Getting ahead financially: A practical guide for women
Written and accurate as at: Feb 11, 2026 Current Stats & Facts
Getting ahead financially takes more than just good budgeting and an eye for cheap deals. For Aussie women, it means navigating a system that often charges more, pays less and – importantly – compounds the gap over time.
While many aspects of that system are out of our control, there are plenty of ways women can work within and around it to help achieve financial security over the long term.
Combatting the pink tax
It’s an all-too familiar experience for many women: you toss an item into your supermarket trolley and keep moving down the aisle. Then you stumble upon it – the same product labelled “for men” and priced a few dollars cheaper.
Meet the pink tax – the extra cost many companies add to products that are marketed specifically to women and girls. The markup might not even be that large, but on items you purchase frequently (like razors and deodorants) it all adds up.
While Australia has made some moves to address this – like when the federal government removed GST from menstrual products in 2019 – it still often falls to women to be on the lookout. Here are some strategies that can help:
- Look beyond packaging and focus on price per unit. Don’t let yourself be swayed by colours and marketing language
- Opt for cheaper gender-neutral or men’s alternatives when the product itself is essentially the same
- Buy in bulk, opt for store brands, or switch to refillable options when you can.
Backing yourself at work
While being more intentional with your spending can make a big difference, there’s a floor to how much money you can save without depriving yourself. Your income, on the other hand, is theoretically limitless.
Here’s where many people freeze in their tracks. Negotiating a pay rise can be nerve-wracking, especially if you’ve never done it before. It requires advocating for yourself in a way that doesn’t always seem natural and tallying accomplishments you might have put out of your mind long ago.
To give yourself the best possible chance, do as much research and preparation as you can ahead of time. Look up what people in comparable roles are earning and make sure you can articulate all the ways you’ve gone above and beyond over the past year. Try to frame the conversation in objective terms too, as managers will be more receptive when the focus is on outcomes rather than effort.
If your company won’t budge, it might be time to start looking elsewhere. Having a higher base salary influences everything from future raises and super contributions to your ability to save and invest. So while loyalty is admirable, it shouldn’t come at the expense of your long-term earning potential.
Topping up your super
On average, women retire with around a third less super than men, largely due to lower average pay and the fact that the burden of caring for children and aging family members often falls on them. Fortunately, the super system offers incentives that can work in your favour if used correctly.
Salary sacrificing into super can make a big difference, as can making extra contributions from your take-home pay and then claiming a tax deduction. These contributions are generally taxed at 15%, which is lower than the marginal tax rate most people are subject to.
Beyond that, there are a few tasks that aren’t particularly exciting but can get your balance looking much healthier in the long run:
- Check if your investment option is appropriate for your age
- If you have multiple super accounts, consider consolidating them
- If your income is on the lower end, see if you’re eligible for a government co-contribution
- If you’re part of a couple, you can look into contribution splitting or spouse super contributions (tax offsets for your partner might be available on the latter if you’re a low income-earner).
Embracing investing
If you haven’t waded in the share trading waters already, that world can seem overly complicated, impenetrable, or exclusively the domain of men. But no one has a monopoly on investing, and what can seem like high barriers often disappear with a little bit of exposure.
Remember: if you have super, you’re already an investor. Each month, part of your salary is invested on your behalf across a range of assets, each of them working to grow your savings and get you ready for retirement.
And outside of super, there are options that don’t require you to follow markets daily or even have strong opinions about individual stocks. Index funds and ETFs, for example, offer broad diversification by letting you invest in bundles of shares grouped by theme or market index.
The key point here is there aren’t as many hurdles as you might think. Very often, all that’s needed is a basic understanding of the fundamentals and a bit of insight into your investor profile (that is, your investment goals, time horizon and risk tolerance).
While the systems women operate in aren’t always fair or equal, knowing how they work can make it a lot easier to navigate them and get ahead.