Season 2 Episode 5: Women and superannuation with Trenna Probert
IN THIS EPISODE
Mel kicks off by diving into her budget review and getting ready for some big family expenses. Meanwhile, Darlene shares a story about her daughter's spending spree over the school holidays, highlighting the classic battle between saving and splurging. It’s all about setting money goals making them a family affair.
Guest Trenna Probert, the dynamic CEO of Super Fierce, a company on a mission to empower women financially. Trenna, a real-life superhero in the finance world as recognised Woman of Finance 2023, discusses how Super Fierce is helping women boost their confidence and resources to make life-changing decisions. She shines a light on the gender retirement gap, urging women to take charge of their financial future and support each other along the way.
The trio dives deep into the world of financial confidence, gender equity, and the power of positive messaging to break the social conditioning. They explore Super Fierce's innovative tool make comparing superfunds a breeze, helping you make the best money moves to maximise your priorities without the stress of having to get into the nitty gritty.
Listeners are encouraged to think about their retirement life, making it real and tangible even though it seems invisible in the present. Trenna encourages listeners to be the boss of their own money! Take an active role in choosing insurances and owning their superannuation journey like a boss.
RESOURCES IN THIS EPISODE
- Get your personalised superannuation report at Super Fierce: https://superfierce.com.au/
- Connect with Trenna Probert: https://www.linkedin.com/in/trennaprobert/
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Welcome to the Money Collective Podcast. We're here to uplift your financial wellbeing. Your hosts are me, Mel Pearce, and Darlene Neu. We are the cofounders of The Money Collective and together we have over 50 years of finance and banking experience. We provide the tools, information and guidance to better understand your money and feel confident making money decisions.
0:22
Hello and welcome to our podcast. Yeah, another fantastic episode. Here we come. Yeah, hopefully. Here we come. We are excited today because we've got a guest speak for you. But before we get started, let's talk about the truth about what's going on in our money lives. Mel. OK, I'll go first. Yeah, well, sure, I'll go first. I have in previous episodes been talking about how my money system has been messed up and I've just been making
0:53
without really going back in and properly fixing up the system. So I've gone in and finally done that and geez it feels good. So it took me
1:06
to have the holidays, you know, so we didn't go away or anything. And so I've had a bit of time at home to sort out my finances and there was a really burning desire for us because we, as I've mentioned previously, going on this holiday, which I originally budgeted last year $20k, but the real holiday is going to cost $30k. Plus we need to cover all of our bills while we're away, which is about $1,600 a week
1:38
yeah, for five weeks. That's the personal. And then there's about 2 and a half thousand dollars a month a week for our business expenses as well while we're away because my husband is self employed. So there was that whole big budget that I needed to save for. And then in addition to that, I've mentioned that my husband has to have some hip surgery, would just throw that into boot. So I just had to magically come up with all this money. So
2:06
yeah, so he's gotta have a hip replacement and that's gonna be 6 weeks off work. And I was trying to push him to have less time off work, get better, get back into gear, get back out there. And then like I heard Friday, they all these stories about who did that and they look like they get back in and their machines and stuff and they just break down
2:30
so bad. Yeah. So I'm like, OK, you're sitting on the couch for six weeks, but we've still got a long life, you know, so
2:38
and I'm surprised usually would have some savings and it's not a big deal, but I think we were channelling all of that to this trip. So now, and we don't want to run all of our resources down low, we definitely decided we didn't want to borrow any money to get through this year. We wanna just do it.
2:56
So I've set up all of my systems, all of my automations in my account and I am I complete no spending or spending amnesty, I should say, Yeah, not allowed to spend a cent on other anything right at home, anything essential. So we did go to the dentist yesterday,
3:18
like went to the dentist and had to get some, you know, essential health stuff, right. So that's still packing. Keep running your health and essential food and hopefully nothing breaks but out. My normal spending budget for the family, $685 a week and that is now $300.00 a week including food and everything. So it's that phenomenal. $30, $20 a day something. I'm looking for a calculator. Yeah. What is it here? We always have a calculator.
3:49
Those will be calculated. $300.00 * 52 divided. No, Yeah. No, no, no. What is it I've got? Actually, no,
4:02
I've actually got $1300 as my budget for the month times 12 / 52 is $300.00 a week divided by 7 is $42.85 a day. OK, OK, I can do this. OK, I, I think it's amazing and I have seen how driven Mel is to achieve this goal. So and she's got enough confidence because she's booked her trip now. OK, enough. So I've got the airfare and I've got to also ring fenced
4:32
the money for the trip and ringfenced the money for the surgery. So we're also hoping that WorkCover, if anyone from WorkCover is listening, is going to help with those surgery costs as well. Yeah, but I've put $18,000 in an account to cover those six weeks and I'm still thinking that we’re was going to have to top that up, right. And then, and I've got about $8k, but I've got to save another $30k in five months or something like that.
5:03
Yeah. And then that hits their goal. Yeah. And there's not gonna be a lot of spending on this trip. It sounds like so much money like it does. Yeah, it does $30,000 extra that I need to save on top of what I've already got. We're just going to costs though. It's definitely $30,000. Yeah, no, it's not including our expensive amount time away. It's 38 by 16.
