A LATE STARTER WORKS HARD TO CATCH UP

Like so many other women in their 30s, Sandra Hudson had little time to think about super. The pressing demands of work and family were all-consuming. She had been working 16 hours a day, six days a week, as an events manager when she decided to reassess things.

“I was working too much and I wasn’t seeing the kids,” she says. “I was unhappy with my work-life balance and took three months off to reassess what I wanted to do with my career.”

Hudson, now 42, switched careers. She also started to think more seriously about super. “When I was in my 30s, when I was having the kids, it wasn’t a consideration,” she says. “It’s only been in the last few years I’ve recognised its importance.”

She attributes her awakening to a book on super and getting financial advice. The book explained the power of compounding and how drip-feeding even small amounts into super can have a big impact.

“It explained it in an easy way to grasp so any person could understand it. It spoke about the importance of early investing, that the earlier you start the better it is long term. The shame of it is most people only start thinking about super when they are in their 40s. It’s a shame because they’ve lost all that valuable time.”

Hudson is now in catch-up mode and passionate about it. “It’s non-negotiable. I want to get to a point where I’m putting 15% inside.”

She also wants her husband, a landscape gardener and sole trader, to maximise his super balance and take advantage of the $25,000 cap for concessional contributions.

She says it’s not only women who struggle with super. She works with sole traders and says it’s a huge issue for small business. “You’ve got all these expenses coming in left, right and centre and you’re covering wages, so your own super is the last thing you think about.”

The couple, who live in Sydney’s Bondi with their son, 12, and daughter, 8, are switching super funds. “I’ve just re-mortgaged the home – that was the first hurdle to get through to be in a better financial position. Super is next. I’ve recognised it hasn’t been working as well as it should. Right now, it’s about taking control back.”