Latest / F*ck, I’m Nearly 50! / Women and Super: Shall We Talk About Retirement? | Pascale Helyar-Moray | F*ck, I’m Nearly 50!

Transcript

Women and Super: Shall We Talk About Retirement? | Pascale Helyar-Moray | F*ck, I’m Nearly 50! · F*ck, I’m Nearly 50!

• 0:00
  Dom Hind: Hi, I'm Dom Hind, and f*ck I'm nearly 50.
• 0:02
  Dom Hind: Actually, I'm 48 now, and lately I've been thinking a lot about something that quietly sits in the background of most of our lives, but suddenly becomes very real in midlife.
• 0:14
  Dom Hind: Money, not the glamorous version, not the buy a handbag version, not that I buy a handbag, but the real version, the version that determines whether we have freedom, security, choices, and independence as we move into the next chapter of life.
• 0:28
  Dom Hind: And I've had this moment recently where I thought, if I'm honest, do I actually understand my super?
• 0:36
  Dom Hind: Not vaguely, not conceptually, but properly, enough to know I'm going to be okay.
• 0:42
  Dom Hind: Because here's the truth many women are incredibly capable in every part of our life.
• 0:48
  Dom Hind: We build careers, we raise families, we manage households, we make complex decisions every single day.
• 0:54
  Dom Hind: But when it comes to financial systems like investing, retiring, planning, and superannuation, many of us were never taught properly how they work.
• 1:05
  Dom Hind: And by the time we reach our late 40s or early 50s, a lot of us suddenly realize something.
• 1:11
  Dom Hind: We may have spent decades building lives, but we haven't always been building financial power alongside it.
• 1:18
  Dom Hind: And I know I'm not the only one.
• 1:20
  Dom Hind: If you're listening to this and thinking, I've been meaning to look at my super, I really don't know what it's invested in, and I'm hoping it's all just fine.
• 1:30
  Dom Hind: This episode's for you because it's never too late to understand money.
• 1:34
  Dom Hind: It's never too late to take control, and it's never too late to build the financial independence that supports the life you actually want.
• 1:43
  Dom Hind: Because fuck, I'm nearly 50, and isn't it amazing?
• 1:47
  Dom Hind: Today's guest is someone who spent her career working right at the intersection of finance, superannuation, venture capital, and women's financial improvement.
• 2:07
  Dom Hind: Pascal Hellier is the founder of Pascal HM, a consultancy that helps financial institutions better understand and serve women as clients and investors.
• 2:20
  Dom Hind: She has worked across venture capital, fintech, superannuation, and financial services, and has written a book that I have actually read and understand about super, which is great.
• 2:32
  Dom Hind: But what I love about Pascal's work is this.
• 2:37
  Dom Hind: She's not just talking about how money is numbers, she's actually trying to give you a choice and your independence and the ability to design your life on your own terms.
• 2:52
  Dom Hind: Because women are not just participants in the financial system.
• 2:57
  Dom Hind: We are the ones with the most power, and we are absolute economic powerhouses.
• 3:04
  Dom Hind: And yet, many financial systems, including superannuation, were originally designed around male careers and their patterns.
• 3:14
  Dom Hind: So today we're unpacking it all and we're looking at what women actually need to understand more about money, why super matters more than we think, and that's a big one.
• 3:26
  Dom Hind: And how to stop feeling intimidated and start feeling in control.
• 3:32
  Dom Hind: Pascal, welcome to Fuck I'm Nilly 50.
• 3:36
  Dom Hind: Uh let's start here.
• 3:38
  Dom Hind: How would you introduce yourself at a dinner party?
• 3:44
  Pascale Helyar: Well, firstly, thank you for that introduction.
• 3:46
  Pascale Helyar: I think that was one of the better introductions I've had.
• 3:49
  Pascale Helyar: Thank no, honestly, because so many people just do cut and paste, cut and paste from, you know, bios or or whatnot.
• 3:55
  Pascale Helyar: But um I I feel like you told my story in a in a new way.
• 3:59
  Pascale Helyar: Good.
• 4:00
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 4:00
  Pascale Helyar: So thank you.
• 4:01
  Pascale Helyar: Honestly.
• 4:01
  Pascale Helyar: Thank you for that.
• 4:02
  Pascale Helyar: Um how would I introduce myself at a dinner party?
• 4:06
  Pascale Helyar: Well, it's it's actually a really good question because I'm always slightly perplexed when I do introduce myself because I have so many facets to what I've done over my career and um that I I don't fit a box.
• 4:23
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 4:24
  Pascale Helyar: I I I don't just I can't say, oh, I'm an accountant or I'm a lawyer or I'm a doctor or anything like that.
• 4:31
  Pascale Helyar: I've had this um very multifaceted career, which has one thing has led to the next, has led to the next, and I've been able to pull it all together, but summarizing that in one word is just not easy.
• 4:48
  Pascale Helyar: So what I tend to say is I'm a superannuation and wealth expert.
• 4:55
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 4:55
  Pascale Helyar: Um uh I mean it also does depend where I am.
• 4:59
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, of course.
• 5:00
  Pascale Helyar: So if I'm at a fintech event, I'm I'll say I'm a twice-exited founder.
• 5:04
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 5:05
  Pascale Helyar: Um if I'm at a literary event, I'll say I'll published author.
• 5:09
  Pascale Helyar: Uh so it does depend on on where I am, but mostly I go with superannuation and wealth expert, and then that tends to start the conversation from there, and then depending on who I'm talking to and where I am, then I'll sort of reveal different facets of my background.
• 5:27
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 5:28
  Dom Hind: Okay.
• 5:28
  Dom Hind: Okay, I like that.
• 5:29
  Dom Hind: And it's I think it is, it is I I feel the same.
• 5:32
  Dom Hind: Whenever anyone says, can you introduce yourself?
• 5:34
  Dom Hind: I'm always like.
• 5:35
  Dom Hind: Well, um, I like to hobby at the moment.
• 5:41
  Dom Hind: No.
• 5:42
  Dom Hind: Um, you spent years inside financial services industry.
• 5:47
  Dom Hind: What's the biggest ways the system has historically misunderstood women?
• 5:55
  Pascale Helyar: Um in so many ways.
• 5:58
  Pascale Helyar: But you mentioned it in your introduction, and so I will take that cue.
• 6:05
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 6:05
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and I'll talk about women and superannuation.
• 6:10
  Pascale Helyar: Oh, yes.
• 6:11
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 6:12
  Pascale Helyar: In order to do that, I'm going to need to set the stage a little bit.
• 6:16
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and I'm also going to just give a quick recap for our listeners on what superannuation is.
• 6:24
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, please do.
• 6:25
  Pascale Helyar: So, and the reason I do this is um there is such a gross misconception and misunderstanding of the superannuation industry that literally, whenever I walk into a room and somebody introduces me and says she's going to talk to you about superannuation, I feel the life sucked out of the auditorium.
• 6:49
  Pascale Helyar: And I see shoulders slump.
• 6:51
  Pascale Helyar: And people, God, must she?
• 6:54
  Pascale Helyar: And and so I I take it as a somewhat of a personal challenge every day to help people understand that actually superannuation is this incredible vehicle for wealth.
• 7:05
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 7:06
  Pascale Helyar: And it doesn't have to be complex, it can be really simple.
• 7:10
  Dom Hind: But it also doesn't have to be boring.
• 7:11
  Pascale Helyar: And that's what I think people that's right, it is.
• 7:14
  Pascale Helyar: But and that comes from a like just a gross misunderstanding around it.
• 7:18
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 7:18
  Pascale Helyar: And the reason that there is a gross misunderstanding is because there's no understanding and there's no education.
• 7:23
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 7:24
  Pascale Helyar: And there is no such thing as super school.
• 7:26
  Pascale Helyar: No.
• 7:26
  Pascale Helyar: Which I would love to introduce.
• 7:27
  Pascale Helyar: That would be amazing.
• 7:29
  Pascale Helyar: But um, who would turn up?
• 7:32
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 7:32
  Pascale Helyar: Um everyone should because everyone should ever.
• 7:36
  Pascale Helyar: Well, and this is why m one of my new pet projects is how do we get financial education back onto the uh curriculums, onto the school curriculum.
• 7:47
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 7:48
  Pascale Helyar: With all that said, let's do a quick recap of what super is.
• 7:51
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 7:52
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 7:52
  Pascale Helyar: So superannuation is your money.
• 7:55
  Pascale Helyar: Now, I've had many arguments with many people over decades on this, but um, there's again coming back to misconceptions, it doesn't belong to the government.
• 8:05
  Pascale Helyar: It doesn't belong to your employer.
• 8:07
  Pascale Helyar: It is your money.
• 8:09
  Pascale Helyar: And in the same way that you have a savings account, you know, present day, you're saving for a car, a holiday, whatever it might be, you need to think of your superannuation as your bank account for future you.
• 8:20
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 8:21
  Pascale Helyar: So that 12% that you're putting or that your employer puts on your behalf into your superannuation, that's your that's your savings for future you for you to live on when you retire.
• 8:33
  Pascale Helyar: The third thing I'd like to outline is that outside of any property uh you may own, yes, that's getting harder for all of us.
• 8:43
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, your superannuation is likely to be your greatest asset.
• 8:48
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 8:49
  Pascale Helyar: Because hopefully when you retire, you will have hundreds of thousands of dollars of of wealth with which to retire on.
• 8:59
  Pascale Helyar: Um and can you say that about a share portfolio?
• 9:03
  Pascale Helyar: No, not many people can.
• 9:05
  Pascale Helyar: So that's that's it is your biggest asset outside property, and that's why you need to treat it with the respect that it that it merits.
