by Trish Power
Published by Wrightbooks, October 2011
ISBN: 9781742469713, Paperback, AU$32.95 / NZ$37.99
We like to think women and men are equal in terms of money and finance. But it isn’t always the case.
On average women earn less, live longer and take more time out of the workforce than men. Despite these differences, women still deserve the same outcome — a financially stress-free retirement.
In Super Freedom author Trish Power shows you in six easy steps how every woman — single, divorced with kids, married, living with someone or widowed — can make their retirement dreams come true, regardless of their current superannuation balance or social situation.
Including case studies and recent changes in legislation, this jargon-free toolkit will help you transform your financial future by:
- establishing what lifestyle you want in retirement
- understanding how much money you need to deliver that lifestyle
- using the superannuation rules to help you reach your target
- taking the Six-Step Wealth Check — for free
- creating a cushy retirement using the 15 tips in the Super checklist
- choosing to do a little, or even a lot, to substantially improve your life after you finish working.
It is never too late, or too early, to improve your financial circumstances — Super Freedom will help you get started today. You will be surprised how easy it can be.
About the author:
Trish Power is a financial journalist, author and long-time share and property investor who lived a former life as a superannuation tech-head! She is passionately committed to raising the level of financial literacy in Australia and empowering individuals to improve their financial situation. Trish has worked on member communication campaigns for some of the largest superannuation funds in Australia and is the co-founder of free websites LearnerInvestor and SuperGuide – the only independent website for consumers on superannuation in Australia.
Please note when you order a book by clicking on the link above, you will be leaving the SuperGuide site and visiting the Educated Investor website. The Educated Investor is an online bookstore and one of SuperGuide’s trusted partners.
Super Freedom: Create a Worry-Free Financial Future in 6 Steps
Review of Super Freedom
Review by Justin Niessner, editor of Super Living. Originally published on www.superliving.com.au. Reproduced with permission.
WOMEN on average retire with less than half as much superannuation as men. This is unfortunately an inequality we can’t expect to turn around overnight – but that doesn’t mean we’re powerless.
The Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees and the Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia – both of which have women as chief executive officers – have long championed the cause of improving the retirement prospects of women. (See The fight for women’s super). But while industry lobbyists dog it out for new legislation, we’ve also got to take the wheel ourselves.
This is where Trish Power comes in. She’s the author of Superannuation for Dummies, an occasional SuperLiving contributor and the mastermind of the superannuation info site SuperGuide. Her new book Super Freedom: A Woman’s Guide to Superannuation demonstrates how women can take control of their finances and design independent, stress-free retirements.
Power says much of the planning advice and information available out there isn’t exactly tailored for women. With this in mind, Super Freedom takes the female angle on money matters. The approach is less hung up on the nuts and bolts of super rules and more results-focused. What do you need to retire comfortably and maintain your lifestyle? Instead of just explaining how super works, the book shows you how to use an unruly savings system to meet your own desired ends.
About the book
Super Freedom knows planning for retirement is about life, not money. The step-by-step methods outlined by Power are practical procedures for achieving goals. Everything comes together under a strategy of personal decision-making, financial stocktakes and making the realities mesh.
The number crunching in Super Freedom is intuitive and plainly explained, basically common sense budget stuff. Power draws up tips and case studies that paint work/retirement scenarios that are utterly relatable. One sketch charts the financial future of a 45-year-old woman with little in super and even less in expectations for a nest egg. Another follows a 55-year-old mother who has only worked casual low-pay jobs, divorced late in life but still has a good 10 years to boost her savings.
The theoretics feel real and help bring the unwieldy world of retirement planning to a human level. In each circumstance, various possible financial futures are revealed based on the course of action taken. Will you just “stay the course” and do nothing particular to bolster savings? Will you chip in a little, a lot or make major monthly investments? What will your age pension look like? Are you eligible? Will you claim as a single person or a couple?
Other chapters follow the potential of different super strategies including contribution splitting, spouse contributions and a practical plan of attack to achieve the good life (and a million dollars). Super Freedom covers a lot of the big questions which are by no means obviously answered but may seem too simple to ask a financial advisor. Who really invests my super money? When should I stop working? What tax do I pay on super in retirement? These are not just questions of accounting and bookkeeping – they represent an effort to take control of your future and what’s rightfully yours.
Review by Justin Niessner, editor of Super Living. Originally published on www.superliving.com.au. Reproduced with permission.
Please note when you order a book by clicking on the link above, you will be leaving the SuperGuide site and visiting the Educated Investor website. The Educated Investor is an online bookstore and one of SuperGuide’s trusted partners.
