1 in 4 Aussies Aren't Getting Paid Their Super - Are You One of Them?

When was the last time you actually checked your super? Like, really checked it, not just glanced at a statement and shoved it in a drawer? If your answer is "um… a while ago," you are absolutely not alone and this episode is for you.

Molly sits down with Misha Schubert, CEO of the Super Members Council, the peak body representing over 11 million Australians in our super system, to cut through the confusion and give you a real, honest look at what's happening with your super right now.

Because here's the thing: 1 in 4 working Australians are currently not being paid some or all of the super they've earned. That's not a small problem. That's your money, that you worked for, just… not showing up. And with major new payday super laws coming July 1st 2026, there has never been a better time to get across what you're actually entitled to.

In this episode, you'll learn:

• Why most Aussies aren't engaging with their super and what it's actually costing them
• How to find out if your employer has been paying your super correctly (and what to do if they haven't)
• What payday super laws are and why they're a game changer for Aussie women
• The truth about self-managed super funds and who they're actually right for
• How to spot a super scam before it's too late (this one is so important right now)
• What women who've taken time out of the workforce can do to catch up on super
• The single homework task Misha wants every Australian to do this week

Perfect for: Aussie women who've been putting super in the "future me" basket, anyone who's ever thrown a super statement in the bin without opening it (no judgment, Molly did it too!), and women who want to make sure their retirement isn't an afterthought.

The biggest takeaway from this episode? Your super is one of the most powerful financial tools you have, you just need to start paying attention to it. And it's a lot simpler than you think. 🎧

CHAPTERS

00:00 - Introduction: How Molly Grew Her Super From $20K to $180K
01:57 - Do Most Australians Actually Understand Their Super?
03:00 - Why Super Is Your Most Important Financial Asset
04:42 - Lost Super in Australia: How to Find and Consolidate Multiple Accounts
06:00 - 1 in 4 Aussies Aren't Being Paid Their Super: The Unpaid Super Crisis
06:50 - Payday Super Laws 2026: What They Mean For Australian Women
08:26 - What To Do If Your Employer Hasn't Been Paying Your Super
09:31 - How to Check If Your Super Is Actually Working For You
11:34 - Self-Managed Super Funds: Who Are They Actually Right For?
13:52 - Super Scams in Australia: How to Spot Them and Protect Your Retirement Savings
17:59 - "What If Super Crashes?" Understanding the Safety of the Australian Super System
20:16 - Your Super Homework: The One Thing Every Australian Should Do This Week
21:32 - Free Super Advice: Why You Should Call Your Fund Today
22:22 - Women and Super: How to Catch Up If You've Taken Time Out of the Workforce
25:46 - Final Takeaway: Look After Your Super and It Will Look After You

LINKS FROM THE EPISODE

Super Members Council — https://smcaustralia.com/
Look After Your Super — https://www.lookafteryoursuper.com/
Australian Tax Office (ATO) — https://www.ato.gov.au/
ASIC (Australian Securities and Investments Commission) — https://www.asic.gov.au/

CONNECT WITH MISHA SCHUBERT

Website: https://smcaustralia.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/supermemberscouncil/
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/supermemberscouncil
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/super-members-council/
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/@SuperMembersCouncil

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

Buying a property? Need Financial Advice? Time to sort the Will? Let us help connect you with an awesome woman in finance! https://directory.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Join our free Facebook group - Ladies Finance Club Money Chat
Website: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ladiesfinanceclub/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/ladies-finance-club/
Newsletter: https://www.ladiesfinanceclub.com/newsletter23

TAKEAWAYS

SOUND BITES

"Check your super, it's your money for retirement."
"Wildly inflated promises are a red flag for scams."
"Check your super regularly to secure your future."

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00:00] Hello, and welcome back to another episode of Get Rich, the podcast that helps you do just that, get rich and stay ri- rich. Rach. No, rich. I'm your host, Molly Benjamin, founder of Ladies Finance Club, one of Australia's largest financial education platforms for women. And, like, I'm not gonna lie, this is a little bit embarrassing.