• 9:16
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 9:16
  Pascale Helyar: Um the last thing I would say is that superannuation is incredibly tax advantageous.
• 9:23
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 9:24
  Pascale Helyar: So now just to unpack that a little.
• 9:28
  Pascale Helyar: Um, so we've all got our you know marginal tax rates, and we know that you know they can be 17% or 30% or 45%, depends where you are in your, you know, in your earnings.
• 9:41
  Pascale Helyar: Um, but superannuation is only taxed at 15%.
• 9:45
  Pascale Helyar: So let's say your marginal tax rate is 45%, let's say you're a larger earner, then that means any money going into your super already has a 30% uplift.
• 9:58
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 9:59
  Pascale Helyar: Which is so exciting.
• 10:00
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, it is amazing.
• 10:01
  Pascale Helyar: And then when I when I explain this to people, they're they're you know, they're looking at me going, well, is this magic?
• 10:08
  Pascale Helyar: Like what why, why?
• 10:10
  Pascale Helyar: And then I have to remind people that we used to be a defined benefit system where the government or your employee used to pay for your retirement.
• 10:20
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 10:20
  Pascale Helyar: But with the advent of superannuation in 1992, that made us a defined contribution system where we are all, each Aussie, we're funding our own retirement.
• 10:32
  Pascale Helyar: And the reason that the government has built in such incredible tax advantages to the superannuation system is to encourage us to build as much super as we can so that we are all less reliant on the government in our retirement and old age.
• 10:51
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 10:52
  Pascale Helyar: So that's the super system.
• 10:54
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 10:55
  Pascale Helyar: Boiled down.
• 10:56
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, but nuts and bolts.
• 10:58
  Pascale Helyar: Now the supersystem is fantastic.
• 11:04
  Pascale Helyar: It has put Australia on the world stage in a way that we actually can't even begin to comprehend the strength of the share market.
• 11:13
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, but what other country has every employee's uh, you know, 12% of their earnings going into the system month after month, year after year?
• 11:26
  Pascale Helyar: The annuity is incredible.
• 11:29
  Pascale Helyar: And the size of the industry is $4.5 trillion.
• 11:32
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 11:34
  Pascale Helyar: So when you know Spain wants to build a new bridge, or um America wants to, North America wants to build uh, you know, shopping centres in Hawaii, they come to Australia and the superannuation system to fund that because we literally now have so much wealth that we can no longer invest it in Australia just domestically, right?
• 11:59
  Pascale Helyar: So other countries come to us for funding from from from our from the superannuation system because we need to invest that money.
• 12:07
  Dom Hind: Which that in itself is pretty amazing.
• 12:10
  Pascale Helyar: That's it's we're only 27 million people.
• 12:12
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 12:13
  Pascale Helyar: And we have such incredible wealth, which is why now other countries are looking to emulate um what we're doing.
• 12:20
  Pascale Helyar: Because it is globally recognized as being such a success.
• 12:24
  Pascale Helyar: But that said, the superannuation system was not designed with women in mind.
• 12:30
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 12:31
  Pascale Helyar: What do I mean by that?
• 12:33
  Pascale Helyar: Well, uh, super is uh uh works brilliantly if you um earn like a man and you uh you know at a with a man's wage and you work full-time for the entire length of your career.
• 12:47
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 12:47
  Pascale Helyar: But but nothing in the sentence I've just said but uh is applicable to the majority of women.
• 12:53
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 12:53
  Pascale Helyar: So there are three key factors in what we call the gender super gap.
• 13:00
  Pascale Helyar: The gender super gap is the difference between the average of of what a woman retires with and what a man retires with in Australia.
• 13:09
  Pascale Helyar: And that gap is now 25%.
• 13:13
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 13:14
  Pascale Helyar: So um, and when I started talking about this over a decade ago, the gap was 42%.
• 13:22
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 13:23
  Pascale Helyar: So we are making progress, that is good, but we're still not there.
• 13:28
  Pascale Helyar: Um and okay, so let's say um a a woman retire a man retires with $300,000.
• 13:36
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 13:36
  Pascale Helyar: Uh the average woman will retire with $225.
• 13:39
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 13:40
  Pascale Helyar: Why is she retiring with so much less?
• 13:42
  Pascale Helyar: Three key factors.
• 13:44
  Pascale Helyar: The gender pay gap.
• 13:45
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 13:46
  Pascale Helyar: Um, where it it's not, and I just want to clarify, the gender pay gap is not an expression of a man and a woman doing the same job and her earning less.
• 13:58
  Pascale Helyar: It's an expression of how many women are in the workforce, in particular industries, et cetera.
• 14:05
  Pascale Helyar: But where it flows through is that the average man in Australia, for every dollar he earns, the average woman earns 78 cents.
• 14:13
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, right.
• 14:14
  Pascale Helyar: And over the course of a year, that difference becomes $28,000 in pay.
• 14:20
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 14:21
  Pascale Helyar: So imagine the impact on your super.
• 14:23
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 14:24
  Pascale Helyar: Now, the second uh point I made, which is that men work for the yeah, full-time for the entire length of their career.
• 14:32
  Pascale Helyar: Well, women have career breaks.
• 14:33
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 14:34
  Pascale Helyar: Most typically for parental leave.
• 14:37
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 14:37
  Pascale Helyar: But, and I think we're of the same vintage, um there are other factors why you need to step out of a woman particularly tends to step out of the workforce.
• 14:49
  Pascale Helyar: Number one, looking after our elderly parents.
• 14:52
  Pascale Helyar: What do you do when you've exhausted your carers' leave?
• 14:56
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 14:56
  Pascale Helyar: You have to scale back on work.
• 14:58
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 14:59
  Pascale Helyar: And so when you reduce your your you know, work from five days to four, that impacts your super contributions accordingly.
• 15:06
  Pascale Helyar: But there's another really um more powerful uh salient reason, which is the effects of menopause and perimenopause.
• 15:14
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, right.
• 15:15
  Pascale Helyar: Oh, really?
• 15:16
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 15:17
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 15:18
  Pascale Helyar: So a couple of years ago, MetLife released a study um on the you know, women of you know, this stage being imp impacted by the effects, and maybe it's you know, uh uncontrollable hot flashes or just extreme fatigue or whatever.
• 15:34
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 15:34
  Pascale Helyar: Or being too honest.
• 15:36
  Pascale Helyar: But 38% of women they surveyed reported that they had to scale back their working hours because of the effects of this massive life change.
• 15:48
  Dom Hind: Wow.
• 15:49
  Pascale Helyar: So if you're you know, if you're struggling to get out of bed or you you don't know if you're going to be able to hold it together in a meeting because of the hot flashes or whatever it was.
• 15:57
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, anxiety, depression, etc.
• 15:59
  Pascale Helyar: Um, if you're again, if you're scaling your work back from five days to four or even three super contributions as well.
• 16:07
  Dom Hind: And it's interesting because it's like at the end of the super contributions as well.
• 16:12
  Dom Hind: So if it's like in that 45 to 65, when that's that last last bit, like that's another dip right into your super contributions.
• 16:21
  Dom Hind: Exactly.
• 16:22
  Pascale Helyar: So if we think about it's a typical woman, she might step out of the workforce to have children.
• 16:28
  Pascale Helyar: Let's say that happens at 30.
• 16:29
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, using round numbers.
• 16:31
  Pascale Helyar: And then maybe she comes back into the workforce, age 40, but then at 50, she has to step out or scale back again because of these damn hormonal changes, right?
• 16:41
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 16:42
  Pascale Helyar: Oh, plus, you know, elderly parents.
• 16:45
  Dom Hind: Yeah, yeah, yeah.
• 16:45
  Dom Hind: Who you need to care, like just the life the life caring issues.
• 16:48
  Dom Hind: That's right.
• 16:49
  Dom Hind: What impact?
• 16:50
  Dom Hind: I mean, that that's a huge impact because it means then that there's such a reliance on you know, there's so many people like just staying in something that they don't want to be in because they're not prepared for something later in life.
• 17:03
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 17:04
  Dom Hind: Like that's a huge thing that this super that's supposed to make us all feel great and be able to be independent.
• 17:13
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 17:13
  Dom Hind: But it also makes you scared or a bit worried and anxious.
• 17:17
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 17:17
  Dom Hind: I know we were having a conversation yesterday in the office where one of our team, his wife's just had a baby and he's saying, I need to top up her super so that at least she feels like she's being compensated.
• 17:30
  Dom Hind: Compensated while she actually is on maternity leave.
• 17:35
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 17:35
  Dom Hind: Because that's another big thing as well, is that when you're on maternity leave, the super stops.
• 17:40
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 17:41
  Pascale Helyar: There there is the um government has now the pay half parental leave.
• 17:45
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, yes, that is a very new event.
• 17:48
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 17:49
  Pascale Helyar: After decades of lobbying.
• 17:50
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 17:51
  Pascale Helyar: That is only just coming in now.
• 17:53
  Pascale Helyar: Um and but yes, it's for 16 weeks, I think that's it.
• 17:58
  Pascale Helyar: Which is look better than a poke in the eye with a sharp stick.
• 18:02
  Pascale Helyar: But um what I I fully agree, like the the the male partner in any or the the partner in any relationship needs to be splitting their super with their spouse in recognition of the all of the unpaid labour that she's undertaking.
• 18:19
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 18:20
  Dom Hind: Yeah, there is a lot of unpaid labour.
• 18:22
  Dom Hind: Um do you think that we've been set up or the system has been set up in a way that we can change it so that women feel like that they are having their say or that they can claw back or get back in with their super?
