‘Catholic Super’s priority is its members’: How to get the most support from your super fund
Retired registered nurse and disability support worker, Louise Mayvis, knows life can throw unexpected curveballs - perhaps more so than most. Five years ago, Louise was forced to retire at 62 years of age due to a work-related injury, much earlier than she’d ever envisioned retiring.
After 30 years spent working overnight to support people living with disability, retiring wasn’t on Louise’s mind until she felt no longer able to provide adequate care.
“Retirement came unexpectedly for me, I wasn’t really ready to give up working. I was providing support to eight clients each night on my own, with some individuals having medical issues and needing specific support, while others required support in all aspects of daily living. So, it wouldn’t have been fair to keep working - for them, or for me, physically.”
Retiring early did throw a financial spanner in the works for Louise and husband of 39 years Edward (Ed), who still works in a senior role within the same agency as Louise.
“Our main concern was how to pay off the mortgage, which was fairly small by that stage. We had planned to clear it by the time I was 65 but retiring three years early caused concern that we wouldn’t be able to pay it off. Without being able to contribute financially, I thought Ed would be working forever!”
Louise and Ed’s turning point
“Thankfully however, our fund Catholic Super provided us with terrific advice and guidance. Our financial adviser created a financial plan for us and we managed to clear our mortgage by the time I turned 65 as initially planned - even though I’d retired. Once we cleared that debt, the stress of being financially limited in retirement was gone and we finally started to feel that we would achieve a comfortable life in retirement.”
Ed says their financial adviser from Catholic Super has been a fantastic support over the years.
“We’ve received great advice and support from Catholic Super over the years, and continue to do so - we rely on our financial adviser a lot, especially in regard to transitioning to retirement. Through his advice, I was able to reduce my working hours down to a three-day week. Throughout the process, Catholic Super has guided us to make decisions that protect and maximise our finances.
“The only thing I regret,” says Ed, “is not turning to Catholic Super for support sooner. We spent years seeking help from our bank on how to best manage our finances but, after a while, we started to see they didn’t have our best interests at heart. That’s when we realised the bank looks after the bank. Catholic Super looks after its members.”