5:32
I do Love Actually I, Yeah, I was gonna say I do love somehow you've actually planned for still that, you know, cost at home. I think when people do that on holidays, they don't consider, you know, those continuing costs at home, but you still gotta pay. So that's really great. Thank you. Because it's only because of the all of the added stuff, especially with the surgery, because usually I've got enough backup saving to like kind of not worry about it.
6:03
Oh, that's fine. And we'd make do. But this time I like planning that to the enth degree and well, yeah, yeah. And yeah, I think so how good I'm really excited to follow these projects because of how good will it feel. And it's actually, it's actually like
6:22
what you actually can do your mind to it. OK, your cost to 42 bucks a day and you can do that for consistent period of time. Oh my God, what a lesson learning. You know, if anyone watching the video podcast I got this dress handed down from my friend. I've picked up so many clothing items since we've been saying I'm not spending, I don't have to spend money. I'm not saying I'm using people at all.
6:47
You put something out into the universe I'm receiving. And this is like a new Hunger Games for me, like the sport I am, like a challenge. And I did this calculator and it said if I thought if I can, even if this would even be pulling back a little bit, but if I kept the same habits, I could have my home loan paid off in five years. So oh, my gosh. So after this, and I don't know if that was actually realistic, but like, oh, my God, that got me. Yeah. Got me going. Yeah. What?
7:19
So I really try. Yeah. I think that he's leaving, you know, the audience we have, you know, what's possible. And not saying go to extremes, but how much is extremes? How much in life do we actually just spend and don't take much notice of it? Look, there's definitely, you know, you know, enjoys me because I need to after the holidays, just really buckle down, reset, have a look at my spending. It's due for review. So that's my commitment.
7:49
Get my review in order. You set some new, you know, update and cash hub and where the money goes. Like I have this little squirrel now. So like at night time, it's like, what are you doing Mel? And I'm like my spreadsheet. So I'll take your daily spending spreadsheet structure just like my goals and I'm looking at it and I'm like, oh, we all good. So instead of it being a monthly or even like even I was doing quarterly to being weekly almost. Yeah, that's a bit out of control, but I'm so that's how pumped I am by
8:20
to do this. I actually I'm gonna say to create a habit or is it 21 days or something? It would be very interesting to see what you know, what condition it does to you over time, you know. Anyway, let's stay tuned. I’ll have a 6 pack with finances.
8:42
My Truth. Continue on around kids and money today. It's been the holiday time and
8:52
my 12 year old daughter Lily, I reckon it's been a bit out of control with money and I haven't set boundaries and actually went out with a couple of girlfriends last night and our friends are our girls are friends. And we were talking about the same challenges that we're having the same thing. Like it's not an endless pit of money. You know, it's holiday time. We're going in the shops, we want, you know, money for food. Let's go to the movies, you know, all the things, right, that we have.
9:22
Well, we don't have to. That's what we're going, you know, like. But I do think there's an opportunity to do some planning in this, you know, back to what you're saying now, what is the number and how am I going to manage it for the year ahead? And how can I teach Lily about money and understanding, you know, that you can save some and buy something you really want because the way you really roll is that she got $300.00 for Christmas
9:52
and then she went off, and I’ve talked about this before on the podcast, you know, skin care and makeup at Mecca or Sephora. And so she went after Christmas. She went there and just spent $200.00. And I said to her at the time, but they think about things going on in the future, you know, whatever you think today, you don't have money to do that. You'd later, you know, think about what matters and priorities. And you know, through 12 year old, she just rolls her eyes.
10:23
But now what's come to be is that she wants to do some other things and she's realised she doesn't have the money to do that. So I'm trying to teach that hard lesson. But it has got I was talking to my husband down for about two. What are the boundaries you wanna set for the years? And I'm feeling that it's pocket money and I haven't gone. I get challenged with pocket money because I love the habits that can create. So and then what do you have to see your pocket money on is the question, because I also still want her to contribute.
10:54
Alright. You know, you're part of the family. Yeah. You know, so you still have to unpack the dishwasher and do some jobs because that's just being part of the family. But I think pocket money and just, you know, sending pocket money to cover all these things that they can manage her budget however she likes. And well, today's podcast, we're gonna, we've got a special guest who's going to talk about superannuation. But yes, but what comes out through that interview is that it's hard to get perspective as a young person.
11:25
And the younger you are, the first like the more unrealistic your future is. Yeah. So even these nuts are really is not like that. So we are older, like we're in our 40s and 50s and we can see how quick time is running out. How are we going to do you know where you can see the clock running out quickly? She has got the clock hasn't even started, isn't it? Yeah. This credit card that doesn't, you know, that's not even real money. That's what my daughter says,
11:54
thinking that that instant gratification are not helping her at all. So when school goes back, that's what's gonna happen. So she'll have, and she can, you know, if she wants to buy a lunch at school or any discretionary spending, you know, she can save it up or not. Haven't thought about what amount that's gonna be. Yeah. Per week. I'll work on that. You know, I'm open to what's the going rate? Is it 10 or 20 bucks? I really recommend 20 bucks. 20, Yeah, yeah. They can survive
12:25
on that too. I'm not helping at all. Really. No. Otherwise there's food in the fridge and you know, she's got children, all the necessities, more than others. So anyway, there's no right or wrong I don't suppose. But yeah, I think she was good and she's a goal driven person. And I think about your children too and tailored to who they are as a person. I think it's important because she is driven by goals. But last year she was really good, and I didn't worry so much because she really wanted the first mobile phone. And so she saved all her money and didn't spend.