[00:00:19] When I first started in my real corporate job, I used to get letters from my super fund, and do you know what I would do? I would throw them straight in the bin, never to be opened. I didn't understand the concept of super at all. I honestly thought it was the company's money. I didn't realize it was my own money, and I had control over that money, where it was invested, what it was invested into, the fees I was paying.

[00:00:43] And fast-forward to today, I got a lot better at super. I educated myself. And when I got back from the UK living in London, I had about 20,000 in my super fund, which was not anywhere near enough, and I had just clocked over to 180,000. And I did this not earning a huge salary, being self-employed, running my own business, which just goes to show it doesn't matter where you're starting from, but you do need to start.

[00:01:07] I ... This week on the podcast, I sat down with Misha Shubert, the CEO of the Super Members Council, who are the peak body representing more than 11 million Aussies in our super system. Number one, she was just so divine and lovely, but the conversation we had, there were stats that I didn't even know existed, and I was quite shocked at, which was, like, one in four Australians are currently not being paid some or all of their super they earned.

[00:01:31] Isn't that crazy? Like, one in four, that's a lot. And she also talked about new payday lo- super laws that are kicking in from July 1st. As always, if you like it, please subscribe or leave a comment, or DM us and let us know who you want us to have on the podcast next. All right, make sure you listen to this episode.

[00:01:51] It might save you thousands. Awesome, Misha, welcome to the podcast.

[00:01:57] Thank you for having me. What a great honor.

[00:01:59] Um, well, let's jump straight into it. So be honest, do most Aussies actually understand their super, or are we just crossing our fingers and hoping it sorts itself out?

[00:02:11] Yeah, no, I think it's a really fantastic question on which to open, and I should say at the outset everything that we're about to discuss today is not personal financial advice.

[00:02:20] It's information of a general and factual nature only. But in that context, what we know is that many, many Australians are just not as engaged enough with their super as we want them to be, and that it's in their own financial interest to be. Uh, so one in three Aussies, how's this for a stat, don't even check their own super balance more than once a year.

[00:02:40] So that's, shows us there's a really important task to get that word out to as many people as possible. Check your super. That's a great place to start.

[00:02:49] Wow, one in three, and for a lot of Aussies it will be one of their biggest assets they have. So it's kinda crazy when you think about it that way, like, not even- Like, I'd wanna know what it's doing all the time.

[00:03:00] Absolutely. It- as you say, it's w- gonna be one of most Australians, one of the largest financial assets you will ever have in your lifetime, and most importantly, it's gonna be our paycheck in retirement. So when that day comes where we can, you know, hand, take the box of stuff out of the office, uh, for the last time or hang up the boots on the work side or whatever it is that you do-

[00:03:21] Yeah

[00:03:21] and go off to a fantastic retirement, and you're no longer getting that paycheck deposited into your bank account every week or fortnight or month, this becomes your money, your paycheck in retirement. And so it makes even more important for people to be thinking right from the very start of their working lives, "How do I make sure that I'm tending my super at every stage of my life?"

[00:03:42] And I totally get it for people who are like, "Do you know what? That's just such a faraway problem." Like, I always used to say, "That's future Molly's problem. Like, I don't need to think about it now." But what I wish I had done and what I hear so often is, "God, I wish I had actually paid more attention to it earlier, 'cause that could have mean literally tens of thousands, sometimes even hundreds of thousands of dollars difference if I'd actually just taken a little bit of action."

[00:04:06] And please don't hate me, but what I used to do when I used to get my very first super letters, I would put them straight into the bin. I wouldn't even open them. Yeah. 'Cause I was like, "It's not even my money. It's the company's money." I had such little understanding of what super is. But we all know it's, it's not the company's money, it's your money that you put away now for later.

[00:04:25] That's it. It's your money for retirement, so it's really important to engage. As every really savvy investor knows, it's the dollars that you put in at the very earliest part of your life that work the hardest to generate those compound investment returns for you across three and four decades of a working life.

[00:04:42] So paying attention right from day one. I, again, I remember having those sorts of little pockets of jobs here and there- Yeah ... when I was, you know, a teenager, and then, um, flipping into my sort of supporting myself around my study, uh, part-time jobs in, when I was at uni. Mm-hmm. And one of the things that can happen is that people end up with little bits of super in lots of different accounts.

