Super 101: Understanding Superannuation for Women in 2026

Your super could be one of the biggest assets you ever own. But how much do you actually know about it?

For most women, the answer is probably: not much.

We know we're supposed to have super. We know our employer pays it. We might occasionally check the balance.

But do you know where your super is invested? Whether you're in the right investment option? Whether your employer is paying you correctly? Or what happens to your super when you die?

And here's the uncomfortable part: women currently retire with around 25% less super than men.

In the first episode of our five-part series, Making Aussie Women Super at Super, Molly sits down with Ruth Weaver, Team Leader and Key Client Education at Australian Retirement Trust, to answer the questions most of us should have asked years ago.

No jargon. No finance-speak. Just the stuff you actually need to know.

In this episode:

• Why women retire with less super than men, and what you can actually do about it
• How super works and where your money goes once it lands in your account
• How to check whether your employer is paying the correct 12%
• What your investment option actually means, from conservative to high growth
• How to work out whether your super is invested appropriately for you
• Why constantly switching your super investments could hurt your returns
• How salary sacrifice can help you build more super
• What the $30,000 concessional contributions cap means
• The super check most women put off, but really shouldn't
• Why your beneficiary nomination could be one of the most important decisions you make
• Three things you can do this week to take control of your super

Because you don't need to become a finance expert.

You just need to understand what's happening to your money while you're busy living your life.

This episode is proudly brought to you by Australian Retirement Trust, trusted by over 2.4 million members.

The opinions and comments shared by people in this podcast are theirs alone. The information was accurate at the time of recording. This is general information only and is not based on your personal objectives, financial situation or needs. You should consider these factors and read the relevant Product Disclosure Statement and Target Market Determination before making any decision about any financial product. If you’re still unsure, speak with a financial adviser.

CHAPTERS

00:00 – Introduction: Kicking Off the Get Rich Super Series with the Australian Retirement Trust
00:35 – What Is Super? A Simple Definition for Beginners
01:52 – Why Aussie Women Retire With 25% Less Super Than Men
02:44 – Employer Super Contributions: How the 12% Super Guarantee Works
03:59 – Where Does Your Super Go? How Your Contributions Get Invested
04:47 – The Super Investment Menu: Conservative, Balanced, Growth and High Growth Explained
06:12 – What Is a Default Super Option (And Is It Right for You)?
07:20 – How Much Risk Is in Your Super? Understanding Share Market Exposure
08:37 – Choosing the Right Investment Option for Your Age
10:23 – Can You Add Extra Money to Super? Salary Sacrifice Explained
11:29 – The Concessional Contributions Cap: What Happens If You Go Over $30,000
14:26 – How to Compare Super Funds: Fees, Performance and Insurance Costs
17:38 – How to Check and Switch Your Super Investment Option
19:04 – Why Trying to Time the Market With Your Super Is a Bad Idea
20:39 – How Much Super Should You Have at 30, 40 and 50? (ASFA Benchmarks)
23:31 – Should You Consolidate Multiple Super Funds? Pros and Cons
26:26 – How to Find Lost Super Using the ATO and Your Super Fund App
27:57 – The 3 Types of Insurance Inside Your Super (Life, TPD and Income Protection)
30:50 – Who Gets Your Super When You Die? Understanding Super Beneficiaries
32:18 – Binding vs Non-Binding Death Benefit Nominations Explained
36:30 – 3 Things to Do This Week to Get on Top of Your Super
37:43 – Outro and General Advice Disclaimer

CONNECT WITH  AUSTRALIAN RETIREMENT TRUST 

Website: https://www.australianretirementtrust.com.au/
LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/australian-retirement-trust
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/c/AustralianRetirementTrust
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/AustralianRetirementTrust
Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/australianretirementtrust

CONNECT WITH LADIES FINANCE CLUB

👉 Register for the 2026 Online Wealth Summit
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

"We are long-term investors, ladies."

"How long is a piece of string?"

"The top economists cannot predict this stuff, so who are we?"

"It's a very long-term gain, long-term plan, and you don't have to do big moves in superannuation to have a big effect once you get to the end result."

TRANSCRIPT

[00:00] Welcome to our special five-part Get Rich series on superannuation, where we are helping Aussie women get super at super. This series is proudly brought to you by the Australian Retirement Trust, trusted by over 2.4 million members. So over the next five episodes, we are making sense of super.

[00:17] So let's get into this week's episode. And just a quick note, everything we cover is general information only, and does not take into account your personal situation. So consider seeking professional advice before making any big finance or fashion decisions.

[00:35] All right, Ruth. To kick off things, if I was a complete newbie and I knew nothing about super, maybe I'd just arrived in the country, in its most simplest terms, what is super?

[00:45] Super is a savings account. It has money going in from your employer, and it's kept there and invested for you until you reach an age where you're allowed to access it, and that's generally around retirement. So it's a retirement savings account. Great, and I like this because I feel like they brought this in because they knew that we were not very good savers, and if we had to rely on our savings, there'd be no money at retirement. So the government's like, "Oi, super, it's a thing. We're gonna pretty much force you to put money away for your retirement."