12:56
She was great, right? And now it's almost like I've got the phone and everything's great and I don't have any gold anymore. That's exactly, you know, for all of us, not just we need goals. And she doesn't have a purpose for her money, so she spends it until the next thing comes up. So. Well, that's what happened to me. I've got this huge goal. Yeah. And that's all that matters, right?
13:20
Will come back on you when I get back. But yeah, but my children know that there is no extra money in the household when I own none. Is not spending money on anything that you cannot ask Mum for. Like, really. Like I've said those words out loud. They know it because I'm saying it. I'm like, no, no, no. They know what my boat it is. Yeah. So if they wanna do things, that's fine. But there's no asking me for. No, they've got my goal is so clear. So it doesn't if your goal is clear or what
13:51
boundaries are as a present, please too. Really good too, because when I come back and I've gone for the holiday of the century and
14:00
come back, then my goals are gonna change. I'm gonna have to could I've even pull back from putting money into superannuation or as much I've halved it. I need to put that back and then I need to start readjusting. I'll have to create a new budget but I suppose that's good food for thought for me that I need a burning desire, whether it is paying my home loan off in a certain amount of time and just being. We need. Yeah, clear exactly because we know from the studies that if we don't have goals then we're more materialistic and I'm sure we would have mentioned this before, but it's worth
14:31
again. So because we're not striving for something you know we get the goals are really important
14:39
children as well no different. That's funny, isn't it the same principle that's gonna motivate that goal. But we are we not gonna save them all the time. So they need to get out of that habit of thinking that we're gonna solve all their problems financially even if they're between ages. Yes. Doesn't matter. Yeah. So let's get them thinking. And I think that feeling is actually I can't have this thing I want. I think our kids need to feel that. I think all become innovative on how that they can do it. Now, if they're old enough, maybe they will go and,
15:10
you know, do a job or, you know, get perhaps homework or something, you know, like or even at home really is asking me for jobs, you know. So I think those things are those things are really important. So yes. So we're going to do a pocket money year and we'll see how it goes. And keep me posted. Yeah, awesome. Thanks. So today we have Trenna Probert on our podcast. She was the winner
15:41
of the Australian Women in Finance Awards. She was the Woman of Finance for 2023. Amazing. She brings so much thought leadership to
15:54
everyday things, and obviously it's around money. And we'll talk about her business. Yes, and her business is all around superannuation and it's called Super Fierce. So stay tuned and let's enjoy our interview with Trenna Probert.
16:09
Tell us about Super Fierce, Trenna and welcome to our podcast.
16:15
Well, it's lovely to be here and um, you know, I knew the moment that you came, you know, rushing up in excitement at the Women in Finance Awards that you we were, I was gonna say, brethren, let let's say kindred souls would be a more appropriate given the fierce female energy we've got going on here. But yeah, look, you know, we're so aligned in what we believe and what we are aspiring to do. And so Super Fierce is my
16:47
answer to my own personal experiences through my life, which are not on uncommon for women where we live big, interesting, amazing lives. We're trying to juggle too many things. And there are a lot of expectations. Things get out of control and all of a sudden you can find yourself in a tricky position. And I've always had, you know, a lot of strange internal strength. I suspect maybe it's because of an odd kid who didn't really have many friends so I kind of had to forge my way
17:17
through life alone. But um, yeah, it's super fierce is my answer to my own experiences of financial hardship. And a lot of those were the result of decisions around relationships and really giving away my power. And so my very tiny, lofty ambition is to close the $30 trillion global gender wealth gap by making appropriate, affordable advice accessible to every woman around the globe. Yeah. Why do I think that's important?
17:53
Because financial knowledge is part of it. Financial confidence is part of the formula, part of the equation. Financial resilience is a part of it,
18:06
but putting all of that on the individual to know and understand alone, particularly when our education system is not designed to raise financially confident people, regardless of gender, culture, sexual orientation, all of us, our education isn't built that way at the moment. And so I hate the fact that we keep saying, oh, you know, women need to be more financially literate. It kind of puts the onus back
18:37
on the person who is often least able to address that problem or, or that need like, yeah. And, and what I hate about it as well, and you'll get a breath in in a minute, But is that
18:49
I want women to know you actually are already good at this stuff. Yeah. You know, women control 80% of the economic decisions in households around the world. Women manage the financial resources within their homes. When things are tough financially, we find ways to save and to make them money. Go further. Like we are intuitively good at this.
19:19
Same with investing, same with investing. And so that was a very long, passionate answer, which doesn't even cover half of it for me. But really Super Fierce for me is about the, it's about a belief that I don't want to do something to women. I don't want to do something for women. I don't want to go out with a statement that I'm there to empower women. I wanna make it easier for women to build the financial confidence, resources, and resilience that they need to be able to make the decisions about their life
19:52
that they're gonna love. Cause I don't really care about money. I really don't. I probably should care more. What I care about with money is that it's a tool that gives women choice and that's what it's about. So Super Fierce for me is the exclamation mark at the end of any sentence where you've been able to make decisions that put you in a position to live a life that you'll love. And it's as simple as that. It's not actually as simple as that, but the aspiration isn't simple.
