NEED
PAU L’S
HELP?SK PAUL
Q
I ownmyMelbournehome,whichis
valuedat$875,000witha $563,000debt.
I alsojointlyownaninvestmentproperty
inMelbourne,withmysharevaluedat$540,000
andaninterest-onlydebtof$402,000.I am37,
singleandearn$130,000pawithnopersonaldebt.
I ampayingdownmyhomeloanbyabout$10,000
eachyearandamsavinga net$19,000eachyear.
Mysuperbalanceis$157,000andI have$93,000
incash.Myquestionis:whatwouldbethebest
thingtodowiththecashsavingsinmycurrent
situation.I amconsideringspending$18,000to
buyCSLsharesbutI wouldliketoknowwhat
todowiththeremaining$75,000?I havea softspotforCSLshares.Mydadwasa doctor
andhecouldseetheimportanceofbloodplasmaand
inoculation,soboughtCSLsharesattheoriginalfloat,With$75,000cashsavingsto invest,Johnwillfindan...
Offset account is safe but
shares should do better
I think for 20¢. I bought some decades ago, but not
at 20¢, sadly! CSL remains a first-class business and
I continue to hold shares in the company.
As you own a couple of properties and have super,
you could go a few ways with your $75,000. The safest
is to pop it into an offset account attached to your
mortgage. This is a really safe way to earn, tax free,
whatever your mortgage rate is.
Shares have historically performed well above
the interest rate on your mortgage, but are riskier, in
particular in the short term. Here you could buy, say,
three to four shares to add to your CSL. I’d diversify
across sectors, possibly a bank such as Macquarie,
a food group (Woolies or Coles), a resource compa-
ny (BHP or Rio) and so on. Equally, you could use an
exchange traded fund (ETF) to keep it simple and
cost effective. An advantage of an ETF is that you
could choose one with global exposure.Send your questions to:
Ask Paul, Money
magazine, Level 7, 55
Clarence Street, Sydney
NSW 2000 or money@
moneymag.com.au.Sorry, but Paul can’t
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