[01:16] Absolutely, and I always say to people, you know, if you're ever feeling a bit despondent about your finances, you know, a lot of us have more money in our super balances than our bank accounts. You do have a savings account. It's called your super. Yeah. I mean, apart from ourselves, of course, we are our biggest asset, but then it's super for a lot of people. That's exactly right. You know, superannuation, just because you can't see it or you're not looking at it all the time, it's a big part of your wealth, and it's a big part of your accumulation of wealth as you're getting older.

[01:45] So it's, it's a great format to save money.

[01:48] Yeah, okay. We love super. We do. And why are Aussie women retiring with so much less super than men?

[01:56] It's complex. There's a lot of reasons, but in a nutshell, it's because women historically, and currently- Earn less.

[02:04] We tend to represent those lower paid sectors, so, you know, care roles, hospitality, retail. That's number one. Remember, the amount of money you get paid into your super is based on your income.

[02:15] So the lower you earn, the lower the contributions are going into your account.

[02:19] The other reason, Molly, is, um, you know, if there is a child brought into the house, it's often the female or the woman that tends to take time out of the workforce. Women are more likely to take time out to care for kids, but also more likely to work part-time, so therefore have a lower income. So there's a lot of reasons why women do currently retire with about 24, 25% less than men. Mm. And we're gonna jump into ways we can solve that later on.

[02:44] We are. We're gonna try. We're gonna try. If my employer is supposed to be paying super, how does that actually work?

[02:53] What's the current rate, and how do I make sure it's actually hitting my super account? Okay. Well, first of all, your employer should be paying at least 12% of your current income into your superannuation account. So if I'm earning 100,000- Yep, 12,000 a year … 12,000 is going into my super. Absolutely. Great. Now, how do you know if that's happening? Well, the best way to know is to have some sort of way of looking at your account.

[03:19] Register for online access with your super fund, get your mobile app, whatever way that would be. Yeah. So many of them have apps these days- They all do … so you can just download them onto your phone. Yeah, yeah. I don't think I know of a fund that probably doesn't have an app now. So just have a look through and make sure those contributions are coming into your account. Yep, great. So, ladies, download the app if you haven't downloaded the app.

[03:38] I also like to pop into my app every now and then to just be like, "Ah, look at all that money sitting there." This is it. I have no money. I feel broke. I'm depressed. I'll open my super balance and I'll say, "I do have money, I just can't spend it yet." Yes. So it's a nice psychological way. Future me is gonna go on some great holidays. Future me is gonna be less stressed than current me, for sure.

[03:59] And where is my super sitting, like, right now?

[04:02] Like, what happens once my employer pays that 12%?

[04:07] Where does it go? This is something that I think a lot of people don't always understand.

[04:13] So when your employer puts the money into your superannuation fund, the fund will invest it for you. So it's like a bank account. It comes into the account for you, and then it gets invested on your behalf, and that's where a lot of the growth of your super balance comes from.

[04:29] It's how that money is invested and the performance that that super fund is able to generate for you. Okay. And keeping it, again, in basic terms, so the money comes in, the super fund goes, "Right, we're gonna invest this money for you," and then there's some investment options within super funds.

[04:47] And generally, is it right, and, and please correct me if I'm wrong, is it generally right in saying there's, like, four to five options for a lot of funds where it's kind of, like, conservative fund, you've got a balanced fund, you've got a growth fund, and then you've got a high-growth fund?

[05:02] Yeah, that's right. So every super fund will have a, a menu. Yeah. An investment menu. Ooh, I like that, investment menu. A menu. Yes, an investment menu. And look, it could range, Molly, from as low as three or four options, but generally most funds will have more than that.

[05:16] So I would say most funds would have somewhere between about 15 to 20 different options. That's a bigger menu. It's a lot- Yep … a much bigger menu. Big menu. But that's good because that means that once you understand how funds invest and the purpose of the different investment options and why they're different, it means that there should be something on there to suit all types of investors because that's what super is, right? It's an investment vehicle.

[05:39] And if someone's like, "Well, how do I choose which menu item to put my-" "… future into?" 'Cause it's kind of- Yeah … a, a big decision.

[05:48] It is. How do they decide? Well, first of all, if this is the first time you're- I suppose, exposed to this conversation, you think, "Oh, I didn't even realize it was invested."

[05:58] Yeah. Which is totally fine, because a lot of people don't realize this. Absolutely. Absolutely. I work in education, and I talk to people all day, and sometimes, you know, people will be in their 50s before they actually join these dots.

[06:08] So don't feel bad if it's the first time you're thinking about this.

[06:12] But every fund will have what they call a default option.

[06:15] So that means you don't have to make a decision if you're not comfortable.

[06:19] The funds will make that decision on your behalf.

[06:22] And a default option is usually made up of lots of different things that the funds invest in, so things like cash and fixed interest and property and shares.

[06:30] Yeah. Right? That's just the default for individuals who do not pick their own investment option, and Molly, that's most people. It's probably about 80% of the population do not pick their own investment options, and they let the fund do it for them. So if you're listening to this and you're like, "I started a job, I never picked an option-" Yeah. you're probably in a default fund. Don't worry, you're still invested. You're still invested. You're just in the default fund.