[00:05:03] Um, you certainly did back then. And so again, one of the things that for a young person in your life, if you've got a young person and you can go and buttonhole them today, please do Yeah ... is to go and say to them, "Have you got super in more than one place?" You know, again, a really simple thing that many people can do is consolidate their super into one place.

[00:05:23] You're just paying one set of fees then- Yeah ... rather than multiple sets of fees, and it can really help to power those compounding investment returns.

[00:05:31] Absolutely, and some people I've spoken to have said like, "Oh, well, I worked in retail for a year when I was going through uni. I worked at Macca's for two years, so I've only got a couple of thousand in the different super funds."

[00:05:42] And I say, "If you walked on the street and there was $1,000 and it had your name on it, would you pick it up? You absolutely would." So it's worth actually looking and finding the lost super, and it's really easy to do- Mm-hmm ... in Australia as well, isn't it?

[00:05:57] That's it. So you can jump on the Australian Tax Office's site.

[00:06:00] They've got a lost and unclaimed super, um, part of their information. Again, it's a really simple, quick, and easy thing for you to do to check you don't leave money lying on the ground, as you say. The other really important thing that I will often, uh, highlight for people is we know across this country there are one in four working Australians who are currently not being paid some or all of the super they've earned from their employer.

[00:06:25] Wow. One in four? So that's a huge issue. Mm-hmm. Whoa. 3.3 million Aussies missing out on a combined nearly $6 billion a year, and that's gonna be costing people huge amounts by retirement. The really great news on that, Molly, is that from the 1st of July, 2026, this year, uh, pay day super laws are coming, which is gonna make a big difference to really tackle that unpaid super challenge.

[00:06:50] And what is those pay day laws like? Mm. Can you explain it to me in, like, simple terms?

[00:06:55] Absolutely. So one of the reasons why you've got so many Aussies, uh, being short-changed or missing out entirely on the super they've earned is because at the moment, the law says your employer has up to every three months to pay the super that's legally owed to you, so once a quarter.

[00:07:12] And yet most people get paid weekly or fortnightly or even monthly in their general take-home wages. And so a lot of people look at that bit on the payslip where it references your super contribution, SGC is often the shorthand on a payslip, and you think, "Oh, great, I've clearly been paid my super," and you assume on trust that you have been paid the right amount- Yeah

[00:07:31] each time. But sadly, that is not the case for many people. And so because of that quarterly payment cycle at the moment, what it can mean is a lot of people d- have no idea. They've just not been paid super for months or years. Suddenly the company- Wow ... goes out of business and you've lost years worth of super.

[00:07:49] So payday super will mean that from the 1st of July this year, really simple change, employers will be required to pay your super at- Mm-hmm ... the same time as they pay your take-home wages each and every time, and that will be great news for all those Aussies who are missing out on some money at the moment.

[00:08:04] Yeah. But also it'll be great news even if you are getting paid because just by having that super land- Mm ... in your account that little bit earlier, it really helps to boost- Oh ... people's compounding returns. That can, that difference alone for someone who is getting their full amount of super could be worth seven and a half grand more by the time you retire just because it's hitting your super account earlier and starting to be invested sooner.

[00:08:26] Wow, that is awesome. And if someone does discover, "Oh my gosh, I have not been paid my super," what can they do in that situation?

[00:08:33] Really important that people know they can actually raise this. So you can raise it directly and swiftly with your boss, your employer in the first instance, see if you can get a resolution fast.

[00:08:43] If that doesn't prove to be the case, you can also then go to the tax office and ask them to look at that issue- Mm ... and see if they can get a resolution. You can also ask your own super fund whether they might be able to help to chase down- Yeah ... money that you're legally owed as well. So all of those things are options, but I think the thing that we would always say is also it shouldn't be on all of us to have to, in time poor lives, y- we all know what it's like, being able to then keep on top of that and chase and chase and chase.

[00:09:11] Yeah.

[00:09:12] We actually need two things. We need those payday super laws to come not a day later than- Yeah ... they've been promised and, and legislated. That's gonna make a big difference to guess making sure that you can identify early. But also the tax office we think needs to do even more to go- Wow ... and do some of those proactive checks to make sure that the money's being paid to you when you've earned it.

