Female SMSF investors gaining ground

According to ATO data, in June 2018, female SMSF members held 43 per cent of total assets compared to 57 per cent of men.

While this is only a 1 per cent change from June 2017, where female members held 42 per cent of total assets and still leaves a high discrepancy in the super gap, it shows women are slowly gaining ground towards equality.

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Over the five years to June 2018, average member contributions decreased by 38 per cent, but the average member balance for women increased by 28 per cent to $624,000.

There is still a large gender gap, with the average member balance for males increasing by 21 per cent to $754,000, but there are still positive signs looking forward.

In a contributed article, AMP Capital senior editor Katarina Taurian wrote that, though women are still well behind in their retirement savings compared to men, women investing in SMSFs are picking up the pace. 

“Though there’s a long road to equality, these milestones are worthy of attention,” Ms Taurian said.

“Financial independence and literacy is widely seen as crucial to achieving equality.

“Statistically speaking, women outlive men, and yet have substantially lower superannuation balances at retirement compared to their male counterparts.”

Last week, the Australian Institute of Superannuation Trustees (AIST) called for the government to prioritise policy actions that address the economic disadvantages women face when they retire.

Among the actions called for were for paying super on all parental leave, removing the $450 monthly earnings threshold, and maintaining the legislated timetable to increase the compulsory super rate to 12 per cent.

AIST chief executive Eva Scheerlinck said the government has a responsibility to “directly tackle” the challenges that women face in paid work and the increasing number of women retiring in poverty.

“When women take time out of work to have a child, they miss out on super on their parental leave. Women also make up the majority of workers who are not entitled to superannuation payments because they earn less than $450 per month,” Ms Scheerlinck said.

“It is grossly unfair to penalise women who are often the primary carers in their family. Not only do they miss out on workplace participation and wages, but then at the end of their working lives they are expected to live on less retirement savings and are at greater risk of living in poverty.

“Changing legislation to remove the $450 super threshold and making it mandatory for employers to pay super on paid parental leave are both easy steps for the government to make, yet they continue to stall on these measures.”

Katarina Taurian is a former editor of SMSF Adviser.