[06:51] It's all good. And what generally is that default fund? Is it, like, a balanced fund or a high growth? Uh, that would depend on the super funds. So some funds will have a fairly balanced… And what we mean by balanced is there will be a certain exposure to things like shares. Which is like investing money into companies. Into companies, like the share market. Um, and then you'll have other, other things like property, cash, and fixed interest. So generally a balanced fund, and the word balanced means they're trying to balance risk, right?

[07:20] Okay. Okay, great. So we all know that shares are risky. We've seen that lots of times in history when we see world crises happen, we see the stock market's gone up, the stock market's gone down.

[07:30] That actually impacts your super, because we all have exposure to those stock markets through our super. But the investment options that you choose will determine how exposed to the stock market you are. So if you're balanced, usually that means at least half your super is in shares, right? And then the growth option that you mentioned, that's where you would usually have maybe three quarters, as much as three quarters of your super or slightly less, exposed into shares.

[07:57] And that's how the options vary. It's how much of your money is exposed into these different things.

[08:03] And for people listening and they're like, "Oh, yeah, balanced sounds pretty good."

[08:06] Mm. You know, "It's, it might balancing my risk out," but they still have, like, 20, 30 years- Yeah … left of work. Without giving advice- Yeah … like, how does that work? 'Cause you're like, "Well, I've got a long time for the share market to go through its ups and downs," but we know that history shows the share market goes up in the long term. Absolutely. Does that mean they can take on a little bit more risk? Yeah, and that's why, Molly, you'll see a lot of super funds, particularly with their younger members, tend to default them towards a more growth-orientated option, and that means you're likely to have more shares when you're younger.

[08:37] Why? You've got time. There's two factors going on when you're younger. You have much more time, as you said, to recover from any of the ups and downs, number one. The second thing is you've got a smaller balance, right? So the stakes are a lot younger. If you're a 30-year-old and you've got 20,000 in your super- Well, are you really that bothered if the value of that is going up and down a little bit?

[08:57] You can't touch it for 30 years. You're trying to get as much a return as possible, and for you to get as high of an investment return, you have to take on some of that extra risk, and that's easier when you're young and your balance is small.

[09:11] And is there a rule of thumb at all? Like, if you're in your 20s or 30s, you can go high growth.

[09:16] Mm. If you're in your 30s and 40s, you can go ba- Like, is there a rule of thumb there? It does come down to the individual, but yeah, there is a rule of thumb.

[09:23] You should be, or the probably the most suitable time to be growth-orientated, in other words, have as much shares as possible, is when you're young.

[09:32] As you're getting closer to retirement then, your balance is bigger.

[09:36] Your timeframe is smaller because you're thinking, "I'm gonna be taking this out in five or 10 years." That's where you might start to change your thinking, and you might think, "Okay, when I was young, I wanted high returns." Yeah.

[09:47] "I was willing to take the risk. Now I kinda want to protect what I've got a little bit more.

[09:52] I might not be as comfortable with 60 or 70% of my money on the share markets." But a lot of it will come down to you as an in- as an individual.

[10:00] You know, what kind of an appetite do you have for the ups and downs?

[10:04] Are you going to bed at night worrying about your super because it's gone up and down? Maybe then you need to look at how your super's invested. Mm. But if you're pretty relaxed and cool about it and you think, "Ah, can't touch it for 10, 15 years," that's a great opportunity to think, "Yep, I'm gonna take advantage of all the, the growth I could get on the share market exposure."

[10:23] Okay, awesome. And can I add my own money into super as well as my employer?

[10:30] Absolutely, you can, and there's lots of different ways you can do it.

[10:33] I would say to people, you know, the employer contribution rate at the moment is pretty good. It's 12%. Um, you know, and that has grown substantially since, since I first got my first super ca- superannuation account, it was 9, so it has grown by 3%.

[10:48] So for anyone coming into the industry now, or coming into their working life now I should say, and you're starting out with a 12% contribution, that's a really good start. But there's a lot of us who haven't had that from the beginning, and we've probably got a bit of catch-up to do if you had 10 years of the beginning of your working life where you weren't getting as much, and that's why people can often be incentivized to put some of their own money in.

[11:12] Um, anyone can put money into superannuation. There are rules and limits, um, but there's different ways you can do it, and they have different benefits attached. Okay, great. And at the moment, is it you can put 30,000 into your super and get that 15% tax?

[11:29] So superannuation does diff- so if we talk about the 30,000 cap, which will go on 1 July to 32 and a half thousand, so it's going to go up a little bit, and that happens over time. It does increase. But that limit that, that you'll see, it's called a concessional limit.

[11:44] That limit- Why do they make the names so confusing? I know. Like, concessional limit. What does that mean? Concessional, pre-tax. Concessional. The reason, Molly, they call it concessional is because it's taxed at a concessional rate, which means that all the money that goes through that limit, the 30,000, only gets taxed at 15%.

[12:02] That includes the 12% your employer's putting in, so if you're earning 100 grand, that's the 12,000, and then you can do the difference between that 12,000 and the 30,000 and also take advantage of the 15%.

