Women feel in control
Although more than half of Australian women feel in control of their finances, many are still missing out on opportunities to boost their superannuation, according an all-female research exercise conducted by MLC.
The study found that 42 per cent of women who said they did not feel in control, 61 per cent indicated that low savings was the main factor.
Additionally, 32 per cent of women who participated in the study admitted they had less than a month’s worth of savings to live off if they needed to.
Furthermore, only 47 per cent of single women reported feeling in control of their money and 81 per cent believed that would own their own home in retirement.
At the same time, 77 per cent of respondents said they would have less than 50k left on their mortgage when they would retire.
Also, 74 per cent of women who said they did not feel secure about their retirement said the main concern was the high cost of living in Australia while 48 per cent said it was their low super balance.
MLC Advice’s general manager, Jasia Fabig said that although many women felt comfortable financially, more needs to be done to support them and help make their financial interests a priority.
“What we often see is that women put the interests of others before their own, and at key moments in life – divorce, death, illness, or job loss – they are severely impacted,” she said.
“Only 34 per cent of the women MLC surveyed are putting extra money into their super, and we’d like to see this number grow.
“Women and their money matter, and we want them to be able to weather financial storms.”
Recommended for you
With regional and rural suburbs exhibiting high spare capacity to invest, Money Management speaks to three regional advisers on the opportunities beyond the major cities and the importance of a strong network.
Platform consolidation is expected to accelerate among financial advisers this year, as software company Finura pinpoints which two platforms are set to be the winners, thanks to this trend.
The software provider has made several appointments in its APAC wealth propositions team, with a focus on driving growth across digital advice, Xplan and strategic partnerships.
The platform has announced it plans to close its Xplore managed discretionary account service in 2026 which holds $2 billion in funds under administration.