Title : She's 29 — but Zoya is already worried about how she'll fund her retirement
link : She's 29 — but Zoya is already worried about how she'll fund her retirement
She's 29 — but Zoya is already worried about how she'll fund her retirement
Young women say they are reconsidering having families due to concerns about the impact time out of the workforce will have on their superannuation, as new findings suggest many women in Canberra are concerned about retiring in poverty.
Key points:
- Women currently retire with 47 per cent less super than men, a financial advisor says
- In part this is due to taking time out of the workforce to have children
- Part-time work is also a major factor
Writer Zoya Patel said even though she and her friends were relatively young, retirement was a common conversation point.
"Quite a few of my friends now don't think that they want to have children because they can see the impact that would have on their lifestyle and allocation of funds," she said.
At 29 years old Ms Patel still has decades left in the workforce, but she fears taking time off to have a family would result in her funds for retirement taking a hit.
"I think a lot of young women are worried about what life is going to look like after 40," Ms Patel said.
"There are growing reports about the number of older women experiencing homelessness and a lot of that being because of part time work and superannuation."
The preliminary findings of a YWCA Canberra survey suggest a growing number of young women aged between 18 and 34 fear they could find themselves living in poverty in retirement.
"More than 50 per cent of that cohort said that they were concerned about their financial well-being and then a further third said they were in financial stress," chief executive Frances Crimmins said.
"Some of the comments came through like 'I'm concerned my superannuation won't carry me through until I pass away'."
More than 700 women from every demographic and postcode across the ACT have completed the survey so far.
'A great sense of uncertainty'
The concerns reflected in the survey are not just academic for 60-year-old Penny Leemhuis, who teetered on the edge of homelessness during middle age.
She said she was left with virtually nothing when she retired.
"I was renting rooms in houses and going from place to place," Ms Leemhuis said.
"It certainly instilled a great sense of uncertainty in me."
When she was a young mum of two children Ms Leemhuis spent years working in casual jobs.
"I had worked in family daycare looking after other people's children I cleaned houses, I worked a lot of casualised jobs, so some of those had very low superannuation and in fact the majority had none at all," she said.
Women missing out on millions in super
Ms Patel said 10 years ago it was her dream to be rich, comfortable and own a beach house, but as she got older her outlook on what was achievable for the future had dramatically changed.
"Just long-term sustainable employment," she said.
"It's a lot less exciting than being rich and famous but I think that's what a lot of us are hoping for now."
Wealth Planning Partners financial advisor Amanda Cassar said sadly the responses did not come as a shock.
"Currently women retire with 47 per cent less super than men," she said.
Ms Cassar said taking time out to have a family could have massive impacts on the financial future for women.
"An estimated 220,000 women miss out on $125 million of superannuation contributions as they don't meet the requirement to earn $450 per month from one employer, as often women work more than one part time job," she said.
Ms Cassar said building savings early, through making voluntary contributions to your retirement fund, could help in the long term.
"Choose your super wisely: preferably have only one super fund, as having multiple accounts means it is hard to keep track of how much super you have, and you'll probably be paying more fees than you should," she said.
The YWCA aims to get 1,000 women to take part in the survey before it closes next week, saying the findings could help inform decision makers on how to ensure women are financially secure in retirement.
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