[12:16] And then what happens if you end up putting more than 30,000 into your super?

[12:21] This type of contribution is called a concessional. It's salary sacrifice. It's where you're asking maybe your payroll and you say, "I want to put a bit of money into super, and I want to get the 15% tax." My tax, maybe you might say my marginal tax rate is 32%.

[12:38] So if I take that money to my bank account, I'm paying 32%.

[12:42] But if I go to payroll and say, "Can I salary sacrifice $100," say, that only gets taxed at 15%, so I'm saving 17% tax on that $100 if I put it in.

[12:54] That's what salary sacrifice is. That's part of the 30,000, as well as the employer.

[12:59] And so you just gotta be careful. If you go over that, then the government will say, "Well, wait a minute. You put an extra 1,000," say, right? So you've actually put 31,000. Yeah. Your employer did some- Yes … and you did too much. They will basically say, "You know what? You need to pay back the tax you would have paid if you hadn't breached."

[13:17] You'll get a letter from the ATO, and they'll say, "You've gone over.

[13:20] Do you want to pay that extra little bit of tax that you would've paid f- through your tax return, or do you want us to take it back out of the super fund?" So it's not the end of the world. Okay. But you're not winning by going over, if you like. No, that's great to know, because I was speaking to someone the other day, and it was an LFC member, and that was their question. They're like, "I'm on a really good-" Mm-hmm … "salary. Now I've contributed too much just by the 12%."

[13:43] And I was like, "What a great issue to have." I know. Good problem. But then, so in that situation she can either take that money back or she would- Well, she can't take the money back out of the fund, but what would happen is the ATO will send her a letter. Yeah. And the letter will say, "Hey, you only paid 15% tax on this bit that was above the 30,000. That's $500 less tax you paid this year than you should've paid had you not done it." Okay. "What do you wanna do with the 500?

[14:11] Do you wanna pay it to us, the ATO, directly, or will we talk to the fund and it comes out of your account via the fund?" Okay. So you can nominate- Got it … the excess tax. Okay. Yeah. So you don't take the money back out. So you don't physically put… You're just rectifying the tax bill. I was gonna say. Yeah. 'Cause you can't touch this money until- Nope … you're in your 60s, right?

[14:26] Nope. That's exactly right. Yeah. Yeah. Okay, that's good. And how do I know if my fund is a good fund or a bad fund, and what should I be looking at? That's a big question. I know. And it is a big question, but I usually say to people, when you're compar- I find super comparisons really hard. I know. I- 'Cause there's lots of different, like, numbers and- Yeah … fees and percentages, and I'm like- Yeah, what do I look at? Am I even comparing, like- Where do I start?

[14:49] default to high growth? 'Cause that's not even… That's like comparing apples to bananas. Like- Yeah, this is the issue. Yeah. I often say it's like me comparing private health.

[14:58] They all look the same to me. I don't know what I'm comparing, you know? But I usually say if you're comparing a super fund and you're saying, "Well, am I with a good fund? How do I know?" There's a couple of things. Number one, look at the numbers. So there's two factors. There's numbers and then there's the benefits, right?

[15:14] You must start with the numbers. And by numbers I mean a couple of things. Admin fees. What is your fund taking out of your account each year?

[15:26] In administration fees, 'cause that's coming out of your balance. That's the first thing you look at. The second thing is investment returns. What is the fund generating for me based on the investment option I've chosen?

[15:39] How much is the fund giving me in growth?

[15:42] That's the second number you're looking for. The third number might be insurance costs. So a lot of people don't realize they might have insurance in their super, and how much is that insurance costing me? Because that's also coming out of my balance. Yes. They're the three numbers. Okay. Admin fees, investment performance, and insurance cost. Mm. And then for performance? So performance, again, this is where it's really hard, right? So you just said comparing apples with oranges.

[16:09] You have to be really careful when you're comparing investment options and performance. So there's no such thing as saying, "What does ART return? What's ART's investment performance?" Yes. ART has 16 investment options. Which one do you want me to comment on? Going back to those menu items. Yeah. Every menu item has a different performance. Th- that's exactly right, because there's different things behind the options.

[16:28] Those numbers would be very different. So when you're looking at investment returns, am I comparing similar investment options, number one, and am I looking at the right timeline?

[16:38] You can't compare one fund on a one-year number with another fund on a 10-year number. It's not the same thing. Yes. So you've got to make sure you're looking at the right timelines as well.

[16:47] Totally. And ladies, when you go onto your super fund's website, you'll see that it will generally give you, like, a one-year, a five-year, 10-year return.

[16:54] It, absolutely. So make sure, number one, you're looking at the right timeframe, and number two, you're looking at the right, um, fund type.

[17:01] Yeah. Whether it's balance with balance, growth with growth, high growth with high growth.

[17:05] Yeah, exactly. That's exactly it. Awesome. Learning so much here. This is brilliant. And I mean, if someone's not sure if they're in a default growth or conservative, how do they find out? There's a couple of things you could do. Number one, if you're in a balanced option, you're probably in the default if you don't ever remember making a decision, or if you're in a growth option, you're probably in the default. But you could either ring your super fund and say, "You know, I don't understand. Is this the default option?" But I'm not so worried about am I in the default or not.

