Research conducted by MLC found 43 per cent of Australian women do not feel in control of their finances, with 61 per cent of these women flagging low savings as their main concern.
MLC Advice general manager Jasia Fabig said the research highlights that more needs to be done to help women to feel financially comfortable.
“Women and their money matter, and we want them to be able to weather financial storms,” Ms Fabig said.
“What we often see is that women put the interests of others before their own, and at key moments in life – divorce, death, illness or job loss – they are severely impacted. Only 34 per cent of the women MLC surveyed are putting extra money into their super, and we’d like to see this number grow.”
Subsequently, MLC Advice “will offer complimentary general advice sessions to 500 women across Australia” until the end of January 2018.
Far out some positive news for print instead of the negative day in day out dribble and we pull it down, take a good look at yourselves !!! These would have to be some of the worst comments I’ve ever read, I’m ashamed that you may be a fellow planning professional. And Im a guy before you accuse me of something else.
Good on them, but come on “general advice”” ???? what are they going to do ? sit people down and play a TV commercial in front of them. “almost” there MLC. They’d be better off staying at home and watching Youtube video’s for General advice.
Why not free financial advice for redheads of either or indeterminate sex.
Bloody hell, I give credit to MLC for putting out the offer – its more than most of you do. Such negativity in the comments. Shouldn’t all of you be trying to make advice more professional and help the community instead of having a whinge when someone does something nice?
Ahh the privileged white male comments that can’t stand anyone else being given a leg up after having experienced more challenging circumstances. Let’s not stop there, how about we start whingeing about the programs targeted at aboriginals or other minorities in the hope that they can lead better lives – but of course you’d find that discriminatory too. How about we stop doing charity work, or pro-bono advice too, after all that’s helping people who have faced tougher circumstances than us.
How about you simply say hey, isn’t great that our industry is doing something to help the wider community and promote the value of advice.
Totally agree Katherine, have to help out where they can. There should be more dealergroups doing this and bringing a positive vibe to the profession.
that’s a very racist and also a sexist comment. “privileged white male”” . You should be ashamed of yourself. Keep it clean please. Surely you could make your point without being so deeply offending so many.
Oh pleeaase! OMG. Can you get anymore sexist and corny. Women do not need special advice. Alarm bells ring whenever I see these type of promo’s. So sick of corny marketing and men bashing. Are you going to hold counselling sessions for the man who regardless of how long he has slaved to pay off his own house will lose it by simply having a child with a stranger and moving her in for a couple of years? Care to run some free sessions to the countless thousands of men who’s lives are destroyed by simply meeting a female and marrying her for a couple of years or more? Let’s see you address this injustice. And before you try and shoot down these facts, it’s never happened to me and it’s not an anti female rant. It’s FACTUAL AND CORRECT.
“simply having a child with a stranger” …….. simple as that.
Knowing Jasia personally I can say this initiative will be 100% delivered with no product sales outcome…. I think it is a great thing that MLC are doing. Whilst it might not be the way everyone would go about bridging the gender retirement gap…it doesn’t automatically become a product flog.
Maybe we all could be a bit more optimistic…
Well done MLC Advice
Well said Steve Crawford, optimism is hard for some of these folk though.
I think statistically, women are proven to be at higher risk of experiencing financial difficulty than men and this is an interesting initiative. I wonder how one goes about accessing this free advice though? and what is involved? Is it general advice and once off? Is it like a scholarship and eligibility criteria need to be met?
Sally, it’s ‘general’ advice.
It’s a seminar. It’s highly like that there’s MLC product at the end of the rainbow.
Many financial advisers do not charge a fee for an initial meeting (we do, but we waive it when an existing client or trusted professional makes the referral); so use your time better and seek out a boutique who can talk to your terms rather than general terms.
This sort of sexist, discriminatory, marketing ploy is not OK and it needs to be called out. In my practice, the majority of my single clients are women. They are excellent clients. Generally speaking, they take their financial security more seriously than men do and they are more willing to engage and then act upon professional advice. In other words they are excellent clients. I suspect NAB has had the same experience. But surely they can make their services more attractive to women without blatantly discriminating against men?
Yes ,why single out the weaker sex?Whats next LGBT types ?
No that was last week in an article on this site.
Lets be clear advice is advice, tailored for an individuals personal situation regardless of what it is. Simple as that. EVERYONE should have access to this type of advice and personally I tailor my fees so that everyone has the access.