MOST WOMEN RETIRE with much less superannuation than men.
This makes it particularly difficult for single women and widows. Plus, on average, women live almost five years longer than men.
But why? Taking the pay gap aside, and the fact that women are more likely to work part-time and take time off for child-rearing… let’s put all of those facts away for the moment.
Here’s one we can change for our daughters, and it has a direct impact, immediately. The unfortunate truth is that women tend to be less interested in superannuation than men. Perhaps it’s because we don’t talk about it as much with our daughters. We don’t emphasise it’s importance.
Women often have a number of low-paying jobs in their working life. This means they accumulate multiple superannuation accounts because amalgamating them is just too difficult. The consequence is that a lot of these accounts are not only neglected… they’re forgotten about.
We have to make sure we are aware of this and take action. Talk to your daughter. Make sure she knows her future is in her hands. Teach her that good times don’t last and neither do bad times. And when it rains money, put out a bucket, not a thimble.
It’s OK to think ahead. It’s what every successful person does… they visualise a future of their choosing and make definite steps to move towards this vision.
Someone’s sitting in the shade now because someone planted a tree a long time ago. She’ll want to be sitting in the shade someday – so today’s the day to plan for it.
