Tools to Equip

This page has been designed for you as a place that holds a body of resources that may be relevant to you and the situation you find yourself in. COVID-19 has certainly brought about many challenges. At Christian Super we value you and we want to equip you with tools of the trade that can help you with the current situation that you find yourself in. We pray that this will be a relevant resource page for you. We will continue to fill this resource hub with information that is specific and relevant to each topic. Stay tuned as we journey with you.

As a quick overview, here is what you’ll find:

Budgeting basics
Faith and finance
Mental health, well being and faith during Covid
Retirement
End of financial year and COVID-19
Useful links

Budgeting basics

Knowing how to budget can be confusing! Check out this free budgeting calculator from the government. It’s a helpful tool if you’re looking at money allocation in your life and how to prioritise what you have. https://moneysmart.gov.au/budgeting/budget-planner
Read our blog post on simple things you can do to help save. https://www.christiansuper.com.au/5-simple-saving-tips/
Living within your means – what does practically look like? This short podcast by Alex Cook from ‘Wealth With Purpose’ discusses different ways to live which may be appropriate to where you are in your financial needs. https://www.families.org.au/broadcasts/living-within-your-means
Here are 11 simple tips you can utilise to help you with your spending in this time. https://www.christiansuper.com.au/11-small-things-you-can-do-to-improve-your-saving-habit/

Faith and finance

The bible may not necessarily discuss step by step financial instructions around what it means to have wealth as a Christian. It does however give us much wisdom and insight as to how we are to steward our monetary resources. The below resources have much insight and thought on different perspectives and practical advice as to what God’s words says about faith and financial decisions.

Listen to our latest webinar on COVID-19 and your super: https://www.christiansuper.com.au/webinar-covid-19-and-super/
Crown Ministries have an array of great resources that you can tap into: https://www.crown.org/resource-stewardship/
Is it worth getting a financial advisor? Read our blog on a few things to think through: https://www.christiansuper.com.au/do-you-need-a-financial-advisor/
For a short time, Alex Cook from Wealth with Purpose is allowing you to sign up for a free course in finding ‘Financial Freedom’. Visit this web page for more information: https://courses.wealthwithpurpose.com/courses/financial-freedom-express-2020

Mental health, wellbeing & faith during COVID-19

As we adjust to a season of living with the impacts of the COVID-19 (coronavirus), we appreciate how important it is to focus on maintaining our mental health and wellbeing. While we are not experts in this area, we do immensely care for the wellbeing of our members and wish to be supportive. Below we have prepared a few useful links to Christian blogs and mental health and wellbeing articles that we believe may be helpful to you. As always, we are here to help and support you, and will continue to pray for God’s peace, comfort and provision for you and your family during this season.

https://au.thegospelcoalition.org/article/why-me-why-now/
https://www.lifeline.org.au/get-help/topics/mental-health-and-wellbeing-during-the-coronavirus-covid-19-outbreak
https://www.beyondblue.org.au/the-facts/looking-after-your-mental-health-during-the-coronavirus-outbreak
For Christian Super members make sure to check out the Mental Health section via RightNow Media. In this library there is a wealth of perspective on faith and mental health. https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Library/52
For Christian Super members make sure to check out the Tough Times section via RightNow Media. https://www.rightnowmedia.org/Content/CustomChannel/82951
Mental Health impacts most of us at some stage in life. How should we view this? Read what Bridges Counselling has to say. https://www.bridgescounselling.com.au/mental-health-counselling/

Retirement

With more people living longer, robust lives are needed. Many of us might expect to have 30+ years in our retirement – that’s a lot of free time! With so many good, strong years ahead you, the question is how can you thrive well into your retirement years? What might this look like?

Here is a list of five simple tips to keep in mind when nearing retirement: https://www.christiansuper.com.au/five-keys-to-help-you-thrive-in-your-retirement/
What does a fruitful retirement potentially look like? Read this article to get our perspective on this:https://www.christiansuper.com.au/how-a-purposeful-retirement-can-mark-our-most-fruitful-season-of-christian-service/
There have been changes to the minimum withdraw down amount. This may affect you. Read more here, https://www.christiansuper.com.au/changes-to-minimum-pension-drawdown-rates/

End of Financial Year and COVID-19

End of financial year is fast approaching. Typically, this is a time where getting your taxes in order is necessary. You’ll often hear from financial institutes that now is a great time to get contributions sorted and in order.

You may be surprised to find out that only one in 8 employed super fund members make contributions to their super above the mandatory employer-paid 9.5% superannuation guarantee.[1] If you’ve never thought about making additional contributions to your super, here are some things to consider.
https://www.christiansuper.com.au/should-you-be-making-additional-contributions-to-your-super/
Look at new ways that you can boost your super and save on tax. This article outlines simple ways that you can do this: https://www.christiansuper.com.au/boost-your-super-and-save-on-tax-before-30-june/