By Philippa Billings, Chief Advice Officer, Otivo
Most people look at their super twice: once when they start a job, and once when retirement stops being theoretical. In between, the balance grows or does not grow according to settings nobody has looked at in fifteen years. A super review is not a big undertaking — it is five things, most of them visible in one login, and none of them requiring you to change funds. Here's what to look at, and what the numbers should look like in 2026-27.
A super review covers five things: how many accounts you hold, which investment option you are in, whether your fund can contact you, what insurance you are paying for inside super, and how your contributions sit against the $32,500 concessional cap for 2026-27. All five are visible through your fund and ATO online services via myGov.
What are the five points?
Call it the five-point super check. Each point takes a few minutes, and each one addresses a different way a balance leaks value.
- Accounts. How many do you have, and are you paying for all of them?
- Investment option. Which one are you in, and did you choose it?
- Contact details. Can your fund reach you?
- Insurance. What cover is inside the account, and what is it costing?
- Contributions. What has gone in this year, and how does that sit against the cap?
How do you find out how many super accounts you have?
Log in to ATO online services through myGov and open the super section. It lists every account linked to your tax file number, plus anything the ATO is holding on your behalf.
This matters more than it sounds. Treasury reports around $21.5 billion sitting in lost and unclaimed super across roughly 7.3 million accounts, with a typical lost balance of about $2,950. Multiple accounts generally mean multiple sets of administration fees, and often duplicate insurance premiums being deducted from balances you have forgotten about.
Combining accounts is one option many Australians consider, but it comes with a consequence worth understanding before acting: closing an account usually cancels the insurance attached to it, and cover obtained later depends on your age and health at that time. Some cover, particularly older or occupation-specific cover, cannot be replaced on the same terms. Defined benefit interests also work differently from standard accumulation accounts and are not directly comparable. Our separate article on how to find and consolidate lost super works through the sequence in detail.
Which super investment option are you in?
If you have never made an active choice, you are in your fund's default option. Around two-thirds of Australians are.
Funds offer a menu that typically ranges from options holding mostly shares and property, through mixed options blending growth and defensive assets, to options holding mostly cash and fixed interest. The labels are not standardised across the industry, so an option called the same thing in two funds can hold quite different mixes.
What is worth knowing is which option you are actually in, what it holds, how it has performed over five years rather than one, and what it charges. Otivo's super investment options module puts those four things side by side using your age, your current option, its five-year history and its fees, so you can see how your existing setting compares with the others available inside the fund you already have.
Why do your contact details matter to your super fund?
If a fund cannot reach you and no contribution or rollover has arrived for 12 months, your account can be reported as lost. After five years of inactivity it can be reported as lost regardless of contact. Lost accounts sit with the fund while it tries to find you, and can eventually be transferred to the ATO as unclaimed super.
Money transferred to the ATO does not disappear, but it also stops being invested in the market. Updating an email address and a mobile number takes about two minutes and prevents the whole sequence.
What insurance is inside your super, and what is it costing?
Most funds attach default cover automatically — usually life and total and permanent disability, and sometimes income protection. The premiums come out of your balance, which means the cost is invisible unless you go looking for it.
Two questions are worth answering. How much are you covered for, and does that amount still match your situation? Cover set up when you were 25 and single may be badly matched to a 42-year-old with a mortgage and two dependants — and the mismatch can run in either direction. Otivo's personal insurance inside super module looks at existing cover, dependants, debts, age and income to show what level of cover the situation suggests.
While you are in there, check who is nominated to receive your super if you die. Nominations lapse, and an out-of-date nomination is a common and easily fixed problem. Most funds offer a binding death benefit nomination, which the trustee must follow, using a form on the fund's website.
How do your contributions compare with the cap?
The concessional contributions cap for 2026-27 is $32,500. That figure covers all concessional contributions combined — employer superannuation guarantee, salary sacrifice and any personal contributions you claim a deduction for — not a separate allowance for each. Members with unused cap space from earlier years may be able to contribute more than $32,500 in a single year.
Two things have changed recently and are worth checking against your payslips. The superannuation guarantee rate is 12% of qualifying earnings, and since 1 July 2026 employers must pay it within seven business days of each payday rather than quarterly. That makes underpayment much easier to spot: contributions should now appear in your account within a fortnight of each pay, not months later.
Your year-to-date concessional contributions are visible in ATO online services. For a 52-year-old on $130,000 whose employer SG alone is around $15,600, that leaves meaningful room under the cap — but the room is only useful if you know it is there.
Frequently asked questions
How often should you review your super?
Once a year is a common approach, and the end of a financial year is a natural prompt because contribution totals for the year have settled. A review is also worth doing after a job change, a pay rise, a house purchase or a change in dependants, since those events change what the settings should look like.
Does checking your super cost anything?
No. Viewing your accounts through myGov and reviewing your settings inside your fund are free. Some commercial services charge to find lost super; the ATO does it at no cost through ATO online services or on 13 28 65.
Can you change your investment option without changing funds?
Yes. Investment options sit inside your fund, and most funds allow you to move between the options on their menu online. Changing option is a different decision from changing fund.
What is the difference between preservation age and Age Pension age?
Preservation age is when super can generally be accessed, and it is 60 for everyone born after 30 June 1964. Age Pension age is 67. They are seven years apart, which is why the two are worth planning around separately.
Five points, one login, once a year. Otivo is a licensed digital advice provider holding AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665, and our super investment options module is a practical place to start the annual look.
Sources
- ATO, searching for lost and unclaimed super.
- ATO, key superannuation rates and thresholds, 2026-27.
- ATO, contributions caps.
- Treasury, Reuniting Australians with their lost superannuation.
Disclaimer
The information in this communication is current as at August 2026 and has been prepared by Otivo Pty Ltd ABN 47 602 457 732, AFSL and Australian Credit Licence No. 485665. This content is general information only and has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. It is not personal financial or taxation advice and should not be relied on as such. Before acting on any information, you should consider its appropriateness having regard to your personal circumstances. This material must not be reproduced in whole or in part, or posted on any social media platform, without the prior written consent of Otivo Pty Ltd.