Superannuation. If you’re like most working Australians, 10.5% of your salary is headed straight to your super fund for you to spend when you’re retired. Not everybody pays attention to their super – but when we asked our Spaceship community what made them care about theirs, they had some things to say.
(Spaceship doesn’t necessarily agree or disagree with what they’ve said. Everyone’s financial situation is different, and as always, it’s important to take your own situation into account before deciding to make any changes.)
I lost my money when I got divorced
Divorce does a number on your finances.
And it’s divorced women with children who suffer the most financially when it comes to super: an AMP NATSEM study showed they had 37% less super than divorced dads from similar ages and backgrounds; and 68% less than their married equivalents.
The average Australian marriage lasts just over 12 years according to Finder. Your superannuation may be the longest relationship you ever have.
The pain is real for these people in our community.
“After my divorce I lost 55% of my super to my ex wife… that’s when I started to give a F about my super,” said Wayne.
Sal bravely shared her story.
As a single mum, who was put through the wringer by my ex when we split, I walked into the relationship with everything, and after raising and supporting the family financially, I walked away with nothing.
To top it off, he then dragged me through the court system for almost 10 years, and bullied and manipulated my life making it near impossible to work [full-time], let alone part-time.
Constantly on my mind has been my future, and not relying on my kids to help later in life.
What little amount I did have in super, was being eaten away by fees, and the thought of that used to make me so angry.
Then I heard of Spaceship, and for me, it was a no-brainer. Across I went!
While I know we shouldn't look at our balances everyday... For those first few weeks, I absolutely did!
The peace of mind I had, just seeing something was working for me, has been incredible.
Yes, it's bounced around a bit, but we all know that's expected. All in all though, I see a future, much brighter than it had been in a long time, and that's something you can't put a price on.”
I don’t want to live like my parents
Our parents can be inspirations – or they can be cautionary tales.
Most people intend to retire when they’re 65 and a half, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. If you have parents around that age, it’s likely that retirement is on their minds – and their superannuation balance probably impacts how they feel about it.
Some of our community have seen this first hand.
“I give an F about my super because I've seen my folks' quality of life, and even their happiness, sometimes suffer with not enough retirement savings and the limited choices that it can lead to later in life. I see my super as my number one priority to make sure me and my family can live a full and rewarding life for as long as I'm on this planet,” said Andrés.
“The realisation that my parents will need to work well into their 70’s after a lifetime of not giving an F about their super!” said Anthony.
And sometimes your parents give you helpful advice, which was the case for Cara:
“As soon as I could work at 14 years and 9 months, and had my first job, my parents expressed the importance of putting additional money into my super.
Even though they were lower-middle income earners, they were determined not to rely on the pension when they retired. That passed on to me and I've always added extra to my super since my very first job - even if it was only $10 a month.
Now that my parents have retired, they are not on the pension, and not only that, they have saved enough money (super and cash) to (pre-Covid) regularly travel overseas flying business class, renovate their house, lend money to offspring as needed, and live really full lives - definitely no penny pinching! They are such an inspiration and I now bank an additional $400 a month into my super following their advice.
Whenever I get a pay rise, a portion of the extra cash is always first allocated to super.”
I don’t want a quiet retirement
As we learned earlier, most people intend to retire at 65 and a half – but the people in our Spaceship community aren’t ‘most people’.
“I give an F about my Super because of the retirement dream I have in my head. The plan is to be able to set up a bookshop in Fiji or the Mentawais. I daydream about this pretty much every day which gives me the motivation to care about my super and other finances,” said Louis.
“When I retire and can finally embrace life as an eccentric adventurer, super will be there as a back up fund. I invest in my super as my safety net, with the goal that I’ll never have to rely on it and can retire with wealth independent of it, however it will be there if needed,” said Jonny.
It’s forced savings
Super is compulsory for most Australians who work – and we might struggle to save a comparable amount for retirement, without it.
“I think it is that it is my money, earned by me, to be used by me in the future. We are all tempted by shiny things around us, or that trip/holiday, or that 'unnecessary' purchase. Super forces us to be ready. And since it is done pre-tax, then it is not money we have to "pay out" ourselves, so we don't really notice,” said Mark.
“I’ve never been great at leaving my savings alone,” said Caz. “I always dip into them. But putting the money into super / pension means I can’t touch it and it’s growing for my retirement.”
It’s for future me
There's no better person to take care of Future You than Present You. The you who is reading this right now. There are lots of people in our community looking out for their future selves.
“It's current me looking out for future me and gives me reassurance that I'm not going to get to that stage and be stuck!” said Dilshi.
“For many friends my age (I'm 20) Super seems like something that can wait and be kicked down the road,” said Phillip.
“I've done the calculations though and if I have $100,000 in my Superannuation account on the most aggressive option with low fees, even without much contributions after that I could easily have $2,000,000 by the time I retire, all with the magic of compounding and time in the market. It's pretty amazing to think about.”
So, will you give an F?
And what will your F stand for? Freedom? Fun? Fairness? There are heaps of reasons to give an F about your super.
Not sure where to start? Find out more about Spaceship Super.
Updated 29 July 2022.