[00:09:31] Ah, nice. I love having my super app on my phone as well. Call me a nerd if you will- How good ... but I, I only have to, I just put my fingerprint on, it shows me how much I have. Mm-hmm. 'Cause when I first moved back from living in the UK, I was just over 30, I had $20,000 in my super fund, and now I've got it up to 180,000 just by making small little shifts Adding a little bit extra, looking at where my money was going, and what it was being invested in.

[00:10:01] So I would love to know, if we pulled up your super account right now, on this podcast we won't, but if we did, what would I see that most Australians aren't doing?

[00:10:10] Yeah. Look, probably you'd see how frequently I log in as well- Yeah ... to check it. And so again, you know, one of the things, having that app on your phone is such a great and practical tip, isn't it?

[00:10:21] Yeah.

[00:10:21] Because it does create that ease of just jumping in and checking. Um, if you're having a bad day at work, you might wanna check it a couple of times.

[00:10:27] Yeah.

[00:10:28] Just to kind of be able to imagine that possibility of a life where you don't have to necessarily go to work anymore, hopefully at the end of a very long and productive working life.

[00:10:37] And with many decades to spend that money on- Yeah ... in retirement doing many, many golden things. But you'd see how frequently I check in, and that certainly, I think would call me, call me a statistical outlier- ... because we know that for many Aussies, a big chunk of Australians don't check their super more than once a year.

[00:10:53] And again, when you're seeing it regularly, you're so much more able to make sure that your super got paid by your employer that week or that fortnight.

[00:11:01] Yeah.

[00:11:01] Uh, you can start to really see the difference in how the right choice of growth profile for you, whether you're in a, what type of product- Yeah ... uh, is right for your life stage and circumstances.

[00:11:12] And you can also see the, the strong benefits of actually being in a high performing fund that has really strong returns and very- Mm ... low fees, and that's the scorecard really for how you might measure what a great super fund does for you, and that's a really important way to think about kind of making sure that your super's working for you at every stage of your life.

[00:11:34] Yeah, absolutely. And we actually have a series coming out where we deep dive into all those different topics you just- Mm ... discussed as well. So we're hearing a little bit about self-managed super funds. Mm. And there seems to be this bit of a push to go, "Do I need a self-managed super fund? Oh, maybe I need a self-managed super fund."

[00:11:52] So who's actually benefiting when someone who shouldn't have a self-managed super fund gets pushed into one? Because, yeah, it sounds like it's just popping up all the time at the moment.

[00:12:05] Yeah, and it certainly is a message that's been pushed with some frequency but in some quarters. Yeah. And really important for people to understand that often in those structures you'll end up paying thousands of dollars a year- Mm

[00:12:17] in fees to someone, whether that's a sort of financial advisor or whether it's an accountant or someone more broadly who is assisting with the setup of that sort of structure. Yeah. That's compared to very low fees that you'll be paying in very high performing parts of the broader mainstream super system.

[00:12:34] Wow. Uh, so important for people to understand the facts on that really clearly. I did notice recently the head of the Self-Managed Super Fund Association saying you need at least $200,000 in his view to justify- Mm ... some of those sorts of fees and expenses that start to come th- through that kind of a structure.

[00:12:51] So again, really important for people to understand that different cost profile that can often apply. Yeah. The other thing to be really, really clear on is that when you set up a self-managed super fund, you become the legal trustee- Mm ... for that structure. So you are then the person who is legally on the hook for the management of your super fund, and you carry all of that same responsibility that many of the people in the broader sort of part for the super system carry every day diligently making sure that people's super is doing the very best for them in that system.

[00:13:23] So the buck stops with you, and the risks, uh, therefore, you know, stop with you as well. Yeah. And so many people don't really understand that that's the big risks that they're being asked to shoulder themselves personally- Mm ... in establishing that sort of a structure.

[00:13:37] Yes, and I know a number of the financial advisors I've worked with, they've actually said it should be more like a million or over.

[00:13:42] That's what they believe- Mm-hmm ... to have to warrant that self-managed super fund. Hmm. And are we seeing the scams go up at the moment around, uh, super?