• 18:38
  Dom Hind: I think probably the difference in, you know, you talking about the the gap in super from 42 to 25.
• 18:44
  Dom Hind: I mean, that's a big thing.
• 18:46
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 18:46
  Dom Hind: Is it education that is really helping with that, or what are the factors?
• 18:52
  Pascale Helyar: Well, uh a decade ago when I started talking about this, I mean, no one knew about the gender super gap.
• 18:58
  Dom Hind: Yeah, okay.
• 18:59
  Pascale Helyar: And and a few people had heard of the gender pay gap back then.
• 19:04
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 19:04
  Pascale Helyar: But now most people are aware of the gender pay gap, and some have heard of the gender super gap.
• 19:11
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 19:11
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and that so I have personally witnessed this shift in the audiences I speak to over that time.
• 19:20
  Pascale Helyar: So there is a growing recognition of these sorts of issues, but still by and large, you know, the the awareness of the gender super gap or um the the drivers of it.
• 19:32
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, you know, oh well, if I take time out of the workforce, have kids, then you know, Pete.
• 19:36
  Pascale Helyar: They're not making that connection.
• 19:39
  Pascale Helyar: They're not join uh joining those adults.
• 19:41
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 19:41
  Pascale Helyar: Um, so yes, it does come down to education, but let's let's think about who's educating.
• 19:47
  Pascale Helyar: You've got the the super funds with their word salad of compliance.
• 19:54
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, right.
• 19:54
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 19:55
  Pascale Helyar: Um, where and who should be doing it then?
• 19:59
  Dom Hind: Well, this this is where is that your job?
• 20:01
  Dom Hind: Well, I see you'd put your hand up all right.
• 20:06
  Pascale Helyar: Well, you know, another w another response at the dinner party is I say I'm a financial educator.
• 20:11
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 20:12
  Pascale Helyar: Um and and because you've got more and more financial educators slash influencers, whatever you want to call us, um, on social media, you know, like Instagram and TikTok and Facebook, that's where people are consuming their information.
• 20:28
  Pascale Helyar: Because they're not going to read their super funds website.
• 20:31
  Pascale Helyar: No.
• 20:31
  Pascale Helyar: But you know, you you've they're seeing more and more content.
• 20:35
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 20:36
  Pascale Helyar: And that's how people are learning about this or that or whatever it might be, is is through social media.
• 20:42
  Pascale Helyar: So that's definitely certainly where some of the education is coming from.
• 20:47
  Dom Hind: Yes, social and then the misinformation.
• 20:49
  Dom Hind: But see, this is where it is.
• 20:51
  Dom Hind: You do need to take ownership.
• 20:52
  Dom Hind: I think if you reposition super as being your largest asset outside of property, it helps just reframe it.
• 21:00
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 21:01
  Dom Hind: Because people don't really care.
• 21:04
  Pascale Helyar: Well, they don't understand.
• 21:05
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 21:06
  Pascale Helyar: And and I back to my original point, and they don't they don't understand kind of its purpose.
• 21:14
  Pascale Helyar: They they think that peop that other people are taking their incarnation.
• 21:19
  Pascale Helyar: They might they don't understand that it this is actually theirs.
• 21:24
  Pascale Helyar: They don't un understand that, you know, well, age 30, maybe you shouldn't be in a balanced fund.
• 21:30
  Pascale Helyar: Maybe you should be you've got time when you're like being in a growth fund.
• 21:33
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 21:33
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and it's because there is this absolutely key missing piece of education around financial literacy.
• 21:42
  Dom Hind: Um in high schools.
• 21:45
  Dom Hind: Yeah, even that.
• 21:45
  Dom Hind: I was talking to someone the other day about their super and they hadn't even put their tax file number in.
• 21:51
  Dom Hind: And I'm like, what do you mean?
• 21:52
  Dom Hind: Do you need to put your tax file number in so that you can actually maximize or minimize the amount of tax that you're paying on your super?
• 21:58
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 21:59
  Dom Hind: Anyway, so that Was one thing that puts your tax file number in your super.
• 22:03
  Dom Hind: So just changing gear a little bit, you've had a fascinating career across venture capital, fintech, financial services.
• 22:12
  Dom Hind: What originally drew you into the financial world?
• 22:20
  Pascale Helyar: It's a very funny story.
• 22:23
  Pascale Helyar: And my undergrad was an arts degree.
• 22:29
  Pascale Helyar: Oh wow.
• 22:30
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 22:31
  Pascale Helyar: Not co not commerce, no, not commerce, not economics, no, nothing.
• 22:36
  Pascale Helyar: Um and I I did a I did psych and uh French as my two majors.
• 22:43
  Pascale Helyar: Okay, good.
• 22:44
  Pascale Helyar: And my honours degree, I couldn't write about what I wanted to for the psych, but I could do it in French.
• 22:53
  Pascale Helyar: So I I opted to do honours in French.
• 22:56
  Pascale Helyar: Great.
• 22:57
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 22:58
  Pascale Helyar: I uh and you're thinking, how the actual does this relate to getting to finance?
• 23:04
  Pascale Helyar: There is a three.
• 23:06
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 23:06
  Pascale Helyar: Um and in my honours year, um, I was the president of the French Society at Sydney Uni.
• 23:13
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 23:14
  Pascale Helyar: And we the society had always been sponsored by BNP, the Mocnist.
• 23:21
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, yes.
• 23:23
  Pascale Helyar: And so I went to them and said, Oh, hello, I'm Pascal.
• 23:27
  Pascale Helyar: And would you be so kind as to support us for another year and these sort of the activities and da-da-da-da-da?
• 23:33
  Pascale Helyar: And built a nice relationship with the general manager of BNP, so much so that at the end of when I'd finished my honest degree, and I'm thinking, what the what I don't know what I'm gonna do.
• 23:46
  Pascale Helyar: But um, I went to him and said, Well, I guess you've seen what I've capable of.
• 23:53
  Pascale Helyar: Um, are there any roles?
• 23:55
  Pascale Helyar: And there was a role as a junior marketing and comms person within BNP.
• 24:02
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 24:02
  Pascale Helyar: And that's how I found myself in finance.
• 24:06
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 24:06
  Pascale Helyar: So I was doing marketing and comms, and at the, you know, the the BNP then merged with Paribald, which is another French bank.
• 24:15
  Pascale Helyar: So I did the Australian and New Zealand merger comms and did all that.
• 24:20
  Pascale Helyar: Um and then I thought, oh, I you know, I I I don't know if working for a French bank is a long-term game for me.
• 24:28
  Pascale Helyar: So um by this stage I then moved uh into BT funds management, and that led on to JP Morgan asset management, right, and so on and so forth.
• 24:40
  Pascale Helyar: Okay, right.
• 24:41
  Dom Hind: So the rest is history.
• 24:42
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 24:43
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 24:43
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 24:44
  Dom Hind: The arts degree, uh the honours uh in French led to a job in finance.
• 24:50
  Dom Hind: Yeah, I know.
• 24:51
  Dom Hind: It's the weekly windy road.
• 24:53
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 24:54
  Dom Hind: And when throughout that journey, when did you realize that women were being underserved?
• 25:03
  Pascale Helyar: Um I went to a school here in Sydney where I I and we were told all the time that girls can do anything.
• 25:11
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 25:12
  Pascale Helyar: And so we all left school thinking girls can do anything.
• 25:16
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 25:16
  Pascale Helyar: And we all got a bit of a shock when we got into uni and and and the workforce to realize that yes, we can do any everything, but but other people don't necessarily see that.
• 25:28
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 25:28
  Pascale Helyar: So I think that was the first realization.
• 25:31
  Pascale Helyar: But the second realization, the the big one really, was um after I'd left Sydney and gone to live in the UK uh for just under eight years, and I came back to Sydney and I found that Sydney had not changed.
• 25:47
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 25:48
  Pascale Helyar: And in fact, the in during the time I'd been away, it seemed like Sydney had gone and Australia had gone backwards.
• 25:56
  Pascale Helyar: And particularly um around gender equality and particularly around women's finances.
• 26:02
  Pascale Helyar: And I started chatting to my friends about um this, that, and super, and oh gosh, I'm trying to get my super back over from the UK, it's really difficult.
• 26:11
  Pascale Helyar: And uh and then I just became grow, you know, increasingly aware that uh there was there was this problem.
• 26:20
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and I thought, okay, well, maybe it's just my friend set.
• 26:24
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 26:24
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and then because I was now in the startup world and one startup led to another, and one of those other startups was the Australian Gender Equality Council, where I ended up being director of communications for three years, and then I was thrown in the deep end of understanding just how uh Australia had regressed across so many aspects of life during the time that I was out of the country, and how superannuation particular was in my book one of the greatest disservices that we had done or the country had d made uh towards 51% of the population.
• 27:06
  Dom Hind: Yeah, okay.
• 27:07
  Dom Hind: Wow.
• 27:08
  Dom Hind: Okay, interesting is it's it's funny when you do go away and then come back and go, oh, nothing much has changed.
• 27:14
  Dom Hind: Or in your case, oh, nothing much has changed.
• 27:16
  Dom Hind: And some things are back.
• 27:18
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 27:19
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, it was it was really quite shocking to me.
• 27:22
  Dom Hind: So um many women are incredibly capable, yes, uh, but still feel intimidated by money, investing, yes, and financial language.
• 27:34
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 27:34
  Dom Hind: Why?
• 27:39
  Pascale Helyar: There are so many reasons for this.
• 27:42
  Pascale Helyar: Um I f funny you should ask me this question.
• 27:48
  Pascale Helyar: I was uh preparing for a keynote a few weeks ago, and I actually did some research and looked into all the various reasons why women feel that they can't handle money and there were 42 separate reasons.
