Your advice to 40-year-olds: #1 Money makes your world go round

In the 2025 National Seniors Social Survey we asked you what advice you’d give to people in their 40s to prepare for a possible time when they can no longer live independently.  

This series of Connect articles showcases the top nine pieces of advice from our 2965 survey respondents.

In this instalment of the series, we highlight the advice mentioned most often by survey respondents: money – have enough of it or have more of it! 

More than a third of the people surveyed mentioned it (1,024 in total). 

We remind readers that neither NSA nor our survey respondents are qualified to give financial advice in any formal sense, and you should consult a qualified professional about the best options for your circumstances. 

What follows is the collated opinions of 1,024 older Australians, based on their own experiences, communicated here for your interest only.

A fistful of dollars

So, what exactly was your advice to people in their 40s regarding money? 

For the most part, it was simply to amass as much of it as you possibly can. 

Building super and/or savings was the recommendation of over 600 of the 1,024 respondents who mentioned money. 

Another 100 used more colourful phrases to advise more or less the same thing, for example, “save every penny”, “have a nest egg”, “plan to be wealthy”, and “Be rich!” 

And around 50 took a more modest approach to achieving the goal, emphasising the benefits of living frugally, avoiding wasteful spending, and being debt free by retirement age.

A few dollars more

Your advice sometimes went further though, and approximately 200 respondents suggested additional steps a person in their 40s could take to make their money work harder.

More than 110 of you suggested engaging the services of a financial planner to this end.

Regularly keeping tabs on super performance and ensuring one’s money is in the best super fund are other important recommendations from some of you.

You also encouraged younger people to increase their financial literacy in general, so they can make the best decisions for themselves into the future.

Learning about investment and having an investment strategy were mentioned by around 50 commenters.

Comments included:

“Set aside savings and see a professional financial adviser - review your superannuation contributions & investment strategies” 

“Have an accountant or similar that you can trust. Understand the quality of your superannuation provider and actively compare funds and what they offer. if the explanations are not clear persist until they are.” 

“Most importantly: self-education about wealth creation and don't be afraid of changes.” 

“Use an accountant for proper tax offsets. Build up on investment-portfolio as much as possible. Workers pay for all taxes, rich people pay little to no tax!”