[17:38] So generally, it's just a case of log into your account, have a look.

[17:42] Every fund will have an app and an online. Click, find the investments tab. It'll be on there somewhere. Click it and it will tell you the name of the investment option.

[17:51] And what are you doing then? Well, I wanna see what's in it. Yeah. If I'm in this fund and I'm in the balanced, what does that mean?

[17:57] How much of that is in shares? How much of that is actually cash? That's what you're trying to find out. So just find the name of the investment option and look and see what sits behind it. And something I didn't realize for so long was if you're in a balanced fund, you can switch to a high growth fund- Mm … or a growth fund. You, you can do that. You're allowed to do that. Like- You're allowed to do that, and it's not opening up another account. So I've had lots of people say to me, "Oh, I'm in the high growth option or the growth option. I want to be in the balanced. Will I have to pay a second admin fee?" Absolutely not.

[18:30] So most funds will allow you to have a variety of options.

[18:33] So if you're an ART member, for example, you could split your balance between 9 or 10 different investment options. Have some in balanced, some in growth, some in shares, whatever way you want to split it. You're still paying the same administration fee. You get to choose, and you get to switch it yourself at your own discretion.

[18:50] Yeah. It also sounds a little bit scary that- Mm … I can choose that.

[18:54] Is there… I know for a lot of funds, they actually have people you can talk to within the fund who can help give you a little bit of a- advice on that.

[19:04] There is, because one of the things that can happen when you find out you can switch your superannuation investment is you forget it's a long-term investment, and you start getting a bit switch happy, if you like.

[19:16] And switching in and you're saying, "Oh, I saw the news last night. I think- Yeah … you know, I think the share market's gonna go up. I'll switch." That's not really the way super works. It can be a very dangerous game, and if you look back over time, people who've tried to time the market with their super have ended up worse off than just- People have tried to- Sometimes they- … time the market at any point. This is it. It doesn't work. Yeah. Yeah.

[19:34] Long term, we are long-term investors, ladies. We are, and that's why sometimes we say, you know, uh, I'll get killed for saying this, but sometimes ignorance is bliss. Sometimes with superannuation, once you've set a particular investment option, you're comfortable with it, it's okay to not be looking at it all the time.

[19:51] Let it do its thing. These are long-term investments. Well, this won't surprise you, but when I was in the UK, um, we were working with a investing app, and they noticed the people who were performing best were people who didn't log in and check it. And women. Yeah. Yeah. So sometimes, you know, long-term investing is that.

[20:12] So switching compulsively from one to the other c- constantly is not really the way super's designed. So I usually say to people, "Know where you are, figure out if you're in the wrong investment option, then you can switch it, and let time then do what it's supposed to do." And I know we all like to think, you know, maybe we are the special ones and we can time the market. Mm. We can't. I'm here to tell you- No. … we can't. Um- Look, the politicians and the reserve banks of the country can't do it, so what hope have I?

[20:39] Oh, yeah, yeah. I usually- The best people in the world- Yeah … who get paid a lot of money to do it can't do it. The top economists cannot predict this stuff- So … so who are we? Exactly. So realistically, for a woman who is 40 years old in Australia, how much super should they have? How long is a piece of string? It depends on what they want to do with that super, all right?

[20:57] So to answer that question, you'd need to be thinking about how important is my super to retirement? So let's not forget, for some people, super might be only one source of income, right? You might have other sources. But let's assuming you've said, "I want to know what other people are doing and what other people have." There's a brilliant, um, resource that you can refer to, and it's the ASFA Retirement Standards. It's the Association of Super Funds in Australia.

[21:23] And what they do is they Almost, um, do some benchmarking on existing retirees in the country, and then they figure out, what do you think a comfortable retirement is based on the fact that you're retired now?

[21:36] So if you're an individual, you are saying today as a retiree, uh, say you're a single person retiring, you are saying, "Well, to be relatively comfortable in retirement, I need about 55,000 a year." Yeah, to spend and live. To spend and live- Yeah … in retirement. And that's assuming that you're going to own your own home. Wow, yeah. Okay? There's a lot of assumptions behind that, and y- you might need a little bit more if you also have rent. But let's just say you're saying 55,000 is the income.

[22:00] I don't have anything else. It could be super. Age pension will play a role in that, okay? So they'll give you some, and maybe all… you'll qualify for all of it. But for you to be on track to say, "Yeah, that's the number I'd like. I'd like the ASFA one," for you to… If you're a 40-year-old and that's what you're aiming for, you probably need to have about 170,000, 180,000 now.

[22:20] Yeah. Okay? If you are quite behind that, plenty of time to do some small things to catch up.

[22:26] And we have a whole episode on how to- We do … jump on top of that. Yeah. So make sure you check that one out. Yeah, yeah. So if you're 40, maybe about 170,000, 180,000.