20:24
I love that so much, Trenna. And we can relate to that so much. I mean, if we had to do an introduction for our business, we you were almost word for word what we believe and what we talk about. And you're so right that women know this stuff. It is not that we need to be uplifted or we need to be educated or our financial literacy is not as good. And in fact, there's so many
20:53
studies that show that our financial literacy is women as a whole is better, stronger, and we can make better saving and investing decisions. The problem is that we're working with less money. And, and another part of that as well, completely agree. So we're working with less money, we're starting with less money. And we all know that compounding can be excellent, but it can also be bad, right? So compounding works whether you're starting from a bad base or a good base. And so it's not just the financial compounding
21:24
that's the compounding of inequity, right? The longer inequity exists, the bigger it becomes. So, and as we get older, that inequity, it builds further. But still, let's talk about super for a second. Yeah, still, the divide is huge. How big is the divide?
21:46
OK, around the world, the gender retirement gap is the largest contributor to the gender wealth gap in every region across OECD, 29%. In Australia, we're retiring on average with 42% less than men. But we live on average four to five years longer. Longer, right?
22:14
Just be thankful you're not in the US where on average they're retiring with 66% less. Yeah. Now let's go back to the beginning of our working lives. By the time that you're 23 years old in this country, on average, if you're a woman, you are already earning 10% less than men.
22:41
Now we know that there are lots of contributors to it at that point. So one of those is we have a much higher number of women who are graduating from university. So that's a contributor because they've been at university and not earning at the same level that boys who go out into trades. I feel like this is a really big gap in the Australian employment opportunity environment. So boys have another path that they can go into, which is you can get a trade and have a very vibrant,
23:13
robust. And, and I think the point is defensible, like there's always a need for people with trades and you can and you get paid a lot. Well, somebody just said to me, sorry to interrupt, but someone said to me not long ago, it's only in Australia that, you know, we view building our builders and tradies and are very high status in Australia, right? You know, absolutely in many other countries, it's not regarded as, you know, a business or a job of choice, you know, but in Australia it really is because we value
23:45
that family home and, you know, building is seen as, you know, pretty cool, right? Yeah. And you can earn really great money and run a great business. And it's interesting that flow through point around that as well, which is so then we immediately are stepping into people say, how can you pay the same for different jobs? You know that that people aren't getting paid because it's not because being an electrician is harder than being a nurse or harder than being a kindergarten teacher.
24:15
Anybody who's got, That’s a great debate, harder than being a kindergarten teacher and certainly not more important for God's sake, right. However, it is about our social perception of what the value is. Now you look at the comparable opportunities for girls who are deciding to leave school early. There is not that same route. Are you going to become a hairdresser? Make you know what I think caring for people, right. So whether it's health or childcare or yeah, now they are equally viable
24:46
careers, but they're not valued in the same way. So how can men truly understand when they are born into a life of privilege in this country where everything is actually built for them to flourish? But our conversation is not about that today. Our conversation is what can women do? Women do well, what can people do? You know, I think the question more broadly though, you know, we can definitely, you know, and I'm still, I want to deal there about, you know, your tips for women and you know, but what in general,
25:17
what can everybody do, you know, like what everybody can do? And I mean, so I want as a starting point for all Australians to understand superannuation is your money, it's your money.
25:31
And not only is it your money. So the government actually did something really great. They realised that for the most part present bias, our fixation with what feels good today, or the way that I phrase it, is the dreams and demands of today. So the things that are ****** and we're worried about today and also the things we really want today are much more pressing than the future. And you know, this like every financial decision for the most part is about delaying gratification.
26:02
So, so I want people to understand it's their money. Number two, I also want them to understand that superannuation is not a Grannys savings account. It's not a Piggy Bank for grannies, for the bingo bowls and blue rinse. You know, it's actually a tax effective investment environment. So you're not paying as much tax on it. But the longer it's in there, it's compounding. So it's growing and growing and growing on itself. And let's see who can describe compounding best later. And whoever gets it,
26:33
you know, is buying everybody a bottle of champagne. Because hardest thing in the world to explain? Well, I think,
26:38
but it's this tax effective environment and the earlier you start, the more and more it's growing for you. And the most important thing to understand about that, it's being taken out of your pay anyway, it's your money. Make sure it's working hard for you. Make sure you're being paid that money. Often it disappears. Not good.
27:01
And then when you're thinking about that, so once you've made sure that you're thinking about your super, my biggest tip about super for everybody is you're going to ignore it. You're not gonna prioritise it unless you give it meaning,
27:16
so why should she care about it? And it's really hard to build a relationship with the person you're going to be in future when you're young. For me, I'll be 52 this year. It's getting easier and easier to think about who that person's going to be, particularly because I've realised I'm not that different than I was when I was 815-2432 etcetera. Definitely a bit wobbler, but same dreams, aspirations, fears
27:40
and so really start to give it meaning and go, what life do I want to lead? What do I worry about now? Because by the time you're heading to a point in your life where you might think about stopping working, at least in the way that you do today in in full force,
27:57
you've run out of time. And you deserve you deserve to live in safety. You deserve some simple pleasures and happiness in those later stages of life. You know, this may be the only go we get at this wonderful thing. Yes. And so just these just even if you're not going to make contributions yourself, make sure that the money that's being taken from your pay is being used wisely. So that's why it's important to understand
28:29
in a superannuation fund, you know it's not a bank account. You are paying layer upon layer upon layer of fees. And I defy any normal person, me included, to be under able to unravel every fee in a product disclosure statement. It's complicated.
