PAUL CLITHEROE Q&A
Need Paul's help?
Send your questions to: Ask Paul, Money magazine, Level 7, 55 Clarence Street, Sydney NSW 2000 or [email protected].
Sorry, but Paul can’t personally answer your questions other than in the Q&A column. By submitting your question to Money, you consent to having your question and the response you receive from Paul published in the print and digital edition of Money.
Alex has a $139k home loan with $130k in an offset account.
Should I pay off the home loan or top up super?
Q I am a 50-year-old single parent of a child in primary school. I work full-time and earn $97,000 a year. My super balance is about $217,000. I receive very little child support, perhaps $1000 a year.
I have just bought an apartment with a mortgage of $139,000 and I have $130,000 in an offset account. I need to buy a new, inexpensive car at some point and also maintain an emergency fund.
With any extra money, I am wondering whether to pay off my mortgage as quickly as possible, put it into my super, buy some index funds, a combination of all of these things or something else I haven’t thought of.
I am currently not putting extra money into my super and am wondering also if I should do that throughout the year. Ideally, I would like to retire at 60.
It is great news that effectively you have your mortgage close to zero, Alex. In terms of paying it off, with interest rates at these levels I strongly support having a smaller mortgage, or no mortgage, but your