[22:36] If you're 30, then that's obviously maybe about s- you know, 80,000 or that, or 70,000 would be a good number. But even if it's less, time can fix that very, very easily.

[22:46] Uh, once you get to 50, you're probably looking at a balance somewhere around 280 to 300 is a good balance to have if you want that 55,000 a year and you're a single person. So it does depend on what you want it to do for you. But the ASFA Retirement Standards is a great place to look. But again, uh, ladies, I really don't want you freaking out- if you hear that and you're like, "Oh my God, I don't have anywhere near that."

[23:09] There are ways, and- Mm … there's small things you can do to catch up quickly.

[23:13] Absolutely, and that's the beauty of super. It's a very long-term gain, long-term plan, and you don't have to do big moves in superannuation, um, to have a big effect once you get to the end result.

[23:27] So you just need to do some tiny subtle changes early on, and that can have a big difference. Awesome. Now, if I worked at Woolies, I did a stint at McDonald's, maybe I worked for my dad or mum, my dad and mum's business at one point- Yeah … so I've got a few super funds hanging around- Mm … the place. What is the benefit of combining those, and what would the cons be?

[23:47] Okay. The benefits of combining them will be not paying multiple admin fees- Yes, that we discussed … that we discussed though. Yeah. So every fund is gonna charge you an admin fee, so you're… You know, and also, Molly, if you've got multiple accounts from little jobs like that, you're not gonna have a massive balance in them either. No. So the actual dollar 20 or the dollar that you're having debited, that's gonna have a much bigger impact on a small balance than it is on a much larger balance.

[24:11] So just be mindful of that, um, and think, "Okay, admin fees are going to erode those balances pretty quickly." Bringing them together reduces the impact of that.

[24:19] The other thing is, remember I said that often there'll be insurances on your super? And if you don't know that, you could be paying for life insurance, total permanent disablement insurance- Like four or five different times … at four or five different, different funds, and maybe you don't need the insurance. I mean, maybe you do, but if you don't need it, then that's also potentially eroding. And the last point is, how are you keeping on top of everything?

[24:40] If you've got three different funds and they're all emailing you, and you've moved address, are you remembering to update? You're gonna end up losing one of them, right? And then you have to go through the process of trying to locate lost super and things like that. So try and find a fund that resonates most be- best with you.

[24:56] Uh, you know, a, a, a competitive fee, a good return, and one that you're comfortable with. You can always change super down the track. You don't have… It's not a set and forget. You can always change your fund. The only thing to be mindful of when you consolidate, and bringing your super together now is super easy compared to 20 years ago.

[25:13] Yeah. So you used to have to print out forms and bring birth certificates and marriage certificates, and women in particular are more likely to have multiple funds than men. And a lot of the reason for that is if you get married, the female is more likely to change her name, right? And then suddenly merging super funds is a bit of a issue- Mm … because they're saying, "Oh, your names aren't the same." Oh, gosh. You need to prove who… Oh, it is a drain.

[25:36] Mm. Which is why I would say if you have the same name in your super, it's a lot easier to merge it before you change your names. Yes. So that's one- That's a really good tip … tip. Yeah. Yeah. If you're getting married and you haven't looked at your super before you go changing your names with providers, try and bring your super funds together.

[25:51] It's a lot easier. It's not impossible afterwards, but you just have that extra step of having to update your personal details and putting in proof of name, et cetera.

[26:00] But be careful before you roll out of a fund.

[26:03] I mentioned insurance. That's the one thing. As soon as you close a super fund, the insurances that you had on there are also stopped. They just close as well. So if you look back and think, "Oh, no, I had income protection," or, "I had life insurance there, um, and I didn't know that that was going to be canceled," it will be. It's just the insurances also stop when you close one, just to be careful.

[26:26] And I heard, I think it was like billions of lost in super from, like- Mm … people just not finding it from when they had worked at, like, Kohl's or Woolies.

[26:35] Yeah. So I always say to people, "If you saw $500 on the ground with your name on it, you'd pick it up, right?" Absolutely. So most funds as well, so check the ATO, but most funds will have an ability for you to do a search, right?

[26:51] So if you're an ART member as example, and you go into your app, one of the things you can do in the app is do a find my super search.

[26:57] So we actually scan the ATO for you, and we'll say, "Oh, Molly, we found this $300 from your-" Yeah "first job at Woolies." Yeah. "Do you want to bring it in?" And you say, "Yes, please." Yes, please. You do not have to talk to those other funds because- Yeah … the fund that you're bringing it into does that on your behalf. Right. You're just pressing the buttons on the digital side- Very helpful … to suggest which one you want. Oh, it's so easy now.

[27:16] Yeah. So, so there's no excuses for people who have multiple funds, and the last word I would say on that, I always say to people, "If you cannot articulate or explain why you have more than one fund, you do not need more than one fund." You might have actively chosen to have two funds for an investment reason or an insurance reason.

[27:40] But if you say, "I have two funds, I don't really know why," you don't need two funds. We know super includes insurances. Mm. How do we know how much insurance we need, or do we just… If we don't have insurance outside super, is it rule of thumb, just keep them in your super?