28:47
So you're paying fees to the investment managers in these super funds to invest your money for you. It doesn't just sit there people, they are taking that money and they are investing it on your behalf and their job is to grow that for you. So that nest egg is growing now that's great, but
29:11
are you with someone who's going to invest it well? Are you paying? What's an appropriate amount for that? Are they delivering returns that are commensurate with that? Is it sustainable? Are they investing where you're happy with that? These are all key questions. Now it is genuinely complicated It it's the exact opposite of what I normally say about finance and investing, which is I think investing is quite intuitive. But when it comes to super, there is
29:41
layers and layers of this and people say to me, surely there's one best Superfund for everybody. No, there's not. And that's because we're not the same
29:54
when off the same starting point, great starting point, but also different ages, different income, different gender. All of these things impact there's different risk profile. And so often people will say to me, you know, look, surely my employer knows best. I just put my money in like how, you know, say you work for Coles, like how on earth do they know what's best for the 3000 odd people or whatever it is that work for them? I can see how overwhelming this is for people because like first of all, we hear all the time I'm bad with money
30:25
and then Oh my gosh, I don't what if I've got like 5 super funds already? How do I even get them together? Now you're talking about fees, returns. Oh my gosh, I, I'm tapping out at least and then at least I'm invested somewhere. I know I'm getting so and I'll sort it out one day. That's it. I, I just think so many people think like that and
30:47
I'm exactly the same. Like, I've worked in finance the majority of my career. I've had big interesting jobs. But, and my husband, he was the, he was the chief global investment officer for Macquarie before we started this business. We just got, we had like about 9 super funds between us. Like what the, Yeah. And, and just in case anybody's wondering, why can't I have more than one super fund? If you've got one phone, would you buy, would you pay for a phone plan with Telstra, Optus and Vodafone? No, you're just paying more
31:18
so one so it doesn't make sense. And then so then I think for the everyday person, you think, well, if somebody like that has got 9 super funds, what hope do I have? Or the conversations go around, you know, start a work conversation and somebody had been salary sacrificing to superannuation and they've got this elaborate plan that seems to be amazing and you don't even understand what they're saying. How do you take those first steps? Or is I think that's where Super Fierce comes in,
31:48
isn't it? It is, it's why it's, it's why I built Super Fierce actually. Well, even going back a tiny step further was, you know, I talked about my frustration about the gender wealth gap, but it's it started at a much more little level when I was got past sort of, you know, striving and so on and got a little bit. And I was just like, I started to look up a bit and started to get annoyed and then angry about the gender pay gap
32:15
that, you know, and probably like everybody, I say, it just felt like too big a problem. I was like, what can I do about that?
32:24
And you know, I'm not really wired for the glacial change that's required where there's so you gotta rely on so many other things and so on. And so we're super fierce started from and there's more pieces to this, but most importantly was
32:41
as I well, that's going to take forever, but I can attack it from the other end. If the gender retirement gap is the largest contributor to the gender wealth gap, let's smash that apart 1st. And So
32:57
what I worked out was that if we could just make it simple, just make it simple for a woman to make sure she wasn't wasting $100,000 on fees for nothing, we would already we could have a staggering impact on her future financial wellbeing. And a really important insight here for your girls is what a what a woman does between the ages of 20 and 30 with her super just not paying too much for your super.
33:29
before you even look at contributions, before you look at investment performance, just not paying too much in fees closes the impact of the average gender pay gap and the impact of time out of the workforce on your ultimate financial wellbeing. So great. It's a great tip. Yeah. You just want that one thing because you get all of these things, which is the most, you know, what's the first thing I should be looking at the one thing, right. And it's interesting. Craig and I were sitting yesterday. I was like, right, I, Craig's my husband and business partner knows just like I,
34:00
I think we need to take what we've done and we kind of need to build. I was playing around with this like it's kind of like, you know, your first super starter product, you know, how do you like, how do we take what we've done and just create a really simple mechanism with advice to step by step for a young person who's starting out on their earning journey to just, get set up in an optimal position to begin their life,
34:26
right? And it's going to come because that's actually not that difficult for us to do. And I think it's hugely important, but to answer your question, Super Fierce is designed to remove all of that headache. So what was important to us is that every Australian, and by the way about 27% of our customers are men, we're for everybody. We focus on women first because everybody is ignoring us and we need that help more. But we want every Australian to have access to independent, unbiased advice about their super. So what about you? Come to our platform, you answer a few questions and our calculator runs instantly more than 180,000 calculations comparing more than 2000 investment options from more than 350 super funds.