• 28:05
  Pascale Helyar: 42 documented, right?
• 28:09
  Pascale Helyar: Ranging from um culture to uh distrust and to fatty or to overwhelm, to lack of confidence, to lack of education, um, to um you know identity issues, feelings of worth, self-esteem, and so on.
• 28:28
  Pascale Helyar: It was an extraordinarily long list.
• 28:30
  Pascale Helyar: Um and in comparison, I just for giggles, yeah, yeah, I did some research on the reasons for a man and far fewer.
• 28:43
  Pascale Helyar: I think there were 18.
• 28:44
  Pascale Helyar: Oh, okay, under half.
• 28:45
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 28:46
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 28:47
  Pascale Helyar: And so that right there is very symptomatic, I think.
• 28:54
  Pascale Helyar: But it's also very telling.
• 28:56
  Pascale Helyar: It's very telling.
• 28:57
  Dom Hind: And the level of confidence that irrespective of what of it what it is, yeah, is just not there.
• 29:02
  Dom Hind: And confidence comes from knowledge, yes, because knowledge actually does give you power.
• 29:07
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, but also confidence comes from doing.
• 29:10
  Pascale Helyar: Uh yes, yes.
• 29:11
  Pascale Helyar: And this is when I present, I I show I show the 42 reasons for a woman and the 18 reasons for a man.
• 29:20
  Pascale Helyar: And then and then I say, listen, I get it.
• 29:23
  Pascale Helyar: I understand all of this, but guess what?
• 29:26
  Pascale Helyar: You just gotta put your big girl pants on and do it.
• 29:29
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 29:30
  Pascale Helyar: Because the greatest disservice you can do to yourself from a financial perspective is to do nothing.
• 29:36
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, or bury your head in the sands.
• 29:37
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 29:38
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, of course.
• 29:38
  Pascale Helyar: Because if if you don't take action, yeah, you are going to end up with a with the gender soup again.
• 29:46
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 29:47
  Pascale Helyar: You are not going to have any savings.
• 29:48
  Pascale Helyar: You are not going to etc.
• 29:50
  Pascale Helyar: etc.
• 29:51
  Pascale Helyar: So the the best, and that's why when it comes to superannuation specifically, I have just one rule for women, which is just add as much as you can, as early as you can.
• 30:03
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 30:04
  Pascale Helyar: Like just cut through the jargon.
• 30:08
  Pascale Helyar: Don't worry too much about the stock markets, just add as much as you can to your super as early as you can.
• 30:14
  Dom Hind: So that's a great message for like early 20s to 30s when before the kids you just go just add everything.
• 30:24
  Dom Hind: Like health leather, because it's in a tax advantage environment.
• 30:28
  Pascale Helyar: And you've got the beauty of well, if you're in in your early 20s, you're gonna have like 40, 45, maybe 50 years.
• 30:35
  Pascale Helyar: Compound, of course.
• 30:36
  Pascale Helyar: Compound interest, which is so exciting, and your money's your money's making you money.
• 30:42
  Pascale Helyar: Like, why wouldn't you have the bondage of that?
• 30:45
  Pascale Helyar: But um, so if I ever write another book, it'll be targeted for the young 20-year-olds.
• 30:50
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 30:50
  Pascale Helyar: And I'm gonna title it how to be a millionaire.
• 30:53
  Dom Hind: Yeah, right.
• 30:53
  Pascale Helyar: Because that's all they can do.
• 30:55
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 30:56
  Pascale Helyar: But that's all you need to do is make put as much into your super as early as you can, and you'll end up being a millionaire.
• 31:03
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, that's it.
• 31:04
  Dom Hind: That is that's a good thing to do.
• 31:05
  Dom Hind: Um, the knowledge gap, yes.
• 31:08
  Dom Hind: How do like I know super funds can't really do it.
• 31:16
  Dom Hind: The government can't really do it.
• 31:18
  Dom Hind: The influencers are trying, yeah, but the trust around that is what what else can we do?
• 31:27
  Pascale Helyar: What else can we do?
• 31:28
  Pascale Helyar: Well, so this is where the government also has to put its big boy pants on.
• 31:35
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 31:35
  Pascale Helyar: Or big person pants on.
• 31:37
  Pascale Helyar: Big person, yeah.
• 31:38
  Pascale Helyar: And re-implement financial literacy into the curriculum.
• 31:42
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 31:42
  Pascale Helyar: So we did used to have it until 2019, when budget cuts meant it was removed.
• 31:49
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 31:50
  Pascale Helyar: And because of that step, we are now seeing um that the rates of financial literacy have gone backwards across men and women.
• 31:59
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 31:59
  Pascale Helyar: So both sexes, but also the difference between the sexes is greater than it was.
• 32:05
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 32:06
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 32:06
  Pascale Helyar: So school and you know, the final years of school um is is really where it's at.
• 32:14
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 32:14
  Pascale Helyar: Just to be given the basics, I actually have quite a radical proposal.
• 32:21
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, yes.
• 32:22
  Pascale Helyar: Are we going to debut it here?
• 32:24
  Pascale Helyar: Which is because I've been thinking long and hard about this.
• 32:31
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 32:31
  Pascale Helyar: So let and, you know, my my kids are almost 16.
• 32:37
  Pascale Helyar: And and I'm, you know, the thought of them getting into a car and learning how to drive falls me with terror, but we've raised ourselves.
• 32:46
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 32:46
  Pascale Helyar: Um, but you know, they're coming to the, you know, the the age and stage of their life where they get, they they start adulting.
• 32:55
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 32:56
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 32:56
  Pascale Helyar: So they're getting ready to learn how to drive a car.
• 32:59
  Pascale Helyar: Now we need a they need a license to drive a car.
• 33:03
  Pascale Helyar: They're in a few years, they're going to be able to vote and change the political direction of this country, right?
• 33:12
  Pascale Helyar: Why?
• 33:15
  Pascale Helyar: In the same way that we have a national vaccination program, which is actually remarkably effective with something like 94, 95%.
• 33:24
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 33:25
  Pascale Helyar: Why don't we have a financial vaccination program where as part of becoming an adult, we they have to undertake some basic financial education online in some course or whatever.
• 33:42
  Pascale Helyar: And then in the same way that we renew our driving license every 10 years, you have to do the same thing.
• 33:47
  Pascale Helyar: You have to do the same.
• 33:48
  Dom Hind: Well, it's in with that, that's a very interesting way of looking at it.
• 33:53
  Dom Hind: Because even with the uh cybersecurity at the moment, so insurance companies, and I know that we've had to do this, but for the business, we have to get all of our staff trained on cybersecurity so that it can actually help reduce our premiums.
• 34:10
  Dom Hind: Right.
• 34:10
  Dom Hind: Um, but it's the same sort of thing that if there was a financial training or learning literacy, yes, that that would actually help their life.
• 34:22
  Dom Hind: Absolutely.
• 34:23
  Pascale Helyar: Get to understand their life anyway.
• 34:24
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, exactly.
• 34:25
  Pascale Helyar: Because we like your your financial well-being is the is it perhaps the biggest driver of your adult life?
• 34:33
  Pascale Helyar: Oh, absolutely.
• 34:34
  Pascale Helyar: Because everything ties back to it.
• 34:36
  Pascale Helyar: It does.
• 34:36
  Pascale Helyar: Your career, your your retirement funds, yes, um, where you know what where you live, what what happens when you partner up and you get married or or whatever.
• 34:46
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 34:46
  Pascale Helyar: But we're not it's like send it's like putting my kids without any theory or practice behind the wheel of a car and going, please drive to Melbourne.
• 34:59
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, you know.
• 34:59
  Pascale Helyar: It's a credit card.
• 35:00
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, off you go.
• 35:01
  Pascale Helyar: Frankly terrifying.
• 35:04
  Pascale Helyar: But this is actually what we're doing.
• 35:05
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 35:06
  Pascale Helyar: So why are we not giving them some basic training and asking them, age 16, 18, whatever, to think about, okay, well, you know, what age do I want to retire at?
• 35:18
  Pascale Helyar: I know it's 60 years away, but you've got to start thinking about these things.
• 35:21
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 35:22
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and you know, do do you want to own property?
• 35:26
  Pascale Helyar: Do you not?
• 35:27
  Pascale Helyar: Do you want to own a car?
• 35:28
  Pascale Helyar: Do you not?
• 35:28
  Pascale Helyar: Because all these decisions that you make, it's a bit like choose your own adventure, right?
• 35:32
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 35:33
  Pascale Helyar: But all the things that you want determine how you your next move.
• 35:37
  Pascale Helyar: So let's ask them to start thinking about it, give them some basic building blocks around, okay, well, kids, you can't just staff, you know, stash your cash under the mats because you know, well, inflation's at, you know, 4%.
• 35:51
  Pascale Helyar: Um and you know, the cost of living is going to outrun that.
• 35:55
  Pascale Helyar: So just give them some basic training.
• 35:57
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 35:58
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and ask them to understand the principles and the basics of investing and and of super.
• 36:05
  Pascale Helyar: And then in the same way, when you, you know, renew your driving license and redo that you update your your roadmap, right?
• 36:13
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 36:13
  Dom Hind: Um, and I think that's a great way of getting the confidence with the kids.
• 36:17
  Dom Hind: Um, you said before about women just doing.
• 36:21
  Dom Hind: What are some of the things that they just need to do?
• 36:24
  Dom Hind: So something that Tracy Hall said to me, which was amazing, was check your statement weekly.
• 36:30
  Dom Hind: Like, you know, just go in and check your bank account.
