On February 21, WoTL hosted its first workshop for the year called “Farming Womens’ Financial Roadmap” which was delivered by Tony Catt of Catapult Weath. The workshop was held at Tailem Bend and attended by women from across the Mallee.
The focus of the workshop was on the three unique life stages of women as they move through their farming career. These life stages and the key milestones for each stage were developed by the group as:
20 – 40 year olds
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- Getting started in employment
- Very young kids / no kids
- Thinking of buying a house
- Doing a Will
- Getting a mortgage
40 – 55 year olds
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- Funding the kid’s education
- Starting the succession planning process
- Putting some money into superannuation
- Investment properties
- Insurance – Life/Total and Permanent Disability
55 – 75 year olds
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- Retirement planning
- Succession planning
The workshop was an opportunity for participants to discuss some of the tricky questions that impact on developing a financial roadmap. Some of these questions included:
- How do we look after off-farm children?
- How much income is enough in retirement?
- How to keep your ‘purpose’ in retirement and how does this effect your mental health?
- How do we ensure great communication happens within the family for succession planning?
- How generational change is difficult and moving a business from one generation to the next is challenging!
“Participating in the workshop, with women at all different stages of their farming journey, has given me a better understanding of how my parents are thinking about navigating farm succession.” – Workshop participant.
Useful resources:
- “Walking the Wire. Strengthening the financial security of rural agribusiness women” (Queensland Farmers’ Federation)
- “Pass the Baton” Podcast (Catapult Wealth): A podcast for educating agricultural businesses (farmers) on how to work through generational transfer of farms.
This event was supported by the State Government of South Australia and Catapult Wealth.