[27:57] Like, how does it work? Yeah. First of all, I'll just explain what the th- or I will mention what the three types of insurance are. Life insurance or death insurance. Yep. So if you die? If you die, your loved ones will get the insurance- A lump sum … plus the super balance. Total and permanent disablement, that is if you're so sick or so injured that you're never gonna be able to work again, then you get the lump sum plus your super balance. Almost every fund will apply both of those to your account by default.

[28:27] Yes, okay. So when you're in the default fund, they're like, boom, boom, you get these two insurances. Yep. So when you open a superannuation account, you've never asked for insurance, but generally once you're 25 and you've got 6,000 in your balance, boom, the insurance attaches, and it's usually death and TPD. And it's based on your age normally. There's a third one that can be there as well, or maybe you have to apply for, it depends on the fund, and that's income protection.

[28:53] Ooh, I like this one. Yes. The reason you like this one, Molly, is because that's the one most people would end up claiming on, right? So about one in five Australians, throughout their working lives, will be sick and unable to work and generate an income for a patch of time, and will want to claim on an income protection. So what is that? Well, it replaces a part of your salary for a period of time while you're not able to work. So you're not totally permanently disabled, but you can't work for two years or 12 months or whatever.

[29:22] Cancer is another really common one, right? And it's, it's a, this is a difficult topic, but if you're diagnosed with cancer, there is not necessarily a total and permanent disablement claim to be made. Because you might have the doctor say, "Well, we'll go through the treatment.

[29:40] You might make a full recovery, but you're absolutely not in a position to work."

[29:45] That is where income protection comes in. Now, if you end up with a terminal diagnosis, you'll get the total permanent disablement, et cetera. But there is that window of time while you're doing your treatment that you're physically not able to work, but you don't qualify for total permanent disablement.

[29:58] It's a common one. So that's what income protection is, and it's so important, particularly if you're on your own. So if you're a single person, so if you're out there and you're single and you don't have a partner that would be bringing an income in, what would happen if you can't work? It's so important, and a lot of funds have income protection, um, that you can choose from as well. Think of the things you're thinking about in a situation like that.

[30:19] I know. All the worries and distress that you- Yeah … you're going through. You don't want money to be one of them. And then you've gotta d- worry about money as well. So look, insurances are those things that I say- Yep … "I hate paying for insurance," because you never see anything for it. It's a thing you- Until you claim. … wanna pay but never wanna use. Yeah. You wanna p- that's exactly it. You wanna pay it. That, that's like a riddle. Yeah.

[30:36] What is something you have but never wanna use? That never wanna use. It's insurance. Insurance, that's it. Um, fi- final question before I do my wrap-up question, so not my final question, my second to last question. Who gets my super if something is to happen to me?

[30:50] All right. Well, there's a rule of thumb. Super funds have an obligation that they're supposed to pay your super and your life insurance. Remember, there's a, there could be death insurance on there as well. So you might say, "I don't care. I've only got 20,000." You might have 200,000 of life insurance as well, and it all gets paid out together. So the super funds- Yes … yeah. That's such a good point, actually. Yeah, yeah. 'Cause a lot of people go, "Well, doesn't matter.

[31:12] I've got- I've only got 20K … 20K." But if you've got 200,000, like- And that's where young people, in particular you don't want that going to your ex psycho boyfriend. Yep, and it does sometimes go to the ex psycho boyfriend, trust me.

[31:23] Oh. Uh, I'll explain how. Your super fund has an obligation to pay your superannuation to your dependents.

[31:31] So your dependents are your spouse, your partner, your kids, anyone who's in an interdependent relationship, so you're financially relying on each other.

[31:39] That's who the super fund's looking at. That's who they have to pay it to But how well do you know the trustee of your fund?

[31:46] How much do you think the trustee of your super fund knows you?

[31:50] They don't. That's why you're supposed to tell them, "If anything happens to me, these are the people I want you to pay my super to." 'Cause otherwise they have to get quite clinical and a bit mathematical and say, "Well, who's dependent and how dependent?" And it's, it's, it's not necessarily reflective of what you would want. Okay. And for a lot of Ladies Finance Club members, they're single women.

[32:14] Yeah. And they don't actually have children- Yep or anyone dependent on them. What would they do in that situation? So when you go to nominate, so what, what it's called, the way you tell a super fund is you nominate a beneficiary, and that's your way of saying to the fund, "This is who I want the money to go to." And when you nominate a beneficiary, if you don't have a dependent, often what you'll see people do is nominate their estate.

[32:34] Yes. Or their legal personal representative. So put it in your will. Your will. Yeah. Your will, basically. Yep. And then you can have a will that says, "Oh, pay my best friend Molly this money," or pay whoever, you know? Yeah. Yeah. Leave it to the dog. Yeah. Leave… Yeah. Yeah. Otherwise, and here's the danger, we talked about the psycho ex-boyfriend. Yeah. So let's supposing you are single. Yeah. You've got no dependents. You haven't thought about beneficiaries on your super, that's so low priority, and you're living happily, happily and you're not thinking about that, and then you meet somebody, right?

[33:02] And you meet a boyfriend, and you decide to move in together, see how you're going.