35:26
It assesses all of those based on the information that's been put in around you. What's your gender, what's your age, how much you earning? How much have you gotten super already? You know, when do you hope to retire? How much do you wanna, you know, retire with what sort of lifestyle do you wanna have as well? And then you get a report, which is actually a legal financial document. It's a statement of advice, not the typical boring one you see, but it's designed to make it simple to understand. And in there we have created for you an investment strategy. I mean,
36:02
bottom line, don't forget that. I'll tell you the other bit in a minute. Bottom line, what it shows you is how much you're on track to retire with, how much you need to fund the lifestyle that you've told us you want. Yes,
36:16
if you can have more, if you need more and how much more, we can help you to have by not just making sure you don't have two money fund funds, not just putting you into a different super fund,
36:32
but instead building a custom investment portfolio for you either within the fund that you're already in, make it work better for you or shift you into a different fund with a custom investment portfolio that's getting the best balance of growth and defensive assets across a range of different investment assets that suits where you are in your life that's going to put you on a better trajectory to where you should be. Now, the reason we're able to do this is because we're super nerds, but we're just total nerds in general actually. But
37:02
so we've built the most robust and comprehensive database about superannuation in the country. We've built algorithms that interrogate that information, but leveraging a benchmarking methodology that we've built. Now that language probably doesn't suit everybody, but essentially it's a comparison, an investment comparison tool. When it comes to the time of year where all of these super funds come out and talk about their performance, I have to turn off the radio in my car
37:33
and I'm taking my son to school because otherwise my language is inappropriate. When I look at all of our money being splashed onto advertising on bus stops and buses telling us about the last year's performance of each Superfund to try and entice us to go into them, why do I care about that? Because superannuation is a long term investment asset.
37:56
So what they did last year is just the tiniest dot in the ocean of what matters, what matters most 1st, and the Grattan Institute is an independent research house in Australia, and their very unsexy languages that fees are persistent and performance is transient. What they mean is the only thing you can be sure about is the fees you're paying. You can't be sure if the performance you're going to get. So the first thing you do is you make sure you're not paying too much. But we understand that performance absolutely does matter,
38:27
but only if it's measured in an appropriate way, which is why we built this tool to compare every investment asset, every super fund against each other with the investment at, I'm sorry, the investment options within each fund against each other, but also all of them against each other to work out what's best. Now what we did is we didn't just look at last year, we didn't just look at the last three years. We looked at it over a whole range of periods of time, back 20 odd years. As long as we've got the data,
39:00
The reason why we do that is what we want to know is not who did best last year. We wanna know which investment fund, which investment options have a greater likelihood of delivering strong consistent returns over time over the next 20-30, forty years. Now the good news is over the last 20 odd years we've had every type of crazy **** going on in the world. So we've had, we've got evidence about how they perform in every type of investment environment. We know
39:31
not listed and unlisted property is likely to do in these environments. We've had the global financial crisis, we've had tech bubbles, we've had feast, we've had famine, we've had plague, we've had the whole freaking lot, right? Yeah, we have. And that's useful. That's useful. So we benchmark all of those funds and all of those investment options. What that means is when you come onto our website and this is just a couple of minutes of your time, it is honestly vouch for that. Yeah, couple of minutes of your time.
40:02
We do all of the work for you. And what's important to understand is we do not earn money from any Superfund, any financial institution,
40:13
which makes it a lot harder as a business to survive and do well. But you know, we die on the importance of that probably poorly choice of words. We commit to that because we think it's absolutely, we don't think we know. It's absolutely critical that consumers can trust that the information that we're providing is unbiased and that our remuneration is unconflicted. And unlike comparison sites, so comparison sites,
40:44
you know, compare everything and then you choose. And typically it's a marketing model. The more they're getting paid by someone, they get floated to the top. You know, it's like when you go onto Myer and you know, you sort by lowest cost and still something expenses at the top, you know, same thing, right? They've paid to be at the top.
41:00
Don't do that. And in fact, we don't just, we don't even show you all of the different comparison options. Instead, we do the work and then we provide personal advice to you, legal financial advice about what's best for you individually and make that recommendation. Is that how you're remunerated, Trenna? The way we're remunerated is if somebody decides that they want. So the first part of our process is free. So you can go on, you get to answer a few questions,
41:32
get to play with their dream retirement planners, see how much it's going to cost for the life that you're dreaming about, make some adjustments and see if you can afford it. And at that point, all of that's free. If you would like to get the personal advice and find out which fund, which investment portfolio is best for you, it's $49.95 to buy that report. And when you think that a financial advisor will charge you between $2.5-$3.5k for that and ongoing fees, we think
42:02
that's a steal. By the time we park, drive, and buy your coffee to see the financial planner, it’s cost you that much. That's right. Now, something that is a little bit frustrating to me is that, you know, people will tell me they can't afford that, but I see everybody down at Mecca and at the cafe and so on. So you so just afford that priorities. Wow. So a little reminder, on average, our customers on average are now retiring with an extra $283,000
42:33
and that's just in fee savings. That's before you even look at the likely ultimate improvement in performance. So we know that we're adding a huge amount of value with what we're doing, but we do need to reach more people because it matters at that point. You can go in and have a look at that. We provide a free DIY switch kits. So it's easier to go and make the changes to your super because strong tip what the government and super funds tell you, just click here and it's all done.