• 36:32
  Dom Hind: And it's a fascinating how many subscriptions that you have that you don't actually use.
• 36:37
  Dom Hind: It's scary.
• 36:38
  Dom Hind: It is, isn't it?
• 36:39
  Dom Hind: You just go, you forget, and you're like, oh well, yeah, what do I need to do?
• 36:43
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 36:43
  Dom Hind: So what what are some of the practical things and easy that you can just do?
• 36:51
  Dom Hind: As a woman?
• 36:52
  Dom Hind: As a woman.
• 36:55
  Pascale Helyar: Number one, yes.
• 36:57
  Pascale Helyar: Check your super balance.
• 36:59
  Pascale Helyar: Okay, yes.
• 37:00
  Pascale Helyar: So if and I Tracy's a friend.
• 37:02
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 37:02
  Pascale Helyar: So if Tracy is advocating checking your statement, which I fully agree with, your bank statement, if you're doing that for the now, check your bank statement for future you.
• 37:12
  Pascale Helyar: I'm super.
• 37:13
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 37:13
  Pascale Helyar: How often do you do that though?
• 37:15
  Pascale Helyar: How often do I pass it?
• 37:16
  Pascale Helyar: How how how often should you check your statement?
• 37:19
  Pascale Helyar: Well, this actually, this is a great question given volatility of markets at the moment.
• 37:24
  Pascale Helyar: Uh, don't check it daily.
• 37:25
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 37:26
  Pascale Helyar: Because you will just terrify yourself.
• 37:28
  Pascale Helyar: But I think I think quarterly is reasonable.
• 37:31
  Pascale Helyar: Quarterly.
• 37:31
  Pascale Helyar: Um and now that we've got the introduction of introduction of payday super.
• 37:35
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, that is.
• 37:37
  Pascale Helyar: Which is so exciting.
• 37:39
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, it's so much better.
• 37:40
  Pascale Helyar: Um, then maybe you want to check it monthly.
• 37:43
  Pascale Helyar: And I would actually really strongly encourage people to be checking it monthly because in the same way that you know you check your pay goes into your bank account.
• 37:52
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 37:52
  Pascale Helyar: You also want to be checking that your superannuation amount on your pay slip, let's say it's a thousand dollars, is also going into your super account.
• 38:02
  Pascale Helyar: And I know that sounds like the great, like one of the most obvious things in the world, but historically this has not been the case.
• 38:14
  Dom Hind: Well, and this is where one of my pet peeves is when companies don't pay their people super.
• 38:19
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 38:19
  Dom Hind: And they go under, particularly in hospitality, they go under and they've left all of the super unpaid, which is basically they've stolen from all of their employees.
• 38:29
  Dom Hind: Exactly.
• 38:30
  Dom Hind: And it just annoys me.
• 38:31
  Dom Hind: So I think that's a a good one.
• 38:33
  Pascale Helyar: Well, the size of your annoyance of unpaid uh non-SG compliance is $3.6 billion.
• 38:43
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 38:44
  Dom Hind: What annually, or just that's just in a total value.
• 38:48
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 38:48
  Pascale Helyar: So that means that Aussies like you and I and Tracy and Maria and they have been thinking that that $1,000 and their payslip on this was going to their super, but actually it has not been.
• 39:02
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 39:03
  Pascale Helyar: $3.6 billion.
• 39:05
  Pascale Helyar: That's a massive amount.
• 39:07
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 39:08
  Pascale Helyar: So that is why you want to be checking your superannuation.
• 39:12
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 39:13
  Pascale Helyar: Either quarterly or monthly.
• 39:15
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, okay.
• 39:16
  Pascale Helyar: Just check that it's it's making its way across.
• 39:19
  Pascale Helyar: Now there's a variety of reasons why companies have not paid the SG.
• 39:23
  Pascale Helyar: Um some are legit, some are nefarious.
• 39:27
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 39:27
  Pascale Helyar: But as you say at the end of the day, that's money that the employers have stolen from their employees.
• 39:34
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 39:34
  Dom Hind: It's not their money.
• 39:35
  Dom Hind: It's not their money.
• 39:36
  Dom Hind: It's the employees.
• 39:37
  Pascale Helyar: Exactly.
• 39:38
  Pascale Helyar: So that's homework task number one.
• 39:39
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, and that's great.
• 39:40
  Pascale Helyar: Super simple.
• 39:41
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 39:42
  Pascale Helyar: Super simple.
• 39:43
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 39:43
  Pascale Helyar: The second thing you can do as a woman, if you're in the workforce, I'm going to give two recommendations.
• 39:49
  Pascale Helyar: If you're in the workforce, um start salary sacrifice.
• 39:55
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 39:56
  Dom Hind: Mm-hmm.
• 39:57
  Pascale Helyar: Now, salary sacrifice is when you contribute part of your pre-tax pay into your server.
• 40:03
  Pascale Helyar: Yep.
• 40:04
  Pascale Helyar: So all you have to do is write a five-minute email.
• 40:07
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 40:08
  Pascale Helyar: Maybe there's a template.
• 40:09
  Pascale Helyar: There's a template.
• 40:10
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 40:11
  Dom Hind: Oh yeah.
• 40:12
  Pascale Helyar: I've seen a template.
• 40:13
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 40:14
  Pascale Helyar: And the the reason you would want to do that is because not only are you, is your employer then sweeping your additional monies.
• 40:25
  Pascale Helyar: Note, this is in addition to SG.
• 40:28
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yes.
• 40:28
  Pascale Helyar: Okay, this does not replace SG.
• 40:31
  Pascale Helyar: Um, that's the mandatory employer paid component.
• 40:34
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 40:35
  Pascale Helyar: This is you as an employee, this is you saying, I will um sacrifice $200 a month, whatever, uh, of my pre-tax pay, and the employer makes that happen.
• 40:48
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 40:48
  Pascale Helyar: Um it's limited to $30,000 a year.
• 40:51
  Pascale Helyar: $30,000 a year.
• 40:52
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 40:53
  Pascale Helyar: But what what you're doing is not only are you boosting your super and you're getting out of your own way in doing so.
• 40:59
  Pascale Helyar: Very important, um, but you're also reducing your income tax payable now.
• 41:05
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 41:05
  Pascale Helyar: Which happy days.
• 41:07
  Pascale Helyar: So um, so that's the second thing I would do.
• 41:11
  Pascale Helyar: Now, for those who are not in the workforce, yeah, I would encourage them heavily, heavily to look at the government co-contribution.
• 41:22
  Dom Hind: Okay.
• 41:23
  Pascale Helyar: This is a little known free money hack.
• 41:27
  Dom Hind: And is that means tested?
• 41:29
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 41:30
  Pascale Helyar: So it the um the the limits have just changed.
• 41:33
  Pascale Helyar: I'm going to go with it somewhere around the $45,000 mark.
• 41:36
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 41:36
  Pascale Helyar: So if you earn less than $45,000 a year, um, which, you know, if you're a stay-at-home mum, yeah, is that's you.
• 41:44
  Pascale Helyar: Um, then if you contribute $1,000 of your own money, post-tax money, yeah.
• 41:52
  Pascale Helyar: So maybe it's come from your savings, or maybe there's been some bonus or windfall, or you've, I don't know, you've sold a couple of handbags on eBay, whatever.
• 42:01
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 42:01
  Pascale Helyar: Um, if you contribute a thousand dollars of your own money into your superannuation in any single tax year, the government will contribute up to a further $500.
• 42:11
  Pascale Helyar: Oh wow.
• 42:12
  Pascale Helyar: Free money, peeps.
• 42:14
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 42:14
  Pascale Helyar: Free money.
• 42:15
  Pascale Helyar: And I actually did the maths on that.
• 42:17
  Pascale Helyar: If you if, you know, we think about a woman age 36, stay at home mum, and she does that for the next um 30 years, yeah, she's going to end up with an extra, it was in the region of $70,000.
• 42:31
  Pascale Helyar: Wow.
• 42:32
  Pascale Helyar: By the time she retires.
• 42:33
  Pascale Helyar: And that's not even her money, like just a gift.
• 42:35
  Pascale Helyar: It's just a gift.
• 42:36
  Pascale Helyar: So they're my tip number two for the working and the non-working.
• 42:42
  Pascale Helyar: Um the third, um the third thing I would advocate for women to do is to set up a direct debit into and just start an ETF, an investment ETF.
• 42:54
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 42:55
  Pascale Helyar: Just in their own name.
• 42:57
  Pascale Helyar: Just their name.
• 43:00
  Pascale Helyar: Not shared.
• 43:02
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 43:03
  Pascale Helyar: Just their name.
• 43:04
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and set up a direct debit into it.
• 43:06
  Pascale Helyar: So $50 a week or $50, whatever you can afford.
• 43:12
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and the reason I would encourage that is because then that becomes over time, that becomes your emergency food.
• 43:21
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 43:22
  Dom Hind: Yep.
• 43:22
  Dom Hind: I do that for my kids, but not, yeah, not myself.
• 43:25
  Dom Hind: Yeah, for my kids, because it's like it's you you don't miss it, and it's right.
• 43:30
  Dom Hind: It's just there, and they've got like a nice estate now, and let's hope that they can take advantage of it.
• 43:37
  Dom Hind: Exactly.
• 43:37
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 43:38
  Dom Hind: Okay.
• 43:39
  Dom Hind: Um, I love those tips, and I do love the checking the super balance.
• 43:44
  Dom Hind: Like it's something that's really easy to do, but not many people do it.
• 43:47
  Dom Hind: No.
• 43:48
  Dom Hind: Let's do a super myth busting moment.
• 43:51
  Dom Hind: Oh, let's do it.
