Did you know that Australian women couldn’t get a loan without a male guarantor up until the 1970s?

Fast forward to today, and research by CoreData shows that women millionaires are growing twice as fast as their male counterparts.

However, despite the strides made, many women are still working within structures that don’t always favour them.

Women on the Gold Coast, while taking a more active role in their long-term finances, are finding their financial outcomes are being prejudiced and shaped by:

• career interruptions,
• uneven superannuation balances, and
• longer life expectancy.

Against this backdrop, financial planners on the Gold Coast, including RFS Advice, are seeing more women wanting clarity around their super, investing strategy and retirement planning.

Much of this reflects a broader shift: women want advice that acknowledges the realities of their working and family lives rather than the assumptions that once underpinned traditional financial planning.

The following five areas sit at the centre of many conversations taking place today.

1. Understanding your financial baseline

Before any long-term decisions can be made, it helps to understand your financial starting point. This includes the straightforward information many people put off gathering: income, recurring expenses, mortgages, debts, super accounts and existing investments.

For many women, especially those in their 40s and 50s, this process highlights the impact of career breaks or part-time work across previous decades. It can also reveal gaps or duplications, such as inactive super funds or insurance policies that no longer reflect current circumstances.

At RFS Advice, we find this stage often gives our clients a sense of clarity and control they didn’t realise they were missing.

2. Long-term investing is still one of the strongest tools available

Although markets have felt unpredictable in recent years, long-term investing remains central to building financial security. Women, in particular, benefit from strategies that favour consistency over speculation. Studies have shown that women who invest tend to trade less often and stay invested longer, which can improve long-term results.

Setting a clear investment strategy with a financial adviser helps ensure decisions stay aligned with long-term goals rather than short-term market noise.

3. The superannuation gap is real and still closing too slowly

Despite incremental progress, women continue to retire with significantly less super than men. The reasons are well documented: time out of the workforce, part-time roles and slower wage progression in many sectors.
But there are mechanisms to help close the gap, with salary sacrifice, catch-up concessional contributions and spouse contributions among the most effective. For Gold Coast women nearing retirement, reviewing super more closely can reveal opportunities to strengthen their long-term financial position before leaving the workforce.

4. Protection and planning offer stability during unpredictable times

Insurance and estate planning rarely attract enthusiasm, but they remain essential. Women often shoulder the role of carer more than once during their lives, which makes income protection and trauma insurance more relevant than many realise.

A Gold Coast financial adviser can help ensure these protections are suited to your lifestyle, family responsibilities and future plans.

5. Advice that accounts for real life resonates most

Financial planners report that women increasingly want conversations that reflect the complexity of their lives, not generic financial templates. This includes periods of unpaid work, blended families, caring responsibilities, changing career paths and longevity risk.
This trend has contributed to rising interest in advice teams with experience in financial planning for women. It isn’t about excluding men but about creating space for conversations grounded in lived experience and practical realities.

For many women on the Gold Coast, working with a local financial adviser who understands the community, lifestyle and cost-of-living pressures provides a more personalised and grounded planning experience.

Conclusion

The financial landscape facing women is evolving, but the challenges remain familiar. By getting a clearer picture of your current position, investing with long-term discipline, paying closer attention to super, putting basic protections in place and seeking advice from a Gold Coast financial planner who reflects real life, it becomes easier to plan for a more stable future.

If you’d like to explore these topics with an adviser, RFS Advice offers tailored financial planning for women at any stage of life.

Frequently asked questions

General Advice Warning

The information and any advice provided in this article has been prepared without taking into account your objectives, financial situation or needs. Because of that, you should, before acting on the advice, consider the appropriateness of the advice, having regard to those things.