[00:13:52] Hugely. And so one of the things that we've been watching, and with great alarm in recent years, has been an explosion of social media clickbait. Mm. Many of the listeners today will have seen those ads that pop up in your socials feeds that say things like, "Oh, let's do a free super health check."

[00:14:11] Yeah. Or, "Are you in somewhere that's underperforming? And let us help you." And so the way that that sort of really alarming scams pattern has worked, and again, there's a really tragic set of tales that have unfolded for 12,000 Australians who lost- Wow ... their entire super through these sorts of scams in the Shield and First Guardian collapses.

[00:14:32] It's huge. A billion dollars lost between them because many of those switches occurred where someone was served up some clickbait, they clicked on that link, then they s- someone rang them and essentially, you know, called them to say hi. It's a really, really alarming MO that unfolds from there, where someone, uh, sits on the phone and they s- bas- basically start to create this sense, uh, of doubt, undermining people's trust and confidence in the really high-performing funds they're often with, with strong protections for consumers about- Yeah

[00:15:04] their safety, and then switching them out into somewhere that's riskier That can often be much more expensive

[00:15:11] Mm-hmm

[00:15:11] And so we've seen ASIC issue some really important public warnings consistently over the last couple of years saying to people, "Red flag central." Just- Yeah ... if you're getting served things that have these messages, do not click on them.

[00:15:25] Hang up if you get cold called.

[00:15:27] Yeah.

[00:15:27] Uh, do not let someone try to trick you into switching into a place where there is really grave risk. And so very, very important for listeners to be wary. Many of your listeners will of course be very live to these risks and issues. But again- Yes ... we say to people, if you've got other vulnerable people in your life- Yeah

[00:15:43] who may not be so live to these risks- Mm-hmm ... have a word to them. Tell them to watch out for it- Yeah ... and to be really wary.

[00:15:50] Especially parents, grandparents. Yeah, it's heartbreaking to hear those stories where people have been working so hard their whole lives and then have been pressured into moving that money and losing everything.

[00:16:02] And my blanket rule, which I feel like everyone can adopt, is if anyone calls you asking you to move money anywhere, it's probably, well, it's a 99.9% a scam. So never engage with them.

[00:16:14] That's it. That's the smartest thing people can do is just be so acutely aware of this. Yeah. And again, hang up, click- don't click on those- Yeah

[00:16:22] those sort of links. Uh, we're even now starting to see the sort of dawn of AI video- Yeah ... generated kind of messaging things. It looks like a human talking to you- Ah ... and trying to build trust with you. Yeah. And again, another really important red flag to be aware of is that high-pressure sales tactic. So creating this false sense of urgency.

[00:16:40] "Oh, you know, you've gotta take this decision today, you've gotta do this thing. You've gotta move now."

[00:16:44] Yeah.

[00:16:45] Why would someone be trying to create that false sense of urgency? Yeah. Because they don't want you to go and seek trusted sources of advice that are gonna keep you safe, um- Yeah ... when there is, uh, a, a very large-scale activity underway to try to take your super somewhere that it will be less safe.

[00:17:02] And it's that classic line of if it sounds too good to be true, especially when it comes to finances, it, it normally is. If it sounds too good to be true, there's definitely something dodgy happening. That is a big red flag. And what are the returns people are promising with these scammy funds?

[00:17:21] So often these messages are wildly inflated, like, "Let's double your return on super," is, those sorts of claims.

[00:17:27] That again, most Australians are in really high performing parts of the mainstream super system where you're getting those strong returns and paying low fees that have got really strong consumer safeguards around them that keep people safe and keep their super growing for them. And again, so those sort of wild claims of someone saying, "Oh, double or triple your amount," are again, a really, really

[00:17:50] Alarm bells should be ringing when someone says something like that to you. Because again, if something sounds like it might be true, too good to be true, probably because it is.

[00:17:59] And occasionally, and it's not LSC members, but occasionally I'll be talking to general public and they'll, they will not trust the super system.

[00:18:07] They're like, "Oh, what if it crashes and we lose all our money?" What is a good rebuttal to that, that I can say to them when I get that argument?

[00:18:16] So again, really important to understand the strong safeguards that sit around super, and it's a remarkable thing that we've created this system in Australia where millions, our universal compulsory system where your employer pays that 12% super on top of your take home wage through the decades of your working life invested through the structures and scale of super.