• 43:52
  Dom Hind: What are three things women believe about Simpa super that simply aren't true?
• 44:02
  Pascale Helyar: Um they believe that it's not their money.
• 44:07
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 44:08
  Pascale Helyar: When it is.
• 44:10
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 44:11
  Pascale Helyar: They believe, and this is a really important one, ladies, so put your listening ears back on if you if they've fallen off.
• 44:21
  Pascale Helyar: Um in the event of divorce, do not go with that old adage of she gets the house and he gets the super.
• 44:32
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 44:34
  Pascale Helyar: This is incredibly important.
• 44:38
  Pascale Helyar: Um now one we know one in two marriages ends in divorce.
• 44:43
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 44:43
  Pascale Helyar: So that's you know, we we've got to hope for the best and plan for the worst.
• 44:48
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 44:48
  Pascale Helyar: So the that has been that um mentality of, oh, I'll keep the house and he can have the super, is so damaging for a woman's finances for so many reasons, and I'll explain them.
• 45:04
  Pascale Helyar: So the gender super gap 25% um in a scenario of uh post-separation, that gender super gap blows out to 113% because he's he's got the super, she's got the house.
• 45:21
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 45:22
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 45:23
  Pascale Helyar: And the key mistake that so many women have made and perhaps continue to make with in a separation and divorce is that they only look at the value of his super currently.
• 45:38
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 45:39
  Pascale Helyar: But what they also need to be factoring in is how much super he would have earned had they stayed together.
• 45:45
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 45:45
  Pascale Helyar: So future earnings.
• 45:46
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 45:47
  Pascale Helyar: Now the problem is that um if she keeps the house but she doesn't have any other income, how yeah, how do you how do you manage in life?
• 45:59
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 45:59
  Pascale Helyar: So the um the smarter play is actually to liquidate the house and insist on getting half of the super.
• 46:12
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, wow.
• 46:12
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 46:13
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 46:14
  Pascale Helyar: So even if it is going to be unsettling.
• 46:16
  Pascale Helyar: Even if it is going to be unsettling, but ladies, you can't eat the bricks that surround you.
• 46:21
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, true.
• 46:21
  Pascale Helyar: You can't live off that.
• 46:22
  Pascale Helyar: No.
• 46:22
  Pascale Helyar: So that is that is also one of the biggest um myths around super for women.
• 46:28
  Pascale Helyar: Um and uh related to that, I think a really big uh third myth is that sh um so in that particular scenario, people women don't believe that they are entitled to half.
• 46:41
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 46:42
  Dom Hind: It's interesting.
• 46:44
  Pascale Helyar: There's, you know, he's offering, oh, uh I'll I'll give you 25%.
• 46:47
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 46:48
  Pascale Helyar: No, no, no, no.
• 46:49
  Pascale Helyar: You are, under family law, you are entitled to half.
• 46:53
  Dom Hind: It's interesting then when the husband then comes back and he goes, You're not entitled to half.
• 46:58
  Dom Hind: I paid for that, I worked for that.
• 47:00
  Pascale Helyar: It's like Yes, that's right.
• 47:02
  Pascale Helyar: It's it's a complete minefield.
• 47:04
  Pascale Helyar: But thankfully, family law now has improved a lot to recognize women's uh, you know, status.
• 47:11
  Pascale Helyar: Where the the crunch comes, however, is for a lot of women who find themselves in that situation, is that they don't have the money to engage a lawyer.
• 47:22
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 47:22
  Pascale Helyar: And so he's lawyered up, she's not.
• 47:26
  Pascale Helyar: He's his lawyer is sending through these requests of, oh, well, he'll he'll offer you 25%, whatever.
• 47:32
  Pascale Helyar: She doesn't have the legal resources to say, well, yes, that's right, or no, it's not, or combat it, or whatever it might be.
• 47:38
  Pascale Helyar: Um, which is why, refer to my earlier point about the emergency funds.
• 47:42
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 47:43
  Pascale Helyar: At least if you at least, then you've got uh something there.
• 47:46
  Pascale Helyar: There is also a great tip, um, a great company called Just Fund.
• 47:50
  Dom Hind: I was just about to say that, yes.
• 47:53
  Pascale Helyar: Do you want to explain what Just Fund is, Charlie?
• 47:55
  Dom Hind: Just is Just Fund, it is a facility or a service that actually will allow you to borrow the cost for funding a lawyer.
• 48:08
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 48:08
  Dom Hind: Whether that is in estate planning or in going through a separation.
• 48:12
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 48:13
  Dom Hind: Yes, exactly.
• 48:14
  Dom Hind: And they take their fees after this settlement has actually happened.
• 48:18
  Dom Hind: Correct.
• 48:19
  Dom Hind: Rather than expecting anything up front.
• 48:21
  Dom Hind: Correct.
• 48:22
  Pascale Helyar: So that means that the is that right?
• 48:24
  Pascale Helyar: Yes, that's right.
• 48:24
  Pascale Helyar: So that means that the woman who has been the state-at-home mum for twenty ten years or whatever and doesn't have uh, you know, funds of her own, uh, she can effectively she's effectively borrowing against her future settlement so that she can fund legal.
• 48:40
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 48:41
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 48:41
  Dom Hind: Which I think it is a it's a great idea in making sure that at least you do have that fair representation as well.
• 48:48
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 48:48
  Dom Hind: Although you can also now use uh AI to take the lawyer's letters initially uh base it against family laws in Australia and see what you are actually entitled to.
• 49:00
  Dom Hind: Yes, before even going a lawyering up.
• 49:03
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 49:03
  Pascale Helyar: And I would all always recommend doing because that's effectively you doing your own research.
• 49:07
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 49:08
  Pascale Helyar: And if you can go into your legal meetings, you know, having done your research, having prepped, and knowing to ask about A, B, and C, you're gonna get so much more out of your lawyer as a result.
• 49:20
  Dom Hind: And you're not gonna be a deer in the headlights, you're actually going to be informed and knowledge.
• 49:25
  Dom Hind: Yeah, knowledge is power.
• 49:26
  Dom Hind: Exactly.
• 49:27
  Dom Hind: Everything comes back to that.
• 49:29
  Dom Hind: Um, if a woman is 48, has kids, a mortgage, maybe has worked uh part-time, what does being on track actually look like for them financially?
• 49:44
  Dom Hind: With her super?
• 49:46
  Dom Hind: Yeah, with her super, with her finances.
• 49:48
  Dom Hind: Like what should she be thinking about?
• 49:51
  Dom Hind: There's less than 20 years until she can tap into that super.
• 49:55
  Dom Hind: What are some of the things that she should be doing?
• 49:59
  Pascale Helyar: I will always say salary sacrifice.
• 50:01
  Dom Hind: Yeah, okay.
• 50:02
  Pascale Helyar: That's that's always say salary sacrifice.
• 50:05
  Pascale Helyar: Um she should have an emergency fund.
• 50:09
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 50:09
  Pascale Helyar: Of her own.
• 50:10
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 50:11
  Pascale Helyar: Even if just 50 bucks a week.
• 50:14
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 50:14
  Pascale Helyar: Um, because you never know what life is going to throw at you.
• 50:19
  Pascale Helyar: Um and she she has a mortgage.
• 50:24
  Pascale Helyar: She says one of the most often asked questions I receive is do I pay my mortgage or do I build up my super?
• 50:33
  Pascale Helyar: And I always say both.
• 50:37
  Pascale Helyar: And that's not because I'm sitting on the fence.
• 50:39
  Pascale Helyar: Um it's but it's for very good reason, which is that historically we've always had this um this idea that by the time we reach retirement, we will have had our mortgage paid off.
• 50:57
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 50:57
  Pascale Helyar: And that used to be true.
• 50:59
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 50:59
  Pascale Helyar: When people bought their first property at 27.
• 51:04
  Pascale Helyar: But now the first uh age at which someone purchases a property in Australia is 37.
• 51:12
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, right.
• 51:13
  Pascale Helyar: 37 with a 30-year mortgage, that's 67.
• 51:17
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 51:18
  Pascale Helyar: We are seeing more and more stats about how retirees are dipping into their superannuation to pay off their mortgage.
• 51:26
  Pascale Helyar: So I think we just need to accept that we will have a mortgage in some way, shape, or form, as we enter retirement.
• 51:34
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 51:35
  Pascale Helyar: Which then makes building up your superannuation even more important.
• 51:41
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 51:41
  Pascale Helyar: But here's the thing: if you don't start uh adding as much as you can to your super aged 48 or you know, 52, 50, whatever, you're missing.
• 51:56
  Pascale Helyar: And if you can concentrate all your monies into repaying your mortgage, you're going to miss out on 20 years of compound interest.
• 52:03
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 52:03
  Pascale Helyar: And once you reach 68, you can't reclaim those 20 years of compound interest, which is why I say both.
• 52:12
  Dom Hind: Yeah, okay.
• 52:13
  Dom Hind: Okay, good.
• 52:14
  Dom Hind: Um, women live longer than men.
• 52:16
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 52:17
  Dom Hind: Uh what sorry, how should that change how we think about money?
• 52:22
  Dom Hind: Should we be thinking and making sure that we are protected for the the extra years at the end?
• 52:29
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 52:29
  Pascale Helyar: So for our listeners who aren't aware, the average age of a woman, uh woman's life expectancy in Australia is 88.
• 52:36
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 52:37
  Pascale Helyar: Um, the average man is 84.
• 52:40
  Pascale Helyar: So we're living that bit bit longer.
• 52:42
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 52:42
  Pascale Helyar: But we're also underfunded, aren't we?
