Somewhere in a drawer, or an inbox folder you never open, there are statements from super funds you barely remember joining. One from the job you left in 2011. One from the agency work you did between jobs. One your current employer pays into. Each one is quietly deducting its own fees — and you have a nagging feeling you should do something about it, but the whole thing feels like a chore for another day.
The good news: this is one of the rare money problems you can substantially fix in one sitting, in about 20 minutes, without paying anyone. And you're in a very large club. The Australian Taxation Office (ATO) says that as at 30 June 2026, around 4 million people held two or more super accounts.
How you ended up with three super funds
For most of your working life, the system created a new account almost every time you changed jobs. If you didn't fill in the form nominating your existing fund, your new employer simply signed you up to their default fund. Change jobs four times, get four accounts. The rules have since changed so that your existing fund now generally follows you to a new job, but that did nothing to tidy up the accounts you'd already accumulated — and if you drifted out of contact with a fund, your money may have ended up classed as "lost" or handed to the ATO to hold. There is now over $21 billion in lost and unclaimed super waiting to be claimed, and the ATO says the average amount in lost super is around $41,000. Last year alone it returned more than $1.1 billion to its owners.
What the extra accounts are really costing you
Every account you hold charges its own administration fees, and many also deduct insurance premiums — whether or not you remember agreeing to the cover, and whether or not you could ever claim on all of it at once. Doubling up on fees and premiums doesn't just cost you the cash amount each year; it costs you what that money would have earned inside your super between now and retirement.
To put a number on the principle: suppose a spare account is draining $500 a year in fees and unneeded premiums. If that $500 stayed invested and earned 6 per cent a year, over 15 years you'd be roughly $11,600 better off. That's a hypothetical illustration rather than a promise — your own numbers depend on your funds — but it shows why the ATO warns that "differences in fees can make a big difference to the amount you have when you retire". This is exactly the kind of quiet leak that Noel Whittaker has spent decades urging people to plug: not dramatic, just compounding steadily against you.
Before you press the consolidate button
Consolidating is easy — which is why the one real trap deserves respect. Check the insurance attached to each account before you close it. A fund you leave may be covering you for death, total and permanent disability (TPD) or income protection, and that cover ends when the account closes. In your late 40s or 50s, especially if your health has changed since you first got the cover, you may not be able to buy it again on the same terms, or at all. So before closing anything, note what cover each account holds and make sure the fund you're keeping gives you what you actually need.
Two smaller checks. First, compare the funds themselves — fees and long-term investment performance — so you keep the right one rather than simply the biggest balance. Second, remember that transferring your money does not redirect your employer's contributions: tell your employer your chosen fund's details, or the next contribution may quietly open the problem all over again.
How to do it in about 20 minutes
Log in to myGov and open ATO online services. Under the Super section you can see every account held in your name — including lost super and any money the ATO is holding for you — and transfer balances between funds on the spot. The ATO calls this a super health check, and it's genuinely one of the simplest official processes you'll ever use. No forms, no phone queues, no cost. If anything looks unfamiliar — an account you don't recognise, an old name or address — that's usually the trail of a fund that lost track of you, and it's your money.
If you're behind — and what to watch
Be honest with yourself about what consolidating does and doesn't do. It stops the leaks; it doesn't fill the tank. If your combined balance is smaller than you hoped, the fix is the same as it ever was: contribute more, as early as you can, and make sure the money is invested sensibly for your timeframe. And keep watching once you've tidied up — a single fund still deserves an annual once-over of its fees, performance and insurance, because "set and forget" is how the mess started in the first place. If your situation is complicated — large insurance needs, a defined benefit fund, or a pending TPD claim — get advice before you move anything, because some things can't be undone.
If you'd like to understand your super properly — contributions, investment options, insurance and all — Noel's Super Made Simple (7th Edition) explains it in plain English. Buy direct from the author for $16.95, delivered instantly as PDF and EPUB, updated for the current financial year.
This article is general information only and doesn't take account of your personal circumstances. Figures are current at time of writing and change each financial year. Consider seeking advice before acting.