Time for women to become more super aware

On International Women’s Day the peak body for superannuation in Australia urged women to take steps to ensure their retirement savings are protected, especially those in self-managed superannuation funds (SMSFs).

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia (ASFA) said with SMSFs now holding just over 30 per cent of all super assets and this number looking set to grow, women couldn’t afford to be unaware of how their money was being managed.

“It is not uncommon for men to be the more active players in a self-managed super fund, and take responsibility for processing contributions, choosing investments and complying with all the rules and legislation,” said ASFA chief executive officer, Pauline Vamos.

“But it is important women know what is going on in their own fund. It’s their money too and unfortunately we hear too often of relationships breaking down or a partner passing away, leaving the other members of the fund completely in the dark on what has been happening with their super savings.”

Here are ASFA’s top tips for women in SMSFs:

• Ask questions about how your money is invested, and what the fees are.
• Know how ‘liquid’ your fund is; that is, how quickly assets can be sold if the fund were to break up.
• Insist you are involved in setting the investment strategy.
• Find out what will happen if your husband, partner or other trustee dies.

“The important thing to remember is that women tend to live longer than men and things do go wrong.

“Superannuation is too important a financial asset for women to not be super aware,” said Ms Vamos.

ASFA’s Super Guru website provides a range of practical information about superannuation to assist individuals, including specific information for women.

For media enquiries, please call:

Rebecca Glenn, GM Marketing and Communications, 0416 170 439

Megan McDougall, Communications and Media Co-ordinator, (02) 8079 0849

About ASFA – the voice of super

The Association of Superannuation Funds of Australia is the peak industry body representing the superannuation and retirement industry. Its members represent over 90 per cent of the approximately 12 million Australians with superannuation. ASFA members manage or advise on the bulk of the $1.3 trillion in superannuation assets as at September 2011. ASFA is the only organisation that represents all types of superannuation funds (retail, industry, corporate and public sector) and associated service providers.