Dr Kudzai Kanhutu, Deputy Chief Medical Information Officer

“Whoever said money can't solve your problems must not have had enough money to solve 'em” Ariana Grande

One can debate the relative merits of Ms Grande’s argument but most would agree that being cash strapped is not an enviable state. Either way it’s problematic…1) you truly don’t have money to meet your basic needs or 2) you have a money management issue.

I have experienced 1 as a student on Centrelink benefits and have spent the rest of my life striving to avoid alternative number 2.

My auntie taught me everything I know about money long before I’d experienced the exhilaration of pay day. We started with high interest bearing loans then gradually worked our way through the foundations of investment, account keeping and household budgeting. She was ferocious in her approach to all things pecuniary and in particular the discretionary spend. In her house you couldn’t order take-away without putting in a business case! I need to thank her again for instilling an appreciation of what money can do and how to make the most of the opportunities money affords.

I’ve been able to enjoy the stability that home ownership affords (well let’s be honest mortgagee- ship!) I can choose to invest in myself, my family and friends.

Now that I am officially middle aged I’ve started turning my financial gaze towards the retirement years. I’ve heard the stats and they’re horrific for we working women who stand to retire with 47% less superannuation than our male counterparts.

A work colleague told me one of the BIG superannuation providers has an app that allows you to predict what sort of lifestyle you might enjoy based on your current super accruals. Below from app certainly gave me cause for mirth....Like what?

Lifestyle Option 1: Reality Check

You get to eat 3 meals a day, no netflix, plenty chill time ( you cant afford heating)

Lifestyle Option 2: Probs Achievable..

You get to eat 3 meals a day, netflix, chill or not, holidays once in a while

Lifestyle Option 3: LOLZ Do you know a genie?

In house chef, home theatre and wine cellar, holiday house or two in Noosa..

As a cultural artefact, the concept of money is a useful gauge of who has the most power within a society or a culture. Follow the money and you’ll almost always find the legends, the leaders and the heroes. That’s not to say they deserve to lead or be worshipped. Humans haven’t always used money and it’s a fun mental exercise to imagine how people would get by if we suddenly extinguished the concept of money.

Who would rise to the top, who would lead, who would our newfound heroes be?"