Starting Out Starting Over

A Single Woman's Guide to Money in Australia

Susan Edmunds is driven by a desire to boost financial literacy, and help people realise that managing money is not nearly as hard or intimidating as it appears. In Starting Out Starting Over she discusses everything from ditching debt to building savings: from investing to insurance – and all in a language that is easy to understand.

So if you're starting out on your own, or starting over after ending a relationship, let her guide you through every part of securing your own financial future.

"Whether you're a young woman leaving school and getting a job for the first time, wanting to start out on the right track; you've realised that you should be a bit more sorted than you are by now; you're suddenly-single after a mid-life marriage split or you're approaching retirement as a single woman, I'll help you understand that there's no special secret, no specific type of person who's good with money," says Edmunds.

Susan Edmunds is a senior business journalist who specialises in personal finance issues, writing both long-form and daily news coverage. She started her career as the editor of a university magazine before moving into radio, and Nationally online news.

Starting Out Starting Over
New Holland Publishers
Author: Susan Edmunds
RRP:$29.99

Interview with Susan Edmunds

Question: What inspired you to write Starting Out Starting Over?

Susan Edmunds: I encounter so many women who've decided that money is just too hard or something that they're never going to be any good at. They resign themselves to the idea that they'll always be in a bit of credit card debt, they won't ever own a house and they'll just rack up some Afterpay purchases to make themselves feel better about it every so often. In many cases, they don't realise how close they really are to being able to get sorted if they just made a few minor changes. I wanted women to see that money isn't a secret club that only some people (men!) get invited into. If you have conversations with your bank, your super provider or insurer that leave you confused, that's their failing for not explaining themselves properly, not yours. I believe that anyone can grasp the basic concepts that will allow them to be "good with money" (whatever that means to them).


Question: Why was it crucial you write a book for single women?

Susan Edmunds: Women have extra hurdles because they often earn less than men, their working lives are sometimes more disrupted by providing care for kids or other family members, and they live longer - so they have more years of a retirement to save for. For single women, all those issues are compounded because there's no one else to lean on or to provide a back-up plan if things go wrong. If you've suddenly found yourself single in mid-life, it's even more daunting because you have to rethink a whole lot of expectations you might have had about your life. I heard from a woman who was 50-something and had always left all the financial decisions to her husband. Then they split and she had to not only work out how to support herself on her own but also how to handle all the money decisions he'd made for 30-ish years. That's really daunting and anything that can be done to help women in that situation has to be good.

Question: What's the first piece of advice you'd give an 18-year-old women regarding finances?

Susan Edmunds: Be careful about credit card debt. When I was 18, I took out one of those student packages from the bank that comes with a credit card. It didn't have a big limit but it took me years to pay off and got me used to being in debt, which isn't something that you want to have as a habit!


Question: How would that advice change for a newly single women?

Susan Edmunds: If you're newly single, you may need to use some debt to get back on your feet. That's okay as long as it is manageable and you have a plan to get rid of it. Newly single women should get some independent advice (legal and financial) to work out what their financial situation is, what they need to do to get back on track, and how they can get what they are entitled to from the relationship and then protect it into the future.


Interview by Brooke Hunter

Starting Out Starting Over
New Holland Publishers
Author: Susan Edmunds
RRP:$29.99