[33:08] That person's now a dependent on you. Why? Well, you're renting a property together. You're relying on each other's income. So if you pass away That person has first, first dibs on that money, and it is very likely that that person will get the lion's share of that money.

[33:23] Wow. That is why you've got to be super careful. As soon as somebody enters your life that is deter- is defined as a dependent, which would be a boyfriend that you're living with, and you don't even have to live together, you've got to be really careful of that kind of stuff. Wow. So that's why if you're single, you don't have dependents- Yeah … if you at least put it to your estate- Yeah and there's a will or there's a rule- Yes … the, the rules of estate would apply then, and it can be complex.

[33:45] Okay. But at least it means that there's a- Yeah … less chance that that person would have a claim. That is so important. Mm, really is. So, and just to do those, like so the binding nomination, so to say like- Yeah "This is where I want my super to go," even if it's to your estate- Yeah … can you just fill that out on a form? Yeah, it depends on the fund. So if you're an ART member and you have the Super Savings account, you can do it on your app.

[34:06] You can do it online. You can put a binding nomination. So for example, I've done one on mine. My husband is my beneficiary. I did it on the app, and I don't need to change it ever again if I don't want to, or I can opt to have it looked at every three years so I can redo it.

[34:22] You know, I can say, "Oh, I only want it to be there for three years," because- Circumstances might change … I want a prompt. Yeah. Yeah, 'cause things change. So it depends on your situation, but you can put them on. They don't charge anything. Funds don't charge you to put a beneficiary. It's just a little bit of time. Put it in, submit it. A lot of funds will still want you to do a paper form, though. Yeah, I was gonna say. So, yeah. Yeah. It's not that common to be able to do it digitally.

[34:43] 'Cause there's a binding nomination and a non-binding one. It's just like legally binding one's like, "This is our wishes." Does it make a difference? Yes, it does. A binding nomination is what it says on the tin.

[34:53] It's legally binding. So let's say you have three kids. I've got three girls. Let's say I had my three girls as a beneficiary.

[35:01] I… And let's say one of them ended up, just… I hope they don't listen to this, but let's just say one of them ended up maybe a gambling addict or was addicted to some drugs or alcohol, and I thought, "Gosh, imagine she got 200,000 in a bank account. She'd have it gone." Yeah. Right? I don't want her to be a beneficiary. If I put her down as a non-bi- as non-binding, so I just did the non-binding, and m- I think you can always do them online.

[35:26] The trustee doesn't know she's a gambling addict. They don't know she has a drinking problem or a drug problem or whatever, and they say, "Well, wait a minute. She's got three kids. She's only put two down. That's not fair. That chi- third child is also a dependent." That's the likelihood if I only had a non-binding. If, though, I had a binding- Yeah … I could have put one of the girls, two of the girls, left one off, et cetera. The trustee don't get a say here.

[35:48] Okay. They have to follow your- They basically say, "Well, we have to follow her wishes." That, that's what the binding does. Okay. Takes away anybody's ability to contest or argue or whatever.

[35:57] It just… And it's also a really quick way to get it paid out.

[36:00] You think about the trustee, they just say, "Well, she's put a binding in.

[36:03] We have to pay it out. We don't care if there's 20 other dependents. We, we can't do anything about it." Whereas if you don't put a binding in, it, there has to be a window of time before they pay out to allow other people the opportunity to come forward and say, "I'm dependent." Okay. So the money doesn't get paid out as quickly either. Mm. So there's a lot of incentives- Okay … to try and go down the binding route if you can. Ladies, there is an action for you if you haven't done your binding nominations.

[36:30] Get onto that, please. And then final question, if someone hasn't paid attention to their super until they're listening to this episode now and they're like, "Okay, time to- Uh-oh. … time to take some action," what are three things they can do this week?

[36:43] Number one, find out where your super is. Okay. Find out where your super is, ladies. We can all do that. And if you don't know or you have absolutely no clue, ask your employer, "Where are you paying my super to?" That'll give you a hint, right?

[36:55] Number two, once you know where it is, download their app, lo- register for online access. Be able to see it. Be able to know your balance. Know your balance. Be able to see it and, and if you want to kind of bring them all together, bring them all together, right? And then number three, how is it invested?

[37:12] Look and see, is this, is this a good investment option for me?

[37:16] If you're a 25-year-old and you look at your super and it's in cash.

[37:20] Mm-mm. Mm-mm. Bom, bom. That's a, that's a dangerous, dangerous thing to see, you know, because you're missing out on all the growth that you could have.

[37:29] So there are the things. Find out where it is, log in and have a look at it. Is the right, is it in the right investment option? Fantastic. Thank you so much. That has brought so much clarity and just, like, really clear, like, clear next steps.

[37:43] Thanks for listening. Now, remember that this was just general information and it might not be right for you. Super rules can be complicated and they change over time, so make sure you consider your own situation before acting on any of what we've talked about.

[37:56] For more information about today's episode, check out the show notes.

KEYWORDS
business, wealth, AI, entrepreneurship, Collective Hub, financial literacy, digital transformation, women in business, investment, future-proofing