Yahoo Finance The simple hack to bulk up your super balance by $250k
Australia scored 96.88 out of 100 on gender equality this year, with the only area we’re missing the mark the aged pension.
In order to achieve a perfect 100, we’d need to be able to answer yes to this one question: “Does the law establish explicit pension care credits for periods of childcare?”
And we can’t, because Australian women generally take on the majority of child care duties, and their superannuation contributions reduce if they cut down work hours to do so.
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According to the Australian Superannuation Fund Association, women retire with 42 per cent less superannuation than men.
In dollar figures, that means by the time they’re almost 60, they’ll have around $123,642 in super, compared to $237,022 for men.
In living terms, women only have enough in their retirement fund for six years of retirement, and a staggering 40 per cent of single women will retire below the poverty line.
If women were to add $30 to their super account each month, they would have $250,000 extra by the time they retire, and a new rewards platform is aiming to help women do just that.
Shopping platform Super Rewards will top up your super when you spend cash online, to ensure that the 76 per cent of women who either don’t work or work part time are consistently contributing to their financial future.
How does Super Rewards work?
It’s free to sign up, and is compatible with any super fund or self-managed superannuation account.
All you have to do is nominate your super account and via the online shopping portal, you’ll be rewarded for everyday online purchases.
“The simple reality is that the superannuation system was not built for women,” says Pascale Helyar-Moray, co-founder of Super Rewards.
“Lofty targets are set by government bodies for the amount of super individuals need to retire
with. These are unrealistic for women, given the time they spend out of the workforce, contributing to their families and the community as carers and volunteers.”
Over 100 brands have signed up to the platform, including Woolworths, The Iconic, hardtofind and Freedom.
“Super Rewards will allow women to top up their super, simply by doing their normal
shopping and life admin,” Helyar-Moray said, who co-founded the service with Emily Hollingum in 2019.
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