Angela*, an early childhood educator, was 40 when she had a wake-up call about her retirement.

Sure, it was a good 25 years away, but Angela saw how her 75-year-old neighbour Mary lived pension-to-pension and struggled to meet her every day expenses. Angela was managing reasonably well financially – but she wasn’t sure how she’d get by when she finished work. All she knew was that she didn’t want her retirement years to be a struggle. So she wisely took a fresh look at her super and found that just putting an extra $20 into super each week would make a huge difference when she reached retirement age.

There is a common misconception that super is a ‘set and forget’ investment. But it is vital that everyone, especially women, take control of their super as early as possible and empower themselves to shape the retirement they want.

Because of lower salaries (on average) and breaks from the workforce to have children, women are retiring on far less than their male counterparts. According to the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA), the average superannuation account balance for women 60-64 years of age is $138,154 for women, compared to $292,510 for men. Yet on average, women live longer than men. Women can expect to live 20 years past retirement age – that’s another quarter life!

If you don’t want your retirement years to be a struggle, be your own super woman and put a little extra into your super. Every little bit counts.

You can talk to a Superannuation Specialist at Catholic Super about getting started. Simply call us on 1300 655 002 for more information.

*Angela’s story is based on real life stories we’ve heard from our members.
*Life expectancy information from the Australian Bureau of Statistics abs.gov.au