43:04
It's not actually that simple. You want to make sure that the money goes from where it all was and actually gets to where it's meant to be. Not in three, six months time, which it often happens and things go missing in the ether. But also importantly, if you decide to make the changes yourself, we give you a list of the things to watch out for. So it's really important to understand that there are benefits that you may be unconsciously losing out on when you make a change to your super if you're not paying attention
43:34
for that. So we do provide a paid service, which is for one of our concierge to actually manage that whole process for you. But they don't just do that, They look at your insurance through that and they make sure that you're not going to be worse off if you make that change. And in some circumstances, even though I said earlier, we don't believe in having more than one Superfund, there are exceptions to the rule. So some of our customers as an example where they have existing medical conditions,
44:05
they actually have insurance they're paying for and they're super fund, we will advise leaving a certain amount and how to manage that so that that continues. So you maintain those benefits whilst accessing the benefits of a more optimal portfolio in another super fund as well so that you're getting those different benefits and a whole range of other examples. That service, we charge $499.95 for that,
44:36
you know, even I think it sounds expensive, honestly, and I'm wired to try and make things more affordable. But yeah, I think that's amazing. I think that's the biggest prohibitive thing and why people don't think changes because it costs, you know, sometimes the $6000 to go and get a consultation, a statement, advice and make some changes like that saying financial would you like and would you like a cherry on top of that little Super Sunday that we've just made for you? So it's so you can choose to pay for that super switch service by card.
45:10
Um, and you know, it's important that I say as well that none of this is financial advice that I'm giving today. You need to check your own circumstances, seek blah, blah, blah advice, all those sorts of things. But you know, if you do pay by credit card, it's important to understand that, Oh no, sorry, forget that you can pay by credit card. Alternatively, we have made it possible to pay for the implementation service. So the Super switch service from your super, if you choose
45:41
that option, it does decrease your balance. So that will impact your ultimate savings. However, we actually have built that into our calculations. So if we're projecting a future position that will be a conservative view of that, it will either be that or more ultimately. And ultimately you're getting your superannuation sorted and you're being proactive. And I think because we talk a lot about being empowered and doing things for yourself is so important.
46:12
And this is one of those things where you're not outsourcing it, you're taking the controls here, making decisions. And yeah, that's it. I just think it's a great way to go about it and get started because there's not many other options. No. Well, I loved also that, you know, you're offering a DIY service. So, you know, if you want to, you know, become more educated, understand you can have a go, but then you've got that support there if you need it to help you through and you can decide which way to go. So I love that too. I've got a question. What about ongoing
46:43
maintenance? So how often should I review it and do I come back and do the same process or, you know, how does that work?
46:50
We would recommend that you do look at your super, you know, around the middle of the year, you know, you wanna just, or around tax time. It's worth just checking it out. So we don't recommend constantly changing a super. A lot of people try to chase base, you know, they'll watch what's going on and they'll switch and so on. It's not a great idea, people. Long term investment assets require you to stay the course to a certain extent now so
47:21
that it is worthwhile keeping an eye on it. You know it's worth seeing is the money you're being paid going into your account. A strong tip though, if you're relying on the information on the government sites, you know there's typically a lag right there and the challenge is that it's not there's no legislation that requires the Super funds to do reporting in the same cycles. So there's not consistency there. However, if you log on to your online
47:52
account for your Superfund, you will get the up-to-date information there. That's just empowering enough to let me know how to log in and check your balance and go, oh, I know how to do that and I can see it to make it tangible and real actually, you know, that owning it and actually knowing where to find that, logging on and finding my balance and, you know, looking at it from time to time, I think that's really empowering. Yeah. Yeah. It's interesting. You know, we have been thinking about whether we should be putting in little triggers to our customers about, you know,
48:23
they should be looking at when they should be reviewing it. We're looking at the moment, you know, when there are changes to insurance or when there's changes because we've, you know, I shouldn't take any of the, the, the credit for this. But you know, we've unravelled the complexity of the costs of insurance, relative insurance within all of the Super funds as well. Because that's an indicator, that's a key indicator as well around, you know, actually key point everybody you can choose to pay for life
48:53
TPD insurance, not in all super funds, but in a lot of them. And, and it can be a good choice for you. Not always, like insurance is where you really do need to get personal advice because when you talk about personal, it doesn't really get more personal than that. You know, that our, our individual circumstances around this are much more nuanced. So we really do recommend that. But yeah, we would definitely say, you know,
49:24
you either wanna check it out once a year, you know, set a date, set a, you know, make a date with yourself in your diary to do that. And, you know, put a, put a nice bottle of wine on ice for that day or whatever you need to do to prioritise it or do it with some friends. But the other times to really think about that as well is when we should be looking at our superiors at important life moments. Getting your first job,
49:53
going to your first real job. Yeah. So thinking about thinking ahead to, I might start to think about having a baby or I might think about getting married or taking time out of the workforce. Or, lo and behold, I suddenly got married. Or Holly, Molly, I'm pregnant. Or, you know, I'm going to start the IVF process. Or, you know, I'm looking ahead to when I might start thinking about retiring or changing jobs or maybe there's a divorce in the wings.
50:23
You've been blindsided by it. These are all moments to really look at it. Because circling back to one of the first things I said today, it's your money and it is either your first or second largest lifetime financial asset. And ignore it at your peril. Honestly. And particularly too, for like younger people who might find it daunting or even the thoughts are occurring to them, it could be impossible for them to buy,
50:54
as you know. So like, what is that longer term asset? And there's nothing wrong with renting or having other alternate options or other investment strategies with your everyday money, but really focusing on that superannuation. And I think as with the work that we do with our money coaching, what you've just talked about with all those life events at everything that we talk about too when it comes to looking at your money. But we're talking about the money that you can see in an everyday sense, the money, the net income that's actually hitting your bank account. Cause all those
51:25
trigger points at times when you need to readjust. Am I still on course? Am I doing the right thing? But we need to not forget about that invisible money, which is our superannuation has had a few. I've never paid much attention to my superannuation. And when I did your on the website, your little calculator and worked out, I actually felt way better about myself because I have that feeling I'm never going to get there. I'm never going to be good. Oh my gosh. And it was very empowering just by doing that.
