More encouragingly, the statistics also showed that over the five years prior to 30 June 2018, the number of individuals who had consolidated their superannuation had steadily increased, with the effect that more than 10 million Australians now hold just one super account.

Twenty-three per cent of all Australians still hold two accounts, which may be attributable, in part, to the insurance benefits that multiple accounts can offer some individuals. 

It means that 87 per cent of the Australians who are members of super funds have just one or two super accounts to their name and is a 5 per cent improvement on 2015’s statistic of 82 per cent.

The remaining 13 per cent have three or more separate accounts, which is 5 per cent lower than 2015’s 18 per cent.

Approximately 8 per cent of individuals hold three accounts, while 3 per cent have four super accounts to their name.

One per cent of individuals have five super accounts, while the same proportion hold six or more accounts.

It’s best practice to combine multiple super accounts and transfer account balances into one streamlined account where compounding interest can best work its magic.