[00:18:36] Some important things to bear in mind. Again, most Australians are invested in parts of the mainstream super system with their money where they're often in diversified, uh, types of portfolios. So super for those moments, you know, where perhaps from time to time you can see a little bit of volatility happening in the publicly listed markets in one country or another, the balance of your super portfolio in those sorts of situations is likely to be invested in all sorts of long-term assets that are really working so hard to generate returns for you across three and four decades.

[00:19:08] Many Australians probably are unaware. You probably own part of, you know, many of the airports in our country, the toll roads, the telecommunications companies, the banks, the supermarkets. A little slice of that profit share of Australia's wealth and our productive economy is now coming back and owned by millions of everyday Australians in a way that is just remarkable to think about that.

[00:19:30] You know, power of that capital at work for all of us in our retirement years. So again, really important for people to understand there are those strong safeguards that sit around the way we've designed the super system in Australia, and really important that people understand how it works for them in a way that for most people the idea of being able to pick your own highly diversified portfolio yourself is out of reach for many people.

[00:19:55] They think it is. And so the ability to have some of the best investment teams in the world working on all of our behalf is again, part of the genius of the design. One of the things I love most about my job is that I've gotten to meet many of the chief investment, uh, officers and teams around the country who work on this stuff, and they're brilliantly clever and calm people.

[00:20:15] Yeah. And that's a pretty great combo.

[00:20:16] That's who we want managing our super. Mm-hmm. Calm people. So if you had to give every Australian one homework task this week- Mm-hmm ... just one thing to check in their super, what would it be and why?

[00:20:31] Yeah, so go and check that you've actually been paid the super you have earned.

[00:20:36] Yep. Because again, we know that the single biggest challenge across the current workforce, kind of ability to get the super you've been paid has been- Mm-hmm ... that big challenge of unpaid super, one in four workers missing out on some or all of the super you are meant to be paid, that you've earned.

[00:20:51] That's your money. So go and check that that money's been dropping into your account in the right amount. So do the calculation. Is it 12% on top of my wage? Go and make sure the, the amount is right and that it's been paid each time and every time. Mm-hmm. And then quickly seek to have that rectified if you haven't been.

[00:21:09] The other really important thing is to just make sure that you're in the right sort of profile of relative growth for your life stage and your circumstances. And again, jumping in, talking to your own super fund about that in the first instance is a great way of approaching that, to just say to them, "I wanna just really m- make sure I'm in the right stage of life that, you know- Yeah

[00:21:30] that reflects where I'm at right now." '

[00:21:32] Cause I think that was the big learning for me when I started learning about the world of super. Mm. Generally, if we didn't pick a fund, um, we'll be in what is called the default fund, which is sometimes a balanced or a, a growth fund. But actually, you can get free advice from your own super fund.

[00:21:47] So call up your super fund. It's free. Speak to someone there and actually find out are you in the right fund for your current circumstances and your, your age and risk appetite.

[00:21:59] It's such an important question to ask. And as you say, when you ring your own super fund, they've got really important legal duties to act in your interest.

[00:22:06] Mm. So you've got that really strong clarity in the law about people actually then being able to help you, and that's what they do every day, is try to make sure that members are in the very best circumstance for them. So that's a really important message, to ring and just ask that question of your own fund.

[00:22:22] Yeah, and we have so many amazing, wonderful listeners who have taken time out of the workforce to look after family, raise kids, look after elderly parents. But now when they look at their super, they're a little bit worried and quite fearful of the future because it's just not where they would like it to be.

[00:22:42] What's the first thing you'd say to them to do?

[00:22:45] Yeah, and we're really acutely conscious, and that's been my journey as well. I, um, had two kids, and you really notice things like that in your super balance when you've had a period out of paid work- Mm-hmm ... doing that really important work of- Right ... raising our next generations of young Australians, and huge hero gram hat tip to all the moms out there listening today.

[00:23:05] You included, Molly. Again, if you're in a circumstance, and we know that women do so much more of that unpaid caring work also for older relatives when women are at that sort of in their 50s kind of life stage, and that women still retire with about a quarter less super than blokes at the moment. So that's really mind focusing.

