claimed.
Ms Oakhill said there were many reasons why people may have inactive, missing or lost super.
“Superannuation for a lot of Australians can be difficult to get their heads around,” she said.
“You are especially vulnerable to lost super if you have recently moved homes, changed jobs or married.
“When people move jobs frequently it can also be hard to keep track of it.”
Ms Oakhill said research showed people assumed it was a long and difficult process to access superannuation but that wasn’t the case.
“With billions sitting in lost super and lots of other super people may have forgotten about, it’s one of the biggest financial opportunities to better secure your retirement savings,” she said.
“There is lost super to be found in all suburbs and towns across the state, and it is so easy to find if any of it is yours.”
“In fact we know from what our customers tell us that they put off searching for super because they think it will take a long time, but this isn’t actually the case.
“Super can be found in a few minutes.”
There was also more than $1 million in unclaimed superannuation in Noorat and Cobden respectively and $932,000 in Koroit.
In Winslow there was $949,000 in unclaimed superannuation, $790,000 in Timboon, $524,000 in Mortlake and $384,000 in Terang.
In Allansford there was more than $400,000 in unclaimed superannuation, in Woolsthorpe there was $252,000 and in Narrawong there was $253,000 in unclaimed superannuation.
In Skipton there was $130,000 and in Caramut there was $97,000 and $27,000 in Derrinallum.
People can find their unclaimed superannuation via the Australian Tax Office website or via Westpac’s online banking service.