• 52:44
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 52:45
  Pascale Helyar: So it's a double whammy.
• 52:46
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 52:46
  Pascale Helyar: Big 25% less uh super than men.
• 52:51
  Pascale Helyar: So um this this is another very actual practical reason why I say women, just add as much as your super to your super as you can from as early as you can, because you're gonna be living longer.
• 53:06
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 53:07
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and the other thing I have to say is that what's the downside in having a big super balance?
• 53:16
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 53:16
  Pascale Helyar: Zero.
• 53:17
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, yeah.
• 53:19
  Pascale Helyar: I have too much super.
• 53:20
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 53:21
  Pascale Helyar: Said no one ever.
• 53:22
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 53:22
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 53:23
  Dom Hind: Yeah, no one has.
• 53:24
  Dom Hind: No one ever has said that.
• 53:25
  Dom Hind: No.
• 53:26
  Dom Hind: Unless you get to the six million dollar threshold.
• 53:28
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 53:29
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 53:29
  Pascale Helyar: Like so, and and that applies to a very small subset of the population.
• 53:35
  Pascale Helyar: So if if you have m more super in your retirement, so what?
• 53:40
  Pascale Helyar: That's a good thing, isn't it?
• 53:42
  Pascale Helyar: It's a great thing.
• 53:42
  Pascale Helyar: And if you died, you can hand it.
• 53:44
  Pascale Helyar: Exactly.
• 53:47
  Pascale Helyar: Or decide it.
• 53:48
  Pascale Helyar: This is why I've I've never understood the the reluctance on this front around super.
• 53:52
  Pascale Helyar: But I mean, I I personally, and coming back to something I think we were talking about a little bit um before we started, you know, it comes back to, you know, having enough super and being able to live your third chapter of your life on your terms, comes back, in my case anyway, to one of my core values, which is choice.
• 54:18
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 54:18
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 54:19
  Pascale Helyar: And I want to have choice in my retirement.
• 54:24
  Pascale Helyar: I do not want to be dictated to in how I live and, you know, whether or not I take that holiday or um, you know, do I have to eat baked beans every day?
• 54:37
  Pascale Helyar: I don't want to be dictated to by my financial circumstances.
• 54:41
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, I do.
• 54:42
  Pascale Helyar: Because then that is in direct contradiction of my values of choice.
• 54:47
  Dom Hind: I agree.
• 54:47
  Dom Hind: I agree with that a hundred percent.
• 54:49
  Dom Hind: But choice isn't one of my values, though.
• 54:52
  Dom Hind: Permission is.
• 54:53
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 54:53
  Dom Hind: Uh okay, so rapid fire round.
• 54:57
  Dom Hind: One financial myth women should stop believing.
• 55:02
  Pascale Helyar: That they can't manage money.
• 55:04
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, I think that's a big one.
• 55:06
  Pascale Helyar: And to start, just to start.
• 55:08
  Pascale Helyar: Or that he he can manage my money.
• 55:11
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 55:12
  Pascale Helyar: No.
• 55:13
  Pascale Helyar: And Tracy would have said something similar.
• 55:16
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 55:16
  Pascale Helyar: Women have to take or maintain financial agency.
• 55:23
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 55:23
  Dom Hind: Yep.
• 55:24
  Dom Hind: Okay, good.
• 55:25
  Dom Hind: Uh, one thing every woman should understand about super.
• 55:28
  Dom Hind: It's awesome.
• 55:32
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 55:34
  Dom Hind: It's gonna be the biggest asset outside of your house.
• 55:36
  Dom Hind: Outside of property.
• 55:38
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 55:38
  Pascale Helyar: It is your biggest asset.
• 55:40
  Pascale Helyar: So treat it like help it grow, nourish it, love to learn it.
• 55:45
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 55:45
  Pascale Helyar: It's not this big hairy monster waiting to jump out at you from the shadows.
• 55:51
  Pascale Helyar: It need you need to wrap your arms around it and make it your best friend.
• 55:55
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 55:56
  Pascale Helyar: If you look after it, it's going to look after you.
• 55:57
  Dom Hind: Yeah, well, that's a great way of thinking about it.
• 56:00
  Dom Hind: One thing women should check in their super today.
• 56:02
  Dom Hind: Oh no, the balance.
• 56:04
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 56:05
  Pascale Helyar: The balance, but check that.
• 56:07
  Pascale Helyar: Um go back, look at your pay slips, and check that if you've had, I don't know, uh 50 pay slips, that there are 50 correlating entries in your superannuation account.
• 56:24
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 56:24
  Pascale Helyar: Um if you're missing.
• 56:26
  Pascale Helyar: Although some of them can be prior to payday super, it could be paid quarterly.
• 56:30
  Pascale Helyar: Uh yes, but that's what I'm referring to.
• 56:31
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 56:32
  Pascale Helyar: If it's uh because that was actually the best, they were the best conditions for malfeasance for importance.
• 56:37
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 56:38
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 56:38
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 56:38
  Pascale Helyar: Well, because people were not look paying attention.
• 56:40
  Pascale Helyar: But if there are if you can find your pay slips and if you know there are 50 pay slips saying that you received, you were paid, apparently, $1,000 into superannuation, go to your super account and check that there are 50 contributions matching the same summary.
• 56:56
  Dom Hind: Okay, good.
• 56:57
  Dom Hind: Um, one money habit that changes everything.
• 57:04
  Pascale Helyar: Prioritizing your finances.
• 57:06
  Pascale Helyar: So particularly as as women, yeah.
• 57:10
  Pascale Helyar: We I think we were taught, or maybe we learned that you pay the bills and then the groceries and the da da da, and then savings are last.
• 57:20
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 57:21
  Pascale Helyar: We need to flip that script.
• 57:23
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, okay.
• 57:24
  Pascale Helyar: But because when you prioritize paying yourself first, investing in you first, then but then you just make everything else work.
• 57:33
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 57:33
  Dom Hind: I think that's a great way of thinking about it.
• 57:36
  Dom Hind: Um, one thing women underestimate about their financial power.
• 57:46
  Pascale Helyar: We are 51% of the population.
• 57:48
  Pascale Helyar: The intergenerational wealth transfer is happening right now.
• 57:54
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 57:54
  Pascale Helyar: Women are set to inherit $3.4 trillion.
• 57:59
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 58:00
  Pascale Helyar: Trillion.
• 58:02
  Pascale Helyar: So not only do I tell women that they can do it, but they're gonna have to do it.
• 58:12
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah because they're about to inherit, or they're already in the process of inheriting $3.4 trillion.
• 58:20
  Pascale Helyar: And I know that can sound terrifying, but there is no reason that women can't do it.
• 58:29
  Pascale Helyar: Women actually make better investors than men because of their attitudes to risk and and so on.
• 58:35
  Pascale Helyar: Um it's just a question uh of just uh starting.
• 58:42
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, just learning.
• 58:44
  Pascale Helyar: You will make mistakes, it won't be perfect, but uh in the learning and the doing, you will improve.
• 58:51
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, but um start small, but start start small and learn and figure it out, and um that's how you will be become your best financial advocate.
• 59:06
  Dom Hind: Yeah, okay, good.
• 59:07
  Dom Hind: One sentence every woman should say to herself about money.
• 59:13
  Pascale Helyar: Money is not the destination, money is the journey.
• 59:19
  Dom Hind: Mmm, okay, so love the journey.
• 59:22
  Dom Hind: Love the journey, yeah.
• 59:24
  Dom Hind: Uh, your mood in one word right now.
• 59:28
  Dom Hind: Upbeat.
• 59:29
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 59:30
  Dom Hind: And if you were gonna get a tattoo, what tattoo would you get?
• 59:35
  Pascale Helyar: Or if I were to get nailed, exactly.
• 59:38
  Pascale Helyar: What would you do?
• 59:39
  Pascale Helyar: It would say, does it serve me?
• 59:41
  Pascale Helyar: Oh, and why would it say does it serve you?
• 59:44
  Pascale Helyar: I learnt I learnt those four words quite late in life, yeah, only a few years ago.
• 59:50
  Pascale Helyar: I really, really wish I had learned them sooner.
• 59:53
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 59:54
  Pascale Helyar: Um I think I would have particularly in personal relationships, I would have stopped tolerating bullshit a long time ago.
• 1:00:10
  Pascale Helyar: But, you know, it's not just about personal relationships.
• 1:00:13
  Pascale Helyar: It's like those four words are the litmus for everything.
• 1:00:16
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:00:17
  Pascale Helyar: Do I want a hamburger for lunch?
• 1:00:19
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:00:19
  Pascale Helyar: Does it serve me?
• 1:00:21
  Pascale Helyar: No.
• 1:00:21
  Pascale Helyar: I won't.
• 1:00:23
  Pascale Helyar: Do I want to go out with that person who's been harassing me, you know, to catch up for drinks for a while?
• 1:00:30
  Pascale Helyar: Does it serve me?
• 1:00:31
  Pascale Helyar: No.
• 1:00:32
  Pascale Helyar: It actually becomes an incredible way to simplify life.
• 1:00:37
  Dom Hind: Oh, I agree.
• 1:00:38
  Dom Hind: That I think that having like a some sort of mantra, mine is permission to pause, um, with your values underpinning it, it does help you make better decisions.
• 1:00:50
  Dom Hind: Absolutely.
• 1:00:51
  Dom Hind: Just wish I'd known earlier.
• 1:00:52
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:00:52
  Pascale Helyar: But now I share it with you all.
• 1:00:56
  Dom Hind: Um, what's the one truth about women and money that the finance industry still hasn't fully caught up with?