[00:23:22] There are some things that we can do to really tackle that inequity in the system. Uh, one of the things that we try to do as the Super Members Council is in that role as a voice for members across the system is to advocate really, uh, strongly for where there are pockets of structures that still mean that women are falling behind, that we try to fix them.

[00:23:43] Mm-hmm. So big win from last year, the government's decision to pay super on paid parental leave. Yeah. Mm-hmm. That's gonna be a game changer for watching what happens to, in the decade of women's 30s, which is often when many Australian women these days are having children, you could see that gender gap really starting to open up.

[00:24:02] Mm-hmm. And having super paid on parental leave will make the biggest of differences in that decade. We also need to tackle a current- inequity, which is if you're under 18 at the moment and you work 30 hours a week or more for the one employer, you get guaranteed a legal right to super. But if you work 29 hours or less, you don't get that same legal guarantee of super.

[00:24:23] Mm-hmm.

[00:24:24] When you look at the under-18 workforce, a lot of young blokes working full time in trades and apprenticeships who do get paid super, a lot of young women working in hospitality, and retail, and catering, and other jobs like that, uh, who are currently missing out. And so we're recreating that gender super gap all over again for our- Mm

[00:24:40] daughters and our granddaughters in real time today. So we're on it. We're trying to get that law fixed so that we actually have that equality there. But if you're a woman in that circumstance, there are some other really important things that are worth thinking about. So again, talking to your own fund about, could I make catch-up contributions if at a slightly later stage I've got a little bit of money that I could actually put into super, um- Mm

[00:25:03] in a way make a, a significant difference by the time you retire.

[00:25:07] Yep, absolutely. So, uh, I think there is such hope if you are in that situation, and by hope, I mean there are lots of different levers you can actually use to help catch up and top up your super as well. But it's about not keeping your head in the sand and actually going, "I need to sort this out, and I need to start today."

[00:25:27] So please, yeah, just make that first call with your super fund. It's a great starting point, and start that journey. All right. Now, if you could tattoo one sentence about super onto every Australian's forearm, what is something, um, that they'd have to see every day? What would it say?

[00:25:46] It'd probably be check it.

[00:25:47] I know that's not very comms, but again, we know from the research that we do and the conversations we have with Australians the length and breadth of the country, it's the single biggest kind of gateway then to make sure that you're doing all the next sets of things that can really help to strengthen your own financial future.

[00:26:06] So check that super. Get the app on your phone. Yeah. Make sure that you're really looking and actively engaging it, with it. You know, the theme that we really want people to take away is, you know, look after your super and it will look after you. And so that idea of tending your super in little ways all through your working life, paying attention to it, nurturing it, is the best thing you can do to then really make sure that it can do that beautiful golden task that it's got, which is to be our paycheck for all of us in retirement.

[00:26:35] Yeah, absolutely. And for those listening who just feel like it's very complicated, I used to think that too. It's very simple, actually, at the end of the day. It's money you're putting away for later, and you wanna make sure where it's going now is working as hard as it can for you. Well, thank you so much, Michelle, for all the work you're doing for Aussies and Aussie women, and it's been- Right back at you,

[00:26:57] Molly.

[00:26:57] And it's been great having you on the podcast. If people wanna learn more about the work, um, the Members Council's doing, where can they go?

[00:27:06] They can go to the sup- they can Google the Super Members Council and see all of our really high quality information and resources about how super works in our country.

[00:27:15] Uh, we do have a, a really important set of education resources called Look After Your Super as well that helps people to do some of those really simple actions that make the biggest of differences for retirement. So really encourage you to jump on that website, use those tools and resources. Be actively engaged with your super, 'cause no one ever gets to retirement and thinks, "Gee, I wish I had less super."

[00:27:35] They always think, "Thank goodness past me ." Yeah. So thank yourself later. Uh, thank yourself today by doing all of those things that can make a big difference. Just simple, quick, easy things can make the world of difference.

[00:27:48] I love that. Look after your money now, money will look after you later. Thanks so much.

[00:27:53] Thank you.

KEYWORDS
superannuation, Australia, financial literacy, retirement planning, super scams, payday laws, super tips, financial advice, super funds, super management