ask paul

Hi Paul, We have recently purchased a vacant block of land and are going to build a new home to live in. The total value of the land and house is about $900,000 and it should be completed in June 2021. We paid off our current townhouse, valued at $630,000 ... More

Is now a good time to consider fixing interest rates? My preference has always been a variable rate, but it appears the Reserve Bank doesn't have much room or appetite to move lower. I am currently on a variable rate for all my three property mortgages ... More

My husband is retired and gets a small pension from Centrelink and an even smaller one from the UK. I work part time (22.5 hours a week) and also get a small pension from Centrelink but nothing from the UK as I didn't qualify. We used my husband's superannuation ... More

I'm wondering where to move some of our cash, which is in our offset account, along with our monthly savings. While I appreciate the safety and guaranteed rate of return, it doesn't seem to be the best way to grow this money into something more meaningful. ... More

I own my house, which is worth $850,000, with no mortgage. I would like to buy an apartment around $450,000 and give each of my two children $150,000 for a deposit on a house. My son would like to use that deposit to purchase my house. How do I go about ... More

I'm 28 and my partner is 27. We have a one-year-old child. I work full time and my partner part time. Our combined income is about $180,000pa; the mortgage on our house is $320,000 with $100,000 of savings in an offset account. I have $130,000 in ... More

I'm a self-funded retiree always on the lookout for ways in which to invest my assets. I currently operate an SMSF with assets mainly spread across Australian equities but also in some managed funds. I also have money in a "balanced" option industry ... More

Through reading and learning from Money over the years, I've minimised interest costs by having our mortgage with a non-bank at competitive rates and an offset account. In these uncertain times we are in, I'm worried that a non-bank is not covered by ... More

I'm a 24-year-old trying to get into the property market for the first time. My salary is $85,000pa, plus I run a growing tutoring side business that is generating about $5000pa. I hope to grow this further, with more students and responsibilities over ... More

My husband and I are nearly 50 and were recently stood down from our jobs. We have income from two rental properties ($3200 a month) and have $200,000 in savings. My super is about $100,000 and my husband's is about $50,000. Should we withdraw $20,000 ... More