Consolidating Multiple Super Funds: A Step-by-Step Guide to Simplifying Your Retirement Savings

Australians collectively hold billions of dollars in lost and unclaimed super, and millions more pay duplicate fees across multiple super accounts. If you have changed jobs several times throughout your career, there is a good chance you have multiple super funds, each charging separate fees that erode your retirement savings. Consolidating these accounts into a single fund is one of the simplest and most impactful actions you can take to improve your retirement outcome.

The Problem of Multiple Super Accounts

The typical Australian worker changes jobs multiple times throughout their career. Before the era of choice of super fund and stapling legislation, each new employer often created a new super account, resulting in workers accumulating numerous small balances across different funds. The Productivity Commission found that there were approximately 10 million unintended multiple accounts costing members around $2.6 billion per year in unnecessary fees and insurance premiums.

Each super account you hold comes with administration fees and often insurance premiums. If you have four super accounts each charging $100 per year in administration fees plus $200 per year in insurance premiums, you are paying $1,200 annually in duplicate costs that could instead be invested for your retirement. Over a 40-year career, these unnecessary fees, plus foregone investment returns, could easily exceed $100,000 in lost retirement savings.

Finding Your Lost Super

The first step in consolidation is identifying all your superannuation accounts, including any you may have forgotten about. The Australian Taxation Office maintains records of all superannuation accounts linked to your tax file number, making it straightforward to locate even long-forgotten accounts.

To find your super accounts, log into your myGov account and access the ATO linked services. Under the Super section, you will find a summary of all super accounts the ATO knows about, including account balances, fund names, and contact details. This search will also identify any lost or unclaimed super that may have been transferred to the ATO when accounts fell inactive or funds were unable to contact you.

If you discover accounts you had forgotten or super held by the ATO, you can initiate the consolidation process directly through myGov or by contacting your chosen fund. The ATO-held super can be transferred to any eligible super fund you nominate.

Choosing Your Destination Fund

Before consolidating, you need to decide which fund will receive the consolidated balance. This might be your current employer's fund, but it does not have to be. Under superannuation choice legislation, you can nominate any complying super fund to receive both your existing balances and future employer contributions.

When selecting your destination fund, compare fees, investment performance, insurance offerings, and member services. A low-fee fund with strong long-term performance will maximise the benefit of consolidation by putting more of your money to work for retirement. Remember to review insurance arrangements, as consolidating may affect your coverage levels, and you want to ensure adequate protection remains in place.

Insurance Considerations Before Consolidating

One important consideration before consolidating is the impact on insurance coverage. Each super account may provide life, TPD, or income protection insurance, and closing accounts will typically cancel that coverage. If you have specific insurance needs or have obtained coverage through super that might be difficult to replace elsewhere, review this carefully before proceeding.

Particularly important is considering any pre-existing conditions or health changes since obtaining your original coverage. If your health has deteriorated, the insurance in old accounts may be more valuable than comparable coverage you could obtain today. In such cases, you might choose to maintain an account solely for its insurance benefits while consolidating other accounts to your primary fund.

Also check whether any of your insurance policies have specific features or definitions that differ from your destination fund's offerings. Some funds have more favourable TPD definitions or longer benefit periods for income protection that might be worth preserving even at the cost of maintaining a separate account.

How to Consolidate Your Super

The actual consolidation process is straightforward and can typically be completed online in minutes. The most convenient method is through your myGov account. After logging in and accessing the ATO linked services, navigate to the Super section where you will see your accounts listed. Select the accounts you wish to transfer and nominate your destination fund. The ATO will process the transfers, which typically take several business days.

Alternatively, you can consolidate through your destination fund directly. Most funds offer online consolidation tools or forms that allow you to request rollovers from other funds. You will need details of the accounts to be closed, including fund names, account numbers, and possibly the unique superannuation identifier (USI) for each fund.

Some funds still charge exit fees, though these have been banned for most accounts since 2019. Check whether any of your accounts have exit fees that might affect the amount transferred. Similarly, some funds may have buy-sell spreads or investment exit costs that affect the final transfer value.

Stapling and Future Accounts

Since November 2021, new stapling legislation has helped prevent the accumulation of multiple accounts going forward. Under these rules, when you start a new job without nominating a super fund, your employer must attempt to pay contributions into your existing stapled super fund rather than creating a new account. This reduces the likelihood of accumulating new duplicate accounts in the future.

However, stapling only applies to new employments and does not consolidate existing accounts. You must still take action to address any multiple accounts you have already accumulated. After consolidating, ensure you nominate your preferred fund to any new employers using a Standard Choice Form to maintain control over where your contributions go.

Tracking Your Consolidated Super

After consolidation, managing your super becomes much simpler. With a single account, you only need to check one balance, review one set of fees, manage one investment option, and deal with one insurance arrangement. This simplicity makes it easier to stay engaged with your retirement savings and make informed decisions about contribution levels and investment strategies.

Set up online access to your consolidated super account and check it regularly, at least annually but preferably quarterly. Review your investment option to ensure it remains appropriate for your age and risk tolerance, check that contributions are being received correctly, and monitor fees to ensure they remain competitive. Use our superannuation calculator to project how your consolidated balance might grow with continued contributions.

The Long-Term Impact of Consolidation

The benefits of consolidation compound over time. Eliminating duplicate fees means more of your money remains invested and earning returns. Even savings of a few hundred dollars per year can grow substantially over decades. If consolidation saves you $400 per year in fees and your super earns 7 per cent annually, that saving alone would grow to approximately $40,000 over 30 years.

Beyond the direct financial benefits, consolidation provides psychological benefits through simplicity. Having a clear picture of your total super balance and a single point of focus for retirement planning makes it easier to assess progress toward your goals and take action when needed. Many people feel more in control of their retirement after consolidating multiple scattered accounts into a single, well-chosen fund.

Conclusion

Consolidating multiple super accounts is one of the highest-impact, lowest-effort financial improvements most Australians can make. By eliminating duplicate fees and simplifying management, consolidation puts more money to work for your retirement while reducing administrative complexity. Take thirty minutes to search for all your super accounts through myGov, choose a high-quality destination fund, and initiate the consolidation process. Your future self will thank you for the additional retirement savings these simple steps can generate.