• 1:01:05
  Pascale Helyar: I think I think it the finance industry, and by by that I I mean financial advisors, wealth managers, you know, superannuation funds, etc.
• 1:01:16
  Pascale Helyar: I think it treats women as second-class citizens.
• 1:01:20
  Pascale Helyar: And I think women unwittingly play to that persona because of the 42 reasons around why women uh don't feel they can handle money.
• 1:01:37
  Pascale Helyar: So I think it's actually unfortunately a perfect storm where the financial industry, you know, talks to the man but not the woman.
• 1:01:46
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:01:46
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 1:01:47
  Pascale Helyar: Or um, you know, maybe the couple goes together to the wealth manager and and it's the the guy doing all the talking and she doesn't speak up because she doesn't feel confident or what have you.
• 1:01:57
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:01:58
  Pascale Helyar: So I think it's a perfect storm of the the industry considers women to be second-class citizens, and then women inadvertently reinforce that concept.
• 1:02:07
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:02:07
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 1:02:08
  Dom Hind: So knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge, knowledge and doing.
• 1:02:12
  Dom Hind: Yeah, knowledge and doing.
• 1:02:13
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:02:13
  Dom Hind: Okay, good.
• 1:02:14
  Dom Hind: Okay, last question.
• 1:02:16
  Dom Hind: Um, I'm nearly turning 50 in just under two years.
• 1:02:23
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:02:24
  Dom Hind: What's one thing that you would recommend that I do that pushes me, challenges me, that's within your circle of uh knowledge and education that you think I should be doing before I turn 50?
• 1:02:37
  Dom Hind: And don't ask you.
• 1:02:40
  Pascale Helyar: I know what my I know what my super balance is.
• 1:02:42
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:02:42
  Pascale Helyar: Okay, and um and I'm going to assume also the other things, right?
• 1:02:46
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 1:02:46
  Pascale Helyar: That you have an emergency fund or yes, and that you are doing salary sacrifice, yes.
• 1:02:52
  Pascale Helyar: Or a version of.
• 1:02:54
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 1:02:55
  Pascale Helyar: Um, but if you want um an extra challenge, I would say start investing.
• 1:03:04
  Pascale Helyar: Okay.
• 1:03:05
  Pascale Helyar: Um so even though I have worked in asset management for so much of my life, um, you know, the fund, the the fund managers, they were always like the godlike beings, right?
• 1:03:19
  Pascale Helyar: That used to walk the halls.
• 1:03:21
  Pascale Helyar: And I never had the confidence.
• 1:03:26
  Pascale Helyar: I didn't underst I I understood I understood markets, I understood why they went up and down and sideways and whatnot.
• 1:03:33
  Pascale Helyar: But it wasn't until I started my own investment account with my $50 or whatever.
• 1:03:42
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:03:43
  Pascale Helyar: And I started, yes, I could select um their portfolios, but I thought I actually want to challenge myself.
• 1:03:54
  Pascale Helyar: I want to see if I can do this.
• 1:03:56
  Dom Hind: Yeah, right.
• 1:03:57
  Pascale Helyar: And so I have been learning by doing.
• 1:04:02
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:04:02
  Pascale Helyar: And um a couple of months ago, I invested in gold and fuel and food.
• 1:04:11
  Pascale Helyar: Great.
• 1:04:12
  Pascale Helyar: Because I thought I I think I can see how I can see the the way this is going to pan out.
• 1:04:18
  Pascale Helyar: And so at a time when like the ASX 200 is, you know going down, my portfolio performance is actually up.
• 1:04:27
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, great.
• 1:04:28
  Pascale Helyar: And I am so proud to be able to say that.
• 1:04:31
  Pascale Helyar: And hey, I didn't get here overnight.
• 1:04:34
  Pascale Helyar: Like it's taken me a couple years to figure out all this sort of stuff because I'm, you know, changing the allocation of my portfolio.
• 1:04:42
  Pascale Helyar: And, you know, I'm thinking, okay, well, you know, obviously there's this massive fuel shortage now, but that is actually going to accelerate renewables in the long term because we've all gone, holy hair, we need to do that.
• 1:04:54
  Pascale Helyar: So I'm going to carve out a little sub-portfolio for renewables.
• 1:04:58
  Pascale Helyar: And so I'm thinking strategically and globally now in a way I didn't know that I could.
• 1:05:07
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:05:07
  Pascale Helyar: Because I set myself that challenge.
• 1:05:08
  Pascale Helyar: And so it's your money.
• 1:05:10
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:05:10
  Dom Hind: And that's that's funny, because I mean, I do have, yes, and I don't do it.
• 1:05:16
  Dom Hind: I get someone else to do it where I should actually be doing it because it does give myself an interest in what is actually going on.
• 1:05:25
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 1:05:26
  Dom Hind: And it does challenge you to think about okay, well, steel prices are up, renewables are gonna count.
• 1:05:32
  Dom Hind: Like it gives you something else to be thinking about.
• 1:05:34
  Dom Hind: That is my challenge to you.
• 1:05:35
  Dom Hind: Okay, great.
• 1:05:37
  Dom Hind: I'll go calm some out and do it.
• 1:05:41
  Dom Hind: But it's so easy now.
• 1:05:43
  Dom Hind: That's like I'm just so like you're so risk pro.
• 1:05:48
  Pascale Helyar: Like, I'd just go, all in, all in on black.
• 1:05:50
  Pascale Helyar: Start honestly, that's what I did.
• 1:05:53
  Pascale Helyar: I started Smen and I learned what, and I'd look at my not daily, yeah, but I'd look at my portfolio, like my.
• 1:05:59
  Pascale Helyar: So we can go, okay, well, why?
• 1:06:01
  Pascale Helyar: I don't understand why is that stock down?
• 1:06:03
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:06:04
  Pascale Helyar: And then, and then I might ask Chat GPS, yeah, why?
• 1:06:08
  Pascale Helyar: And it would, and I go, okay.
• 1:06:10
  Pascale Helyar: And I I understand that.
• 1:06:11
  Pascale Helyar: Right.
• 1:06:12
  Pascale Helyar: So it's been through doing.
• 1:06:15
  Pascale Helyar: Yes.
• 1:06:15
  Pascale Helyar: And understanding, oh, I'm I'm overweight uranium, whatever.
• 1:06:20
  Pascale Helyar: Um, and okay, I need to trim that back.
• 1:06:22
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah, okay.
• 1:06:23
  Pascale Helyar: To so it's not dragging my portfolio down.
• 1:06:26
  Pascale Helyar: Yeah.
• 1:06:26
  Pascale Helyar: And so I'm I'm I looked at my my results, you know, over the last week and went, oh, go you.
• 1:06:34
  Dom Hind: SX down, Pascal up.
• 1:06:35
  Dom Hind: Yay.
• 1:06:36
  Dom Hind: Amazing.
• 1:06:38
  Dom Hind: Okay.
• 1:06:40
  Dom Hind: All right.
• 1:06:41
  Dom Hind: Pascal, thank you so much for this conversation.
• 1:06:44
  Dom Hind: Um, I know super can be dry, but I think repositioning it so that you are actually thinking it about it as your biggest asset outside property.
• 1:06:55
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 1:06:55
  Dom Hind: It does make you want to know more.
• 1:06:59
  Dom Hind: Well, it makes me want to know more, definitely.
• 1:07:02
  Dom Hind: Um and money is not just numbers.
• 1:07:06
  Dom Hind: No, it is about freedom and your freedom to choose and to make choices now, but also later in life.
• 1:07:13
  Dom Hind: Freedom to leave situations that you don't want to be in.
• 1:07:16
  Dom Hind: Absolutely.
• 1:07:16
  Dom Hind: Freedom to design the next chapter and make it all on your terms, exactly.
• 1:07:22
  Dom Hind: Which that's it's a tool to make sure that you are actually living a great full life.
• 1:07:28
  Dom Hind: And the truth is no one apart from you is coming to sort it out.
• 1:07:35
  Pascale Helyar: Absolutely.
• 1:07:35
  Pascale Helyar: There is no night and shiny on it.
• 1:07:38
  Dom Hind: There's no night and shiny on it.
• 1:07:39
  Pascale Helyar: No, you have to do it.
• 1:07:40
  Dom Hind: You are your night.
• 1:07:41
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 1:07:42
  Dom Hind: And you've just got to do.
• 1:07:43
  Dom Hind: Do and learn.
• 1:07:45
  Dom Hind: Big girl pants.
• 1:07:46
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:07:46
  Dom Hind: Yeah.
• 1:07:46
  Dom Hind: Uh, because the moment that we understand it, we can actually take the power back.
• 1:07:52
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 1:07:53
  Dom Hind: And financial independence doesn't happen by accident.
• 1:07:58
  Dom Hind: No.
• 1:07:58
  Dom Hind: It happens when we start to actually plan for it.
• 1:08:01
  Dom Hind: So if you're listening right now, and maybe today will be the day that you actually do start being a little bit inquisitive or open up your super account and see how much your balance is or where your funds are actually being diverted in what fund.
• 1:08:19
  Dom Hind: And it's to do it today, not next week, not next year, now, because now we've actually got time on our side.
• 1:08:27
  Dom Hind: Yes.
• 1:08:27
  Dom Hind: And the more that women understand about money, the more everything changes.
• 1:08:33
  Dom Hind: Absolutely.
• 1:08:34
  Dom Hind: Pascal, thank you very much for your time.
• 1:08:37
  Dom Hind: I will put all of your books, your wisdom, your links to everything in the show notes.
• 1:08:43
  Dom Hind: Um, and if this episode has resonated with you or someone that you know, please make sure you share it because fuck, I'm nearly 50 and isn't it amazing?