51:55
And it's actually interesting you say that that's actually the majority of the response from people. And what's also interesting is they feel better and they lean in and start to make positive decisions. Yeah. I it's like when you start exercising, but thinking about it like it's ****. But as soon as you do it and you go, oh, I actually feel good or, you know, And so then it motivates you to do it more. Keep doing it. That's right. We need to stop ignoring it. And that's the only other piece of advice that I wanted to add to your list that you were saying is to be deliberate. We say this all the time, to be deliberate
52:26
with all the money that you have all the time, and to be deliberate in every sense of that word. Yeah. And it's time to pick, get that head up out of the sand and go for what you want. And it means you're gonna have to do things, Yeah, as well. And, and as a part of that, just being aware you will stay. You will still make mistakes. So I want, I really wish that people could understand that that's actually life, You know, we are not. We're not designed to know and get it right
52:57
all the time and that even though we don't want the mistakes and wish that we hadn't, didn't happen. But it did and it happened for a reason. Because it gets you to pay attention or to make a better decision or, or, or suddenly realise that something else matters more. Yeah,
53:12
probably an important one that we haven't touched on, but just let's do it super quickly, regardless of what age you are, but particularly, you know, women who are setting out on a new relationship or women who are later on in life and they haven't taken an active role in the financial affairs in the family. You know, they feel like really difficult conversations because we're brought up to believe that we're not good at it. We're brought up in this country to believe that talking about money is impolite
53:43
and we're brought up to believe that girls are good and they don't speak up, right? To varying degrees. Now, it's absolutely critical that you have and they will be difficult conversations a lot of the time right then. But the most important
54:01
and the most important conversations often are uncomfortable. But money, finances is the number one cause of relationship issues and divorce. If you don't want to get divorced, which is financially challenging, if you don't want to get divorced, have those uncomfortable conversations earlier. Make sure that you're on the same, on the same path together there and also that there's kindness to each other when things go wrong.
54:32
That, and here's the thing, if you build account, if you build a plan together, if you're accountable together when things go wrong, there's going to be less finger pointing and you've got a greater chance to stay strong together. That's right. Now, if you're in your 50s or your 60s or even your 40s and you've been married for a long time or in relationships and you haven't done that, you may think it's too late, but it's not too late. And if you if you turn up confidently but with kindness to a conversation that just says
55:04
if I really want to be involved, it matters to me to learn. You know, we've always divided these responsibilities in the past because I was good at this, You were good at that. But I'm ready now. And I feel like I could be a good partner to you in this. And it matters to me. Yeah. Yeah. I think that's hugely important. And you may find that it bridges the gap. It's really important. And I think it's a responsibility for everyone in the relationship to understand how the money and everything works. One person,
55:34
you know, you can't outsource all of that to one person, because what I do see over time is that a little piece of self confidence is depleted as time goes on. And it absolutely it is predominantly a female in a relationship and then they don't know how to get it back. But you know, it's everyone's responsibility to know how this stuff works. And, you know, maybe you share the job role or, you know, you're taking turns doing it or, you know, you have discussions once a month or, you know, whatever works for you.
56:05
The biggest take out for us today is that our superannuation we need to take, even though it's invisible, we need to it's real. It's real. Yeah. And if I, you know, maybe add to, you know, a few key tips. There's one, make sure that your superannuation, you have a look at it and review it from a perspective of making sure there is low fees
56:28
because that's gonna save you a lot of money over time and making sure you do combine them if you can. And sometimes it might not be for you, but get advice on that. But in the majority, because it's like having a phone plan, you know, you don't wanna pay for 10, just one would be good.
56:46
And use the super calculator. Yeah, that's right. That's great. And yeah, just take charge. And I learn how to get into your super and look at the balance and see if it's growing. You know, give it as much respect as you give your everyday money. Yeah, yeah. Sometimes I think you'll find that by noticing that you've actually got money and separate, it makes you feel a little bit better as well. And you start to make other positive decisions outside of your super as well.
57:15
It's great to see something grow. Well, thank you so much Trenna for sharing your story with us today and all of your helpful hints. We've enjoyed every single moment of it. And there's no wonder why you're the Woman in Finance of Australia. That's right. Absolutely. It's been wonderful to listen. Yeah. Thank you for all of your openness and thank you so much. And thank you for everything that you're doing for people and women everywhere. I think it's so incredibly important.
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At The Money Collective we provide financial wellbeing, premium coaching, mortgage broking and workplace financial wellbeing programs which we couldn't do without the seamless support of our fabulous team. If you'd like to find out more, head to themoneycollective.com.au or our socials to take action and engage our services. In our Facebook group join the conversation and help us break down the taboo around money. All content in this podcast is for educational purposes only and is generally nature. For tailored personal advice, please seek out a professional.
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Podcast by:
MEL PEARCE & DARLENE NEU
Co-Founders, Financial Wellbeing Coaches and Mortgage Brokers
The Money Collective
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