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Thousands upon thousands of Australian employees and employers have billons of dollars in unclaimed or lost (superannuation) Super.

So how do you know if you are one of the 4.3 million Australian with unclaimed or lost Superannuation, who have every right to claim this pool of almost 4.3 billion dollars?

Anybody who has worked for any amount of time at one stage or another has had employer contributed superannuation funds deposited into one of the many hundreds of superannuation funds now operating In Australia. Have you kept track of all the funds deposited into your Super fund?

Like most of us, you have had a least 4 to 8 fulltime or partime jobs in your career and with each job you have had super added to a Superannuation fund normally decided by your employee. Each year you may get a notice from the super fund stating how much money you have invested with them and now you should also get a statement on your pay slip, stating how much super has been deposited in your fund.

But none the less most of us would have no idea how much lost or unclaimed superannuation we have and even less knowledge of who is managing it and who is the funds with.

But, you can know find out and in most cases it totally free to find it. If you don’t have the time to find it yourself you could employ a company to do it for you, and pay their fee. Or you could go online, go to the ATO website, and do a search for unclaimed or lost superannuation. Then add your details and they will tell you exactly how much you have and were it is.

The Australian Tax Office has a service they call SuperSeeker which searches the ATO Super database for contributions made by you based on your personal tax file number. The greatest benefit of this service, is that it can be done online and is in realtime.

To find Superannuation you may have forgot about or just wasn’t sure the amount, visit https://superseeker.super.ato.gov.au/individuals/default.aspx?pid=0. You will need your tax File Number, date of birth and your full name.

It’s your money, so go and get it.

Direct deposit is an excellent feature offered by many banks all around your area. Banking is supposed to be convenient and easy, it has been made that much easier and more convenient with the offering of direct deposits. When thinking about direct deposit, consider many of the things that could apply to you. Have you found yourself hurrying off to make the cutoff point for bank deposits? Do you travel to your banking institution on a weekly basis to deposit a paycheck? Have you found yourself losing a check you intend to take to the bank to deposit or cash? If you have answered any of these questions with a yes, it may be time to consider direct deposit.

Direct deposits are the action of your employer depositing your paycheck directly into your bank account by electronic means. This is extremely safe and easy for you to do, all you simply have to do is first, ensure that your employer offers direct deposits (many employers now days ONLY offer direct deposits to their employees). The next thing you will have to do is fill out a form that supplies your employer with your bank routing number, account number, and bank information.

By choosing direct deposits, you are ensuring easy and safe transfer of your funds to your bank account. It is reliable and your paycheck is deposited into your bank account on time, you no longer have to keep track of the banking hours or hurry to meet the deposit deadline. You also decrease the risk of losing your paycheck by using direct deposits. There are other benefits to direct deposits including, when your funds are deposited directly the funds are available to you immediately upon completion of the transfer. Occasionally, some banks require you to wait a specified number of days before the funds will become available, to wait for check clearance.

Another excellent benefit, is if you are away from your home on business or on a vacation, you will not have to worry about your paycheck coming in the mail or being stolen, your money will be in your account safely. They are also extremely secure, stolen, misplaced, or lost checks will become a thing of the past. Direct deposits leave such a trail behind it that tracking these are much easier than tracking a paper check.

As you can see direct deposits can make your life much easier and reduce the number of trips you will need to make to your banking institution.