Maternity or parental leave: out tips and tools
Planning for maternity or paternity leave
Getting yourself ready for maternity or paternity leave involves more than just organising your time away from work. It’s about setting yourself and your family for success for one of the busiest times you’ll ever have, while ensuring your finances are in order.
If you’re the primary care giver, you may be eligible to receive parental leave pay from the government. To qualify for this government leave payment, you’ll need to meet certain eligibility criteria. The Fair Work Ombudsman’s parental leave and related entitlements online toolkit provides comprehensive guidance and is filled with information regarding parental leave benefits.
It’s a good idea to refer to this resource while you’re considering how your parental leave will impact your finances, especially your mortgage obligations.
How much leave should you take?
Everyone's circumstances are different, and how much time you should take off can depend on a range of factors. These factors include, your savings, any debt you may have, your current income and your partners income too.
Other payments that could help
There are a number of government benefits you may be able to claim, including:
family tax benefit
parenting payment
dad and partner pay (which is available to secondary carers of any gender).
The Department of Human Services’ Payment finder can help you find and compare the payments you may be eligible for.
Planning for a reduced income
If you’re managing a mortgage on top of credit card and personal debt, it might be helpful to consolidate your debts into one.
You might want to start budgeting as if you only had one income. This will help you to start saving ahead of time and can help you get used to living on a reduced income.
Your super
Maternity leave is one reason women tend to have less super later in life. One tip is to start making extra contributions now – while you’re still working. You could also look into your partner making contributions on your behalf.
Useful resources for budgeting
For more information be sure to check out these tools and guides to help you with your budgeting and planning:
Speak to us about your financial situation.
Source: NAB
Reproduced with permission of National Australia Bank (‘NAB’). This article was originally published at https://www.nab.com.au/personal/life-moments/family/start-family/maternity-leave
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