When it comes to women money and the whole damn thing, we hear some pretty scary stats.
Australian women on average still earn 14% less than men. Women are currently retiring
we 47% less super than men and women over 55 of the fastest growing homeless population
in Australia. These stats are grim. And there's plenty that needs to change at the top to
help support women to better themselves financially going forward. But we know that change takes
time and with so much to catch up on financially. We're going to be talking about what women
can do right now to help close that financial gap. I'm talking to Lisa Montgomery, former
CEO of Resi Home Loans, Head of Consumer Advocacy at Wizard Home Loans and one of Australia's most
respected consumer finance experts.
Hi, Lisa. Hi, Kate.
Lisa, if you could say just one thing about women and money, what would it be?
That's an interesting one. I think it would be that women don't pay attention enough to
their money. And I think that in some ways that's generational. But I think that it's
to the detriment of women in the long run
What are some of the big roadblocks women face that perhaps men don't face?
Well, traditionally, we all know that women aren't paid as much as men. Also, women will
often take a break to start a family, or they'll leave the workforce for some reason for a
period of time. And the other thing too, is that women actually live longer than men.
So the need for women to have more to to sustain themselves over time is a real need but it's
really easy when you're young to ignore that or to put things that have a now need
attached to them as priority rather than that future need.
What are things women could start doing right now to try and address that, I think
it's really important for us to negotiate a salary increase, that's really important
to do. And often that's going to be your annual review or at a time when you feel comfortable
to actually negotiate that. I think it's also important to show your achievements of the
year but also to look at where you've actually exceeded expectation and bring evidence of
that, then you've got great opportunity to look at negotiating a pay increase. And often
it's important to not to go too high on that negotiation, maybe keep that between 10 and
20%. You know, certainly if you go out and ask for a 50% increase, you want to have a
damn good reason for it.
So super, what can women do to address that horrendous gap we say at the moment, the very
first thing a woman needs to do is pick up this statement and read it. In fact, not just
women, but men. Everyone should pick up this statement and have a good look at that. If
you don't know it, you can't grow it. If you don't understand what's going on in that statement,
you need to call your super fund and get them to explain what the fees and charges, what
what interests that you're earning, you need to look at how it's performed over the last
12 months, 24 months and beyond, it's important to know the numbers, but also to control those number
Definitely look at additional contributions, even $10 a week will make a big difference
when it comes to retirement if you're in your 20s and even if you're in your 30s and even
if you're in your 40s, just make sure that you're you're doing that within your ability
to support yourself. Because remember, whatever you are earning and that's going to be taxed at
lot less of a rate than what you're being taxed in terms of your wage now
You've had a really interesting and impressive career. What advice would you give to a young
woman who is career minded and wants to get ahead?
Well, it's really interesting because I've had a really long career in financial services,
but I didn't get a university degree. And I still don't have one. But I have forged
and created my own path. And I put it down to personal brand. It's the perception of
how capable how skilled how, how you're going to add value to their organisation. And your
personal brand should also not just include those things, but also include the things
like actually delivering on what you say you're going to deliver. I think it's important,
If you're watching this video, to start to develop money habits that fit this time of
your life. It's really important to do that you might think that you've missed the boat
or that you don't have enough income or whatever that mind speak is that you want to tell yourself.
It's not true. It's never too late to start so start now.
I really hope you enjoyed the video, if you're inspired to look at your super, negotiate your
salary or start investing, we have plenty of guides on Finder that can help you reach your